Any accolade comes with your role on the team. When teams
succeed, individuals succeed.
~ Liz Shimek
NEWS &
ACCOLADES
SCHOOL NEWS & ACCOLADES
Ascension Academy Earns Fourth SAIS Accreditation
December 12, 2019
Ascension Academy has earned its accreditation as a member of the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) for the fourth time in its 20 year history. To earn accreditation from SAIS, Ascension complied with quality standards, was evaluated by an outside group of peer professionals, and implemented a school plan focused on strategic improvement and student performance in accordance.
A team representing SAIS conducted an on-site visit this past October to review this school’s self-study and standards compliance and its adherence to its mission. The team was comprised of diverse educational leaders from some of the finest institutions in the southeast. The visiting team sought the answers to critical questions the school asked of itself by meeting with faculty and staff, school board members, students and parents. This accreditation lasts until June 2025.
Middle School Spelling Bee Winners!
November 20, 2019
Congratulations to all our middle school Ascension Scholars who participated in today's Spelling Bee! Pranav Nambiar won first place and Veronica Portillo followed close behind and won second place. Both Pranav and Veronica will go on to represent Ascension at the Regional Spelling Bee in Canyon.
Speech and Debate Team Brings Home Medals
September 21, 2019
Ascension's Speech and Debate Team turned in an outstanding performance against 15 area high schools at the annual "Speak and Be Herd" tournament in Hereford. Five of our students advanced to the finals to claim 6 awards overall. Kobe Williams led the way with a third place finish in Foreign Extemp and 4th in Oratory. Lauren Stovall placed third in Prose Interp. Nathan Leech and Emma Engler place 4th and 6th respectively in Informative Speaking, and eighth grader Araceli Saratt became the first Ascension student to advance to the finals in her first tournament, earning 7th place overall. Also competing in two challenging preliminary rounds at Hereford were Alex Bailey in U.S. Extemp, Jack Bailey in Foreign Extemp, and Adarsh Nambiar in Informative Speaking.
Congratulations to all our Speech and Debate Team members for their hard work and their willingness to "Speak and Be Herd". This Saturday, our Speech and Debate Team will compete at Tascosa High School against an even larger field of high schools from the Panhandle and beyond.
National Merit Scholar Semifinalists Named
September 12, 2019
Brother and sister duo Troy and Campbell Schouten were named National Merit Scholar Semifinalists. There are approximately 16,000 Semifinalists on a national level, and five come from the Texas Panhandle. These students can choose to continue in the National Merit competition and have a chance to earn one of the 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million that will be offered next spring.
Ascension Academy named BEST Private School 2019 Reader's Choice Awards!
May 01, 2019
Amarillo Magazine annual Reader's Choice Awards appear in the May issue and feature Ascension Academy as Best Private School for 2019.
Cadinals in the News at the 2019 TAME Competition
April 30, 2019
Ascension Cardinals had top placements at last weekend's state TAME competition in Huntsville, TX!
296 students competed in the areas of math, science, and engineering...
Alex Wan - 6th Place in 12th Grade Math, 1st Place in 12th Grade Science
Allison Wu - 1st Place in 7th Grade Math, 4th Place in 7th Grade Science
Troy Schouten - 2nd Place in 11th Grade Math, 1st Place in 11th Grade Science
8th-grader, Mehtan Rahman Wins Randall County Spelling Bee
February 12, 2019
Big kudos to Mehtan for taking home 1st Place in the Randall County Spelling Bee! He has had quite a week of accomplishments... He is the captain of the Cardinal team who took home 1st Place in the NNSA Regional Science Bowl this past Saturday and also the winner at the Randall County Spelling Bee today! We are so proud of his hard work and dedication! He competes in the Regional Spelling Bee on March 6th for the opportunity to compete at the National Spelling Bee and will be attending the National Science Bowl competition in Washington, D.C. later this spring. We are also so proud of Pranav Nambiar who also competed in the Randall County Bee and is a member of the Cardinal Science Bowl Team who came in 3rd Place!
Middle School Team Wins Regional Science Bowl
February 09, 2019
Cardinal Science Bowl Red Team wins the 2019 competition and Gold Team takes third place in the U.S. Department of Energy regional competition hosted by WTAMU and Pantex. It was a tough day of double-elimination competition, and the Cardinals came out on top!
Senior, Patrick Houseal recognized as National Hispanic Merit Scholar
October 10, 2018
Patrick Houseal, a senior at Ascension Academy has recently been named in the National Hispanic Heritage Recognition Program for his performance on the 2017 PSAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test and his Grade Point Average.
