History

Ascension Leadership Academy is a ministry of the Presbyterian Home for Children and had its beginnings in the on-campus educational program at the Home, but has grown into so much more since it opened to meet the needs of the Home and community in 1997.

Ascension Leadership Academy was established as a component of Hope Academy in the spring of 2016. Ascension Leadership Academy was the name given to the educational program for grades K-8 of Hope Academy, the AdvancED (now Cognia) accredited school in Presbyterian Home for Children Educational System. The original purpose for adding the Ascension Leadership name to the K-8 educational program was to promote leadership, responsibility, and community involvement into the accredited academic program of Hope Academy. 

Since many of the students entering the 2018-2019 academic year had participated in this leadership approach to the academic program, the Board of Trustees voted in May of 2018 to replace the name of Hope Academy and unify all grades in the leadership component of the educational program and have all grades under one name. Ascension Leadership Academy is the name for all grades since the fall semester of the 2018-2019 academic year.  There have been no changes to the AdvancED (now Cognia) accredited academic program except the addition of activities to promote leadership, responsibility and community involvement.

Ascension Leadership Academy is governed by the Presbyterian Home for Children Board of Trustees which is elected in part by the North Alabama Presbytery, Presbytery of Sheppards & Lapsley, and the Presbytery of South Alabama and operated by a Director of Education and the PHFC President and CEO.  Ascension Leadership Academy’s facility is provided through a partnership with the First Presbyterian Church of Talladega.

The Director of Education oversees all school services in the Presbyterian Home Educational System. Since all components of Hope Academy’s accredited educational program were maintained and only components to further strengthen the academic program were added, the name change did not change the accredited status for Ascension Leadership Academy.  All programs within the Presbyterian Home for Children Educational System were AdvancED Accredited (Cognia) through the year 2020 and by being a school in good standing, received an extended accreditation through Cognia until June 30, 2030.

Our purpose is to recognize the potential of each student and to convince each student that the only limiting factor to their achievement is their willingness and dedication to excel.

For more than 25 years, Ascension and its predecessors have served the Home’s residents and community students who love the school for its attention to individual needs, wide-ranging enrichment programs, and ability to prepare young people for their next steps into adulthood and their further education.