Four years ago West Virginia created a new kind of school. In the 2022 session the Legislature passed SB 268, which carved out an exemption from compulsory attendance for learning pods and microschools. Today the Hope Scholarship directory lists 80 microschools statewide, and five of them are in the Charleston area. This post explains what a microschool is under West Virginia law, how Hope pays for it, and how the same pathway covers nonpublic online programs, which matter most in the rural counties around Charleston.
What SB 268 did
SB 268 created a separate legal category for learning pods and microschools, distinct from private schools and traditional homeschool. A Senate amendment raised the capacity for these programs to up to 100 students, and the bill passed the Senate 21-13. The Hope Scholarship's provider handbook, citing state code, defines a microschool as a school started by one or more teachers, or by an entity formed to run a school, that charges tuition and serves as an alternative to public school, private school, homeschool or a learning pod.
In practice that means a church, a group of former teachers or a family-run program can open a small tuition-charging school without the full requirements of a registered private school.
How Hope treats microschools
There is an important distinction here. Under Hope law, a microschool is not a participating school. Participating schools are private schools registered with the state that have signed up with the Hope Scholarship Board. Even so, microschool tuition is on the Board's list of qualifying expenses, and since July 31, 2024 microschools can use the portal's school module to bill families.
The difference shows up in the paperwork. A child at a microschool is an Individualized Instructional Plan (IIP) student. The Hope FAQ says the family should mark IIP on the Notice of Intent it files with the county superintendent. IIP families handle their own yearly academic reporting by June 8, using standardized test results or a certified teacher's portfolio review, and Hope can pay for either.
Microschools in the Kanawha Valley directory
When we checked the Hope directory in October 2026, five programs in our five-county area were listed as microschools: Vandalia Microschool and Kanawha Valley Academy of Learning in South Charleston, The Copper Penny Schoolhouse and Tabernacle Christian Academy in St. Albans, and Overflow Forest School in Clendenin. You can see them together on our microschools page.
A directory entry tells you a program can bill the portal. It does not tell you about class size, schedule, curriculum, faith character or tuition. Visit, ask for a written tuition schedule and ask how the program invoices against the quarterly deposits.
Online programs and the rural counties
The same IIP pathway covers families who learn at home through an online program. The Parent Handbook lists tuition and fees for nonpublic online learning programs as a qualifying expense. That matters in Boone, Lincoln and Clay counties. The state's nonpublic school list shows one registered school in Boone, one in Clay and none in Lincoln, so for many families there a full-time private campus means a long daily drive.
Two cautions apply. First, the provider must be approved in the Hope portal; a family cannot pay an unapproved online school and claim it later, except under the Board's narrow reimbursement policy. Check the directory, which includes out-of-state online providers, and ask the program directly. Second, a public virtual school is public enrollment. A student enrolled full-time in a public school, including a virtual one, cannot receive Hope at the same time.
What Hope will and will not cover at home
For a home or microschool year, Hope can pay for curriculum and textbooks, tutoring from someone other than a parent or immediate family member, educational therapies, computers and required software, testing and certified-teacher reviews, and admissions to museums and science centers. The Board's non-qualifying list rules out home internet, streaming services, phones, field-trip travel and lodging, gift cards and most toys. The full rundown is on our Hope expenses page.
One rule surprises some families: Hope cannot pay a parent to teach their own child. The provider handbook bars payments to parents or immediate family for instruction.
Leaving traditional homeschool
West Virginia treats traditional homeschool and Hope IIP as separate exemptions, even though daily life can look the same. A family moving from traditional homeschool to Hope files a notice ending the homeschool exemption and then the Hope Notice of Intent. With universal eligibility in 2026-27, many long-time homeschool families in Kanawha and Putnam can now apply for the first time. Those applying this fall are in the 50% tier, which pays $2,717.81 for the rest of the year.
For churches considering a microschool
Several of the valley's microschools have a faith character. A congregation considering one should plan for background checks, which the Board requires for every provider with student contact, and should register with the Hope Scholarship Board as a provider. Our page for schools joining Hope lays out the steps, and the home education and microschool guide covers the family side.
Sources
- HSLDA: Learning pods in West Virginia (SB 268 memo, Aug 2022)
- WV Press Association: Senators expand definitions of learning pods and micro-schools
- Hope Scholarship Service Providers Handbook (Aug 10, 2026)
- Hope Scholarship Parent Handbook (June 25, 2026)
- Hope Scholarship FAQ
- Hope Scholarship participating schools and providers directory