Lead Forward. Find Your Voice. Build Your Legacy.
At the Ann Richards School, leadership isn’t about having a title. It’s about knowing yourself, understanding the people around you, finding your voice, and having the courage to put your strengths to work.
Leadership Starts Here
The ACE Leadership Institute is where our Stars get to explore what that really means, and then practice it, in the classroom and out in the community.
What Does ACE Stand For?
ACE honors Ann, Cecile, and Ellen Richards, three women whose leadership and legacy still inspire our school community today. Their stories remind us that leadership can look many different ways, but it always starts with the courage to make a difference.
Five Leadership Threads
ACE gives our whole school a shared language for leadership, built around five ideas:
- Accountability: Own your choices
- Adaptability: Grow when things get hard
- Advocacy: Speak up for what matters
- Collaboration: Do great things together
- Empathy: Lead with understanding and compassion
These are skills our Stars carry with them into the classroom, their communities, college, and well beyond.
Built on STARS
Every Ann Richards School student already takes STARS, our daily leadership class. ACE builds on that strong foundation and ties our leadership work together, so every Star has a consistent experience from sixth through twelfth grade.
ACE Summer Leadership Academy
Three Days of Learning to Lead
Over the summer, the ACE Summer Leadership Academy became the first major experience of the ACE Leadership Institute. Approximately 50 high school Stars, all students who had already shown leadership on campus and wanted to keep growing, came together for three days of learning, reflection, and connection.
What Stars Experienced
Through hands-on workshops, guest speakers, quiet moments of reflection, and plenty of team-building, students:
- Explored their values, strengths, and communication styles
- Shaped their own personal vision for leadership
- Practiced the everyday skills of listening, public speaking, conflict resolution, and giving and receiving feedback
Putting It Into Action
The Academy wasn’t just about ideas. Stars turned what they learned into capstone projects and shared them at a closing recognition ceremony. Along the way, they considered how their own strengths and experiences can help them make a difference in the communities they care about.
With Gratitude to the Tejemos Foundation
This work is made possible in part by the generous support of the Tejemos Foundation. Their partnership is helping us expand leadership education and give students real opportunities to find their voices, build their skills, and practice leading in the real world.
Leadership You Can Practice Every Day
The ACE Leadership Institute carries forward a legacy of leadership while giving Stars the chance to build their own. At the Ann Richards School, students don’t have to wait to become leaders. They can start practicing today.