Austin Johnson Brings the Heat to Cardinal Basketball
Read the ABC News Channel 7 article about our new basketball coach, Austin Johnson!
Cardinals CleanUp at State Latin Competition
May 08, 2018
Ascension students brought home over 60 awards from the Texas Junior Classical League Convention. This competition is open to all public and private schools with qualifying students at the regional level to come together for a weekend of JCL business and healthy competition... So proud of our Cardinals!
Senior, Kelvin Mote Wins Citizen Bee
April 28, 2018
The Texas Citizen Bee is a statewide civic-education competition sponsored by the State Bar of Texas. Mote advanced to the state meet after winning the regional Citizen Bee competition at Region 16 in Amarillo. Mote competed against regional winners from public schools, private schools, home-school associations and parochial schools.
Senior Dallas Brandt Signs with WTAMU
April 05, 2018
2018 senior, Dallas Brandt signed her Letter of Intent with WTAMU for Track and Cross Country this week. She will extend her fantastic running career here at Ascension, bringing many school and regional records with her to college.
MathCounts Team Wins Regional Competition!
March 20, 2018
Our coaches, Nirmala Narasimhan and Patti Summerhill work hard all year with our middle school team to prepare for competition and build advanced math skills. The team took home 1st Place this year in regional competition!
The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a national program that provides students the opportunity to compete in live, in-person contests against and alongside their peers. Created in 1983, it is the longest-running MATHCOUNTS program and is open to all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.
Seventh-grader, Jeff Zheng wins Regional Spelling Bee and is headed to National Bee... Again!
March 03, 2018
Jeff won the Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday and is headed to Washington, DC to compete in the National Spelling Bee later in the spring. This is his SECOND year in a row to make it this far in the competition!
High School Science Bowl Teams Bring Home 3rd & 5th Place Wins
February 23, 2019
The Cardinal High School Science Bowl Teams brought home 3rd & 5th place victories in the Pantex Regional Science Bowl on Saturday. We are so proud of their hard work and dedication! It was a tough competition between 16 of the top public and private schools in the Texas Panhandle.
Middle School Artists at Art Gallery
February 02, 2018
Several middle school artists were chosen for a special gallery showing of their recent projects in the Ascension Student Gallery at Sunset Center for First Friday Art Walk...
The 7th-grade exhibitors are Aaron Arenivas, Belle Buse, Hugo Diaz, Andrew Dominguez, Ben Jones, Braiden McCain, Hannah Nguyen, Jillian Sawyer, Will Severn, Gweneth Shaddon and Hoyt Waldrop.
The 8th-grade exhibitors are Rickey Allford, Preston Campbell, Sadie Chitwood, Cole Drummond, Emma Engler, Kayla Gutierrez and Zane Johnson.
Middle School Team Wins Mock Science Bowl
January 31, 2018
The Middle School Science Bowl Team of Adi Srikanth, Rohit Saralaya, Will Severn, Mehtan Rahman, and Kinza Rahman challenged attorneys from the law firm of Burdett, Morgan, Williamson & Boykin in a Mock Science Bowl at the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce today... And Won!
Muscial Awards for Band and Orchestra Members
January 29, 2018
Nathan Bartley for representing Ascension at the Region 1 All-Region Concert Band at WTAMU!
Aaron Arenivas, Aditi Nair, and Lauren Stovall each received top scores for their violin solos in the UIL Solo and Ensemble Contest at Amarillo College!
December 16, 2017
In the Tarpley Band Member Spotlight this week we find Ascension Academy Sophomore Dalton Mote.
This 16-year-old band standout is an Amarillo native who earns high marks from Ascension Academy Wind Ensemble Director Kellie Bartley.
December 02, 2017
Friday was truly a first for art students at Ascension Academy. The monthly First Friday Art Walk at The Galleries at Sunset Center, 3701 Plains Blvd., featured the debut of the Ascension Academy Art Gallery — a student-run, professional gallery that is the first of its kind in Amarillo.
Ascension Academy Art Students Gallery Opening
December 01, 2017
Art aficionados now have the opportunity to view some amazing artwork by the Ascension Academy Studio Art students by visiting their n e w student-run art gallery in Sunset Art Galleries of Amarillo located at 3701 Plains Boulevard, Suite 94.
Summerhill: Outcome-based education leads to college success
September 23, 2017
Every school has, in one form or another, a mission designed to produce specific outcomes in student performance and aptitudes. These have ranged from equipping young people to enter the workforce, inspiring them to become good and productive citizens, or preparing them to secure college acceptances.
