Education

Parents, teachers reeling after Wake Forest school's sudden shutdown

Millennium Academy in Wake Forest closed its doors unexpectedly Tuesday, catching students, parents and teachers off guard, and the school's top administrator can't be found to answer questions about the shutdown.

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WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Millennium Academy in Wake Forest closed its doors unexpectedly Tuesday, catching students, parents and teachers off guard, and the school's top administrator can't be found to answer questions about the shutdown.

Parent Jessica Mathes said she received an email Tuesday stating that "the school is closed, effective immediately, due to financial reasons."

Sherwood Young said he hasn't seen his wife, Adriane Young, since Sunday. The couple opened Millennium Academy in 2009, and Adriane Young was the school's sole leader for the past six months, her husband said.

"I need to find our what is going on because I do not know," he said.

Mathes, however, said Sherwood Young was very involved at the school.

"He was there the first day of school touting himself as an administrator," she said.

The private school, at 231 Capcom Ave., was empty Wednesday. Scattered school supplies dotted the floors, but computers, smart boards, projectors and other equipment had been cleared out.

Mathes said she recently paid $1,100 in tuition and fees, but her kindergartener now has no school and no answers.

"This gets dumped on the families, and now we are stuck struggling," she said.

Sherwood Young said the school was facing financial problems and needed more students, but said he didn't know the extent of the problem.

One teacher told WRAL News that she didn't realize she was out of a job until she couldn't get into the locked building Wednesday morning.

Mathes said she chose the school for its small class sizes and excellent teachers, but now she feels unsettled and upset.

"I think it is disgusting what they did, not only to the kids, but to the teachers as well," she said.

The Millennium Academy website, which is still up and running, says the school is hosting an open house Sunday afternoon and is accepting applications for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

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