Our History

In 2017, Rebecca Foley and Angela Wakeman co-founded Providence Hybrid Academy, driven by their love for Jesus, a deep passion for meaningful education, and a desire to offer families an innovative alternative to traditional schooling.

Angela Wakeman had been a public school English teacher, holding a master’s degree in English. Yet she was wary of the idea of homeschooling on her own. She loved the idea of creating a holistic educational opportunity that honored childhood and would also benefit other families.

Rebecca Foley had personal knowledge of homeschooling and dreamt of starting a school. She suggested that the works of Charlotte Mason might be the best inspiration for their endeavors. With her vision for educational options, and her master’s degrees in educational leadership and economics, she forged the path ahead towards forming an educational non-profit that would serve homeschooling families.

The hybrid model of schooling seemed like a fantastic in-between approach to education—part private school, part homeschool.

In the fall of 2017, Providence Hybrid Academy opened its doors for the first time with 22 students in two classes. By 2019, they had five classes and 65 students. Like many other schools, they were impacted by the pandemic and decided to close for a year. They hoped to reopen, and to their surprise, in 2021 they had record level enrollment of over 100 students in grades K-7!

PHA is now housed across two campuses, with both a Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday program serving over 200 students in K-10th grade.

PHA is currently growing and expanding its programing and is looking forward to its first graduating high school class in 2027.

Angela Wakeman currently serves as Head of School and co-founder Rebecca Foley offers independent consulting, where she uses her expertise to help other founders navigate the process of launching hybrid programs—hopefully making their paths a bit smoother!