In the Fall of 1957, our Heavenly Father smiled upon Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 240 North Dunleith Avenue in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and blessed it with a Christian school, Ephesus Junior Academy. The founding visionaries were Elder Walter A. and Mrs. Florence Darby who realized the need to educate the head, hands and heart of students in grades one through eight. The Lord chose Mrs. Alice E. Brantley as the first principal-teacher and Mrs. Carol Howard Hammonds as the first teacher. The South Atlantic Conference President was Elder J. H. Wagner, Sr. and Elder Charles Cunningham was the Education Secretary.