Columbia, South Carolina • March 6, 2025
Ascent Classical Academies announced the delay of its planned Columbia campus to a Fall 2026 opening.
Last summer, Ascent Classical delayed its planned opening in Irmo for the 2024-2025 school year and refocused its efforts on the northeast side of Columbia. The second delay comes after an exhaustive search for a temporary or permanent facility that could be brought up to code prior to August 2025.
“We are finalizing negotiations on a permanent site in an existing building in the I-77/I-20 area,” stated ACA founder and executive director, Derec Shuler. “The requirements to have a K-12 publicly funded school site approved in South Carolina are extremely stringent, limiting options for a startup charter school. Charter schools do not receive public funding for our facilities and we have to obtain private financing, a partnership we have established on this new site, something for which we are thankful.”
The organization opened its first South Carolina campus in Rock Hill last year, serving grades K-8 for the 2024-2025 school year. Ascent Classical is approved to open another six schools across the state over the next few years, including two campuses in the Columbia metropolitan area.
As a public charter school, Ascent Classical schools offer a tuition-free, K-12 classical education to all students. The program emphasizes a well-rounded curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences with instruction in the timeless principles of virtue and character formation. To promote an orderly and distraction-free learning environment, ACA students wear uniforms and do not use technology in the classroom.
Interested parents are encouraged to visit ACA Columbia’s website to join the interest list and subscribe to receive important updates about the Columbia campus’ progress and more information about the Ascent Classical program.