About Excelsior
Director's Note
Thank you for visiting our website. We are thankful that you are considering homeschooling your student and we trust that the Lord will guide you to the right decision for your family and to the right program.
Excelsior has meant a great deal to me and my family over the years. All three of my girls have not only excelled in their academics here, but have also created life-long friendships, and more importantly, grown in their faith and understanding of God's word and the world around them.
We want Excelsior to be a blessing to everyone that attends and our main goal is to: “Glorify God in all that we do.” We hope to come alongside you and your family on your educational journey.
Many blessings,
Ashlee Vickery
Director of Excelsior Academy
About Excelsior
Excelsior Academy has a long-standing history of excellence as an educational option for homeschooling families in the Midlands.
Excelsior first began as Masters Academy in 1997 under the direction of Zan Tyler. As the leader of the homeschooling movement in South Carolina, Zan pioneered the legislation to enable families to choose homeschooling as an educational option for their children.
Although Zan was almost arrested for fighting for the right to school her children as she deemed fit, she continued to trail-blaze a path so that we have the option to homeschool.
In addition to Excelsior, Zan and her husband, Joe, founded SCAIHS - the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools, which serves as one of the accountability options for homeschool families today.
This godly woman was then awarded the highest civilian honor in South Carolina, “The Order of the Palmetto.” Zan continues her work in the homeschool community by serving as an ambassador with BJU Press Homeschool and by participating in a weekly podcast about various topics regarding homeschooling.
Zan and her husband travel internationally participating in and speaking at homeschooling conferences. We are thankful that both Zan and Joe remain board members at Excelsior and bring their expertise and knowledge to this program.
Why Choose Excelsior?
As one of the oldest homeschool resource centers in the state, Excelsior Academy has stood the test of time through consistently meeting the ever-changing needs of its families and the greater community.
What began as Fine Arts Academy has morphed into a full academy for grades K4-12. What sets Excelsior apart from other programs is that the parent remains at the forefront of their children’s education.
Parents may choose to send their child for two days a week and get taught every core class they need, or parents may choose to enroll students in a class by class basis based on their age and grade level.
At Excelsior Academy, we hold with the tenet that parents have the right to choose what is best for their children and we hope that we are that choice.
Why We Started Excelsior
In 1997 I had a group of women approach me about starting a homeschool co-op in Columbia. Saying “no” to that was the easiest decision I had made in years! The state superintendent of education threatened me with jail when I began homeschooling in 1984. Fighting for homeschool freedom consumed the following eight years of my family’s life—years filled with lawsuits and legislative battles. Joe and I had started SCAIHS in 1990, I had been homeschooling for twelve years, and I was tired.
Besides, I knew of no homeschool co-ops in the state, although I’m sure a few small ones must have existed somewhere in SC. But these women who approached me were relentless and would not take no for an answer! And they had a plan. We had meetings in my living room, and they brought in the founder of Masters of Academy of Fine Arts (MAFA) from Atlanta to meet with us. Our team was on board with creating a co-op that taught literature and the fine arts from a biblical-worldview perspective, based on a different historical period for each year.
After a month of pondering, meeting, and praying, we started that co-op—and moms came out of the woodwork to join. It was the first time that most moms had experienced any real help or relief with the teaching load. (Remember, there were no on-line classes then either!)
I will never forget the first day our co-op met. We watched from the church portico as a mile-long line of mini vans materialized. We had never seen so many happy, relieved homeschool moms in one place in our lives! Our co-op was meeting a huge need from the first day it opened. And we never looked back.
We remained The Masters Academy of Fine Arts for a couple of years, and then our staff decided they wanted to become independent. Thus, we became Excelsior.
Many have said that the word for 2024 is community. Excelsior has been around for 27 years, serving the needs of homeschooling families. We have expanded our course offerings and grown exponentially. We also provide an enhanced sense of community through offering field trips and other opportunities for families and children/teens to enjoy being together and serving together.
Excelsior remains true to our founding mission. Our goal is to come alongside homeschooling families, to offer them help and support, to provide a strong sense of community—and to remain true to our original vision of teaching from a Biblical worldview and nurturing the faith of our children in the process.
Zan Tyler
Founder of Excelsior Academy
Click here to visit Zan’s website about homeschooling, or click here to listen to her podcast.
Excelsior Handbook
Check out our handbook to find our about us and our policies.
Mission Statement
Our goal as Christian parents is to raise children who love Christ and know how to apply the principles of their faith to the world around them.
We must intentionally and faithfully pass on to our children the mission of reclaiming and redeeming the culture for the glory of God.
This dominion mandate was first given in Genesis and is reconfirmed by Paul as he tells us we must learn “to bring every thought captive to Christ.”
We believe, and must affirm daily to our children, that all things (from the physical to the academic) hold together in Christ.
Statement of Faith
We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell. On the third day, He rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
We believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy apostolic church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.
Marriage and Sexuality
Excelsior Academy is guided by a long-standing traditional, biblical worldview which reflects the understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God, and that: sex assigned at birth is a person’s God-given, objective gender, whether or not it differs from their internal sense of “gender identity” (Genesis 1:27; Leviticus 18:22; Matthew 19:4; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10); sexual relations are for the purpose of the procreation of human life and the uniting and strengthening of the marital bond in self-giving love, purposes that are to be achieved solely through heterosexual relationships in marriage (Genesis 1:28; 2:24; Exodus 20:14; Proverbs 5:15-23; Matthew 19:5; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, 7:2-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3).
Misuses of God’s gift of human sexuality will be understood to include, but not be limited to gender expression inconsistent with sex assigned at birth (transgender), gender transition, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, heterosexual misconduct, homosexual conduct, or possession of pornographic materials.
In addition, Excelsior Academy considers indiscreet public display of affection as inappropriate behavior. Employees and students at Excelsior Academy are expected to conduct themselves at all times in accordance with the highest standards of Christian morality. It is particularly important to Excelsior Academy that high standards of sexual morality be observed among its employees and students.
Toward this end, Excelsior Academy may subject to disciplinary action, any employee or student who engages in or encourages: 1. Gender expression inconsistent with sex assigned at birth; 2. Gender transition; 3. Sexual relations with a person other than his/her spouse; 4. Sexual relations with a person of the same sex; 5. Touching, caressing, and other physical conduct of a sexual nature with a person of the same sex; 6. Touching, caressing, and other physical conduct of a sexual nature with a person of the opposite sex that is inappropriate to the time and place in which it occurs. Disciplinary action may include disciplinary termination or dismissal.
Our Leadership
Ashlee Vickery, Director
Ashlee has served as the Director of Excelsior Academy since 2012 and has over 20 years of homeschooling experience. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina in 1994 and was certified in Elementary Education. Ashlee is married to Kevin Vickery and has three daughters who attended Excelsior Academy. She is also very involved in the children’s ministry at her church and teaches Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Kid’s Club. Ashlee also started and led the Good News Club through Child Evangelism Fellowship in her local community.
Gail Lingerfelt, Assistant Director
Gail has served as the Assistant Director of Excelsior Academy since 2016. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible from The Master’s College, now The Master’s University, in 1992. Gail is married to Jeff Lingerfelt, President of Capitol Ambassadors. They joined Excelsior in 2005 when they began homeschooling their three children. Excelsior became and is an integral part of their homeschooling journey.
Our Board
- Bill Drees
- Cathy Drees
- Jeff Lingerfelt
- Kevin Raines
- Zan Tyler
- Joe Tyler
- Kevin Vickery