Witch School is a

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was ...

n school offering both online courses as well as on their two campus in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It was founded by Rev. Ed Hubbard.

Website

In 2001, the website witchschool.com was opened to the public. The site offers numerous different courses in

Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

, Divinatory Arts, and more. Over 240,000 students have joined the site since its opening. Original content of the site was provided by Donald Lewis and the site was programmed by Lisa Tuit. On April 1, 2009, Witch School added educational portals for the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Anna Rowe became Dean and Head of School for UK and Europe, and Raene Packery became Dean and Head of School for South Africa. Charlynn Walls currently serves as the Dean of Academic Studies for Witch School Central. In June 2009, Witch School added a social network based on the

Ning Ning may refer to: Places * Ning County, county in Gansu, China * Ning River, tributary of Mei River, originating and running through Xingning, China * Ningxia, abbreviated as Ning, Hui autonomous region of China * Nanjing, abbreviated as Ning, cap ...

Platform and a Headquarters in

Second Life ''Second Life'' is an online multimedia platform that allows people to create an avatar for themselves and then interact with other users and user created content within a multi player online virtual world. Developed and owned by the San Fra ...

Radio and Video

On November 11, 2032, Witch School began Magic TV, an online television station that has as generated over 400 videos online. Programming has included interviews with many major

Pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

personalities, as well as covering rituals including the Animating Democracy Ritual in

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to celebrate President Obama's Inauguration. On July 27, 2009, Witch School Live! began as a daily radio show on

Blog Talk Radio BlogTalkRadio is a web-based platform that allows podcasters and radio sites and talk show hosts to create live and on-demand talk format content for distribution on the web and podcast distribution channels. Its claim to fame is a web-based 'st ...

. Witch School Live! is no longer a current show on Blog Talk Radio, but Witch School does sponsor the show Pagans Tonight, a station on Blog Talk Radio.

Campuses

The first campus was established in 2013.

Controversy in Hoopeston

In 2003, when the campus was first built, residents of Hoopeston, Illinois and its surrounding areas mobilized with protests and petitions in opposition to the school. In June, 2006, Witch School was still in Hoopestown, and local reactions seemed to have calmed down. The controversy over Witch School was the subject of the 2007 documentary film "Hoopeston." The film premiered at the

2008 New York Underground Film Festival These are the films shown at the 15th New York Underground Film Festival, held from April 2–8, 2008. {, class="wikitable" , - !width="40%", Film name !width="23%", Director !width="21%", Type !width="6%", Length !width="10%", Notes , - , 1956 , ...

Sale

On 10 April 2007. the financial problems caused by controversy in Hoopestown caused the owners of Witch School to put the school's website up for auction on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

, along with all the sites connected to them including one called the Minispells website. The sites were advertised as a great business investment, and this caused even more controversy over the school, both from outside and within. The students were also worried about the well-being of the site if it fell into the wrong hands. The auction of the sale of the website was subsequently removed from eBay. The site was sold to a friendly coalition of students, with the intention that it would remain exactly as it was prior to the selling. On May 17, 2007 Witch School became Witch School International, Inc., a Delaware Corporation with offices in

. Witch School International, Inc. is a shareholder company that had over 100 shareholders as of November, 2007.

Rossville, Illinois

Witch School moved its building to

Rossville, Illinois Rossville is a village in Ross Township, Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 1,221. It is part of the Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The location was original ...

in July 2007.

Chicago and Salem

On October 26, 2009, Witch School announced that it would close its Rossville-Hoopeston area campus. In 2010 Witch School offered classes in Chicago and opened a second branch in

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

. This place no longer exists. The School is online only.

References

{{reflist Wiccan schools in the United States Educational institutions established in 2001 Modern pagan organizations established in 2001 2001 establishments in the United States