PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Valley Forge Military Academy (VFMA) in Wayne will close at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, school leadership announced on Monday.
The academy — a private college prep school for boys in grades seven through 12 — will continue to operate through May 30, 2026, culminating in the graduation of the 98th Corps of Cadets. There are 90 cadets in grades 7 through 12. Twenty-four of the 90 are seniors. There are 90 cadets in grades 7 through 12. Twenty-four of the 90 are seniors.
The VFMA, in a statement, cited several reasons for the closure: “After a thorough review of VFMA’s long-term sustainability, the trustees determined that the Academy is no longer viable for several reasons. First, rising costs have made a boarding school education less affordable for many families. In turn, this has driven sharp declines in enrollment. In addition, changes in Pennsylvania law increased the Academy’s liability exposure, driving steep insurance premium increases and narrowing the number of insurers willing to provide coverage. Together, these factors made the Academy’s future unsustainable.”
VFMA said its staff will work with each family to help with the transition to another school, and all seniors who complete the academic year will graduate with a VFMA diploma.
"We are definitely working on a transition plan,” said Aaron Barkley, interim head of school for the academy. “Some of our fellow military academies have already reached out, and we plan to have a high school fair, so to speak, where they will come and have our students and families have the opportunity to meet some of these representatives to try to ensure a smooth transition. Obviously, we would rather that they would be here, but we feel we owe it to them to have a smooth landing spot after this year."
Leadership also indicated that their decision has no impact on the separately governed and accredited Valley Forge Military College.
The school has been around for nearly 100 years. Famous alumni include former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, author J.D. Salinger, current Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Chef Boyardee.