Wheeling, W. Va. -- A school that has been part of Wheeling since 1848 is closing its doors for good on May 31, 2008.

Officials at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy, a private boarding school, said enrollment dropped 20 percent from the last school year to the current year. Tuition is the school's primary source of funding. With heating bills alone costing the school as much as $16,000 a year, it said it was forced to make the decision to close.

In a news conference Friday, Sister Joanne Gonter said school officials will look for a long term plan for the academy's three buildings and gymnasium that sit next to Wheeling Jesuit University.

The school's interim head, Sharon Campbell, said they will help the faculty find other opportunities and help the students transition to another school, but right now this year is their priority.

"It won't be business as usual; it will be business better. So that's how we're hoping to go out, that this is an extraordinary year, the best year ever and our children take away all they've learned and be very proud," said Campbell.

School officials weren't even sure if the academy would financially make it through the end of the current school year, but they said thanks to a legacy a 1906 graduate left behind, they will be able to continue through the end of the 2007-2008 year.

--Jasmine Lo, NEWS9 For more local news, click here