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 Religion
Religion at Ascension Academy
Ascension Academy’s mission directs the school to create “a safe, nurturing, faith-affirming environment” for young people to learn and grow. From its origins the school has made it a priority to foster a school culture where students may deepen their faith while learning to respect and appreciate people of faiths different from their own. How does this school do this?
Ascension requires all students to select from one of three specific religious tracks for classroom instruction in Catholicism, Protestantism, or Global Religions. These are offered at both the middle and high school levels, with age-appropriate lessons in all three tracks. Religion classes meet three days each week with teachers from those respective traditions guiding students to a deeper understanding of their faith, with emphasis on mastery of religious content and formation of a deeper spirituality.
Weekly mandatory chapels supplement the classroom by reinforcing faith through the bi-weekly celebration of the mass at St. Thomas Church (for our Catholic students) and assemblies led by special guests of the Protestant faiths (for the rest of our students). On the other two Tuesdays of the month, Dr. Summerhill leads the middle and high school in interfaith chapels focusing on how the transcendent intersects with the everyday issues of our lives. An underlying question put to students in these chapels is, “how can we live together in a community where respect and justice prevail?”
Ascension Academy has created a rather unique blend of the particular with the ecumenical with the overall goal of helping students deepen their faith while finding that common ground necessary to live in an increasingly diverse human population. Ascension graduates gain a real-life experience in discovering how respect and understanding offer the best hope for the future of the human race.
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