Ascent Classical Academy-Fort Mill in Rock Hill

Posted: February 18, 2026

With a semester of school under our belt I am glad I chose to send my daughter here. My daughter looks forward to seeing her friends and teachers everyday and speaks highly of all the staff

Posted: February 18, 2026

There have been some growing pains as this is a new school, but overall I am happy I chose to send my kids to Ascent rather than traditional public school. I have had great interactions with teachers, staff, students and other parents. I believe the current faculty and staff will lead the school in the right direction

Posted: February 18, 2026

My daughter is currently enrolled in Kindergarten and is absolutely thriving, she loves her teachers and the new friends she has made.

As a parent, I am enjoying the benefits that come with having a smaller school such as easy access to faculty and staff who recognize me and know my daughter by name, not worrying about bullying as there are no places for kids to hide and a staff that simply wouldn't stand for it and the knowledge that my daughter can grow with her classmates through high school graduation

Posted: February 17, 2026

I chose this school as I prefer a classical learning experience for my children vs the watered down public school curriculum. I grew up in the 80's and the books they read, course load etc reminds me more of that.

The school has a much more intimate feel vs a big public school. If I need to see an administrator I've been able to walk in and wait no more than 10 minutes.

My one concern was lack of SROs, but that will change next school year.

Posted: February 10, 2026

My wife and I had two children attending the Fort Mill campus of ACA in the 2025/6 school year, and we needed to withdraw our daughters for their own protection. We did not want to leave, and are now changing the way we live our lives in order to homeschool our children.
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Enrollment is now down from about 260 to about 160 by midyear, and they are now bringing back students who were previously kicked out to try to boost enrollment numbers ,which is only making the problem with violence worse.
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If you are considering this school, then please research this campus before making a commitment.

Posted: January 22, 2026

If your kids dont have special needs and generally learn well, theyll likely do fine here. My children have had some truly excellent teachers, along with a few who werent a great fit and didnt stay long.

The curriculum at Ascent is above the public school level and refreshingly free from Chromebook distractions. Students get plenty of outdoor time and PE every day, which has been a big positive for our family.

That said, leadership at the very top has been a major weakness, and its led to the loss of some great staff. Still, the school itself offers a lot of opportunity for parent involvement, including volunteering and time in the classroom once youve completed the required background checks.

Posted: January 22, 2026

Posted: January 21, 2026

If you are a family who is coming from a background of classical school, private school, or homeschool and are seeking out the classical model, you will be greatly disappointed in the environment and education of this school. As others have suggested, it had potential but has greatly fallen flat. We will not be returning next year.

Posted: January 21, 2026

My family started at Ascent last year. We endured terrible teachers, but stayed this year because we had hope that things would turn around. The beginning of the 24/25 school year was amazing! Both of my kids had very qualified teachers. They loved coming to school and I was confident that they were engaged and learning. In October, one of their teachers was moved to teach the upper school. The school hired an extremely unqualified teacher to fill this position. We had to pull that student out because we felt that there was too much uncertainty with her class and we also didnt trust the teacher they hired. The teacher was extremely rude and made the children feel unsafe. He left, but it was weeks before they filled that position again.
As of now I will not be enrolling my other student for the next school year. After 2 years of uncertainty and my mistrust of the leaders, I do not feel comfortable sending my children back to the school.

Posted: January 21, 2026

We completed one school year and part of the next. We saw issues from the start but tried to give the benefit of the doubt until it was obvious they wouldnt be resolved and were only getting worse. The issues are mostly at the CMO-level, though school administration is now questionable at best. The main thing we learned is that there is no transparency, accountability, or honesty. Leadership says what they think people want to hear, then does the opposite. I cannot send my children to a school where those in charge have no integrity and do not have the best interest of the students as their motivation.

Posted: January 21, 2026

Posted: January 18, 2026

Very high teacher and administrator turnover due to poor management and little to no meaningful oversight by the board. Still operating out of an outdated, temporary location with no prospects of a permanent location. Lack of certified teachers. Interim headmaster has no business being around children. Would be shocked if it didn't get shut down at the end of 25/26 school year. Do not send your children here.

Posted: January 18, 2026

Posted: January 17, 2026

I had great expectations for this school and love classical education. The curriculum would have been amazing if they were not missing several books and if teachers would stop leaving because they were being treated terribly by the CMO. They fired two headmaster in two years, refused to hire teacher aids for classrooms over 30 students (which the majority where) , and did nothing about security when asked. Currently the school is on a corrective plan with the SC Board of Education and the Columbia campus will not be opening. I highly recommend that you research this school and what happened in Denver, Colorado. I pulled my children back in October 2025 because of the lack of transparency and that the CMOs father is on the board. They currently have a headmaster that is named several times in a lawsuit in regards to the last school they worked at. I wish the CMO was not there because the education could be amazing with the right person in charge. It is so sad because they have lost almost half the students and are now scrambling to enroll so they can stay open.

Posted: January 17, 2026

I have two children currently enrolled here, there was some early shake-ups in October that had us a little nervous. However, all of the teaching positions have been filled and we couldn't be more thrilled with how our children are performing academically. I have a 5th grader and an 8th grader who are now very engaged in their learning. My 5th grader thinks the teacher expects too much from them, but I believe it's only because he has never been truly challenged in the way that he is now. When my 8th grader was in public Middle School, he himself indicated that the computers and online coursework were just too great of a distraction for him. We witnessed firsthand how the teachers would rely on online videos primarily as the teaching focus. We had no physical book to assist him and he ended up setting aside the class work that he should have done in school in favor of sneaking YouTube videos or playing games. They do not have that opportunity here at Ascent and he now takes it upon himself to proactively study, knowing he has to take the responsibility for future quizzes and tests. Tests. He is engaged and I feel that he listens better to multi-step directions even when it is not related to school.

You will read other reviews that blast this school, and there are still kinks that must get worked out. Out. It is not perfect by any means and there are still things with the board and the Charter management organization that must get worked out. But the school is everything that I had hoped for my children. Academically. There are no distractions currently. The class sizes are small, although they did start out with some classes being in the upper twenties and 30s. But the teachers communicate very well, they set the expectation high for the students and they allow the parents to be involved and encourage you to stay in the loop with what your children's class is doing. It was a challenge in October but by mid-november the teaching positions had been filled and I feel they are all caught up in where they would have been had the other teachers not left.

I would encourage any perspective families to contact the school and ask for a list of parent references. There are many enrolled families that have offered to give their real life Day-To-Day picture of what their children do in this school.

Posted: January 17, 2026

My kids started at Ascent in the 24/25 school year. It was a rough start, teachers didn't know what they needed to do, no classroom management, I would see assignments due on Power school for my 6th grader and he would have no idea there was an assignment. The teachers were not supported, many left in November and had to be replaced .

I assumed it was first year issues and gave them the benefit of the doubt and enrollled my kids for 25/26 year... It was another year of the same except teachers left in mass in October. They had good reason, not enough teachers and those there had to pick up the slack, they got burned out. They ended up loosing great teachers and hiring is slow and they got poor replacements. Lost a ton of students, including my 3. Once they fired the headmaster and the kindergarten teacher we were done, they kept that school going, and their confidence in the school is what kept us there as long as we were.

There were also issues with promises of sports but when it came to funding, the headmaster was told there was no money.

I would not recommend this school to anyone.

It needs a complete overhaul with new management who value their teachers and keep their promises.

Posted: January 17, 2026

Ascent Classical Academy-Fort Mill

Rock Hill, SC 29730

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Rock Hill, SC 29730

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