Ascension School opened its doors to parish children in September of 1929 with 156 students enrolled in grades one through eights. The school was staffed by four Sisters of Providence who taught double grade classes. 

The Students who attended Ascension School during its early days lived close enough to walk to school, including those who lived in nearby Arbutus. The girls enjoyed outdoor recess in a small play area located between the school and the convent and the boys played on the Poplar Avenue side of the building.

In spite of the Depression, Ascension Parish and School prospered during the 1930s. Enrollment continued to climb and the four-room school became too small to accommodate the growing number of students. By 1940, Ascension realized that the parish would need to acquire additional space for the school.  A house on the corner of Arbutus and Maple Avenues was purchased by Ascension Parish to provide additional classrooms for the lower grades of the school. The building was commonly referred to as the “annex.” It housed the first and second grades for the 1941-1942 school year and then building renovations created the classroom space to accommodate the first through fourth grades in the annex. The fifth through eighth grades continued to occupy the four classrooms on the top floor of the church-school building.

The growing population in Halethorpe and in the neighboring communities of Arbutus and Wynnewood, along with an increased demand for an Ascension School education, prompted the parish to begin plans for the construction of a new, larger building to house its students. The site chosen by the building committee was the land on which the annex stood.

The new Ascension School building opened its doors on September 7, 1960 with almost 500 students enrolled for grades one through eight. The school building was dedicated by the Most Reverend Francis P. Keough, Archbishop of Baltimore, on May 11, 1961, the feast of the Ascension.

Ascension School has grown and matured during its eighty year history. Graduates may remember different uniforms, types of desks, activites, books and technology, but one thread that weaves them together is the fact that they are Ascension School graduates. Ascension School has been more than an educational institution during the past eighty yeas- it has been a multi-generational extended family.

                                                      Written by Theresa Spliedt