The 1865 Academy was birthed out of the mind of a parent who attended the Charleston Forum where the plight of education and the disparities of reading were discussed. The question became , “What can we do as parents and the community?” The answer was to create a reading academy where any student could attend for free and receive the tools and resources they need to gain success in the future.

Parents, educators, community members, all believed that we all can be apart of the process and that we too can be the change that we want to see.