Document 1 of 9
School Profile & Institutional History
Prepared for the Iowa Department of Education — Nonpublic School Accreditation Application.
1.1 Institutional Identity
| Field | Information |
|---|---|
| Legal name | The Von Der Becke Academy Corp |
| Operating name (DBA) | The VA School |
| Address | 503 Lake Ave, Storm Lake, Iowa 50588 |
| County | Buena Vista County |
| Phone | (712) 560-1128 |
| teamvcorp@thevacorp.com | |
| Corporation established | 2012 in Florida (14 years of continuous operation) |
| Opened in Storm Lake, Iowa | 2020 (6 years; relocated from Florida at the end of 2019) |
| Legal status | Nonprofit Corporation — 501(c)(3) |
| Grade levels served | Kindergarten through Grade 12, plus The VA Higher Institute (ages 16–18) |
| School calendar | Year-round, Monday through Thursday (four-day instructional week) |
| Head of School | Robert Von Der Becke |
1.2 Institutional History
The Von Der Becke Academy Corp was established in 2012 in Florida by Robert Von Der Becke, a career educator and behavioral specialist with professional experience dating to 2004. The school was founded on the conviction that every student is capable of achieving at the highest levels when instruction is individualized, expectations are never lowered, and the learning environment is built on discipline, mastery, and character.
The school relocated to Storm Lake, Iowa at the end of 2019 and opened here in 2020, giving it 6 consecutive years of operation in Buena Vista County and 14 years as an institution overall. The VA School has served students spanning kindergarten through high school, maintaining continuous enrollment through its model of competency-based, ABA-informed instruction integrated with a martial arts discipline framework. Over its operational history, the school has produced graduates who have gone on to assume leadership roles in retail management, community development, and the technology sector.
The school’s founding philosophy remains unchanged: hold every student to the highest standard, provide every tool needed to reach it, and never move the goal post downward. Students advance when they have earned advancement — not when a calendar dictates it.
1.3 Current Population & Community Context
The VA School enrolls a small number of students across multiple grade levels, reflecting its highly individualized instructional approach. Storm Lake, Iowa is a diverse agricultural and light-industrial community with growing technology and healthcare sectors — the very career fields around which the school’s advanced program is designed. The school actively serves families who seek an alternative to conventional pacing models, including students who have been underserved by standard grade-level instruction.
1.4 Facility
A seven-room facility with instructional spaces organized by cohort group, a dedicated Taekwondo training room, restroom facilities, and a lunchroom.
The school is actively seeking expanded facilities to accommodate program growth and is pursuing accreditation and school choice fund access to support this transition.
1.5 Existing Partnerships
The VA School has maintained an operational partnership with a K12-powered public virtual school program, through which students have accessed state-funded curriculum resources. The school is now formalizing its independent accreditation status to enable direct participation in Iowa’s Education Savings Account (ESA) school choice program, ensuring that per-pupil funding flows directly to the educational environment where instruction is provided.