"Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge." -Proverbs 23:12

Leatherwood Academy

Leatherwood Academy is a nonpublic, private school registered with the PA Department of Education for Kindergarten through 12th grade. We are located in the center of New Bethlehem at 363 Broad Street. Established in 2022 by Little Bird Preschool and Leatherwood Church, Leatherwood Academy is a ministry of Leatherwood Church providing alternative educational oppurtunities to the community. Our mission is to provide a safe, encouraging, and supportive learning environment which nurtures curiosity, wonder, and lifelong learning while giving back to the community. For the 2025-26 school year, we will be offering Kindergarten through 6th grade. We are currently seeking funds for three areas of need: scholarship/benevolence, technology/programming, and renovations. Over the next year, we plan to renovate the top floor of the building to complete our elementary classrooms. This floor will include a STEM lab, computer lab and several alternative spaces for large and small group learning. It will also have a teacher preparation room and storage space for all the seasonal and educational supplies that make learning fun. To learn more about us please take a moment to view our website or follow us on www.facebook.com/LeatherwoodAcademy. You can also call 814-275-3515 to speak to our director, Heather Gourley, and schedule a tour. We would love to show you what we have been up to and how our students are thriving.

Student Application Form

Preschool registration takes place on the last Monday in April each year. These spots are first come, first served. A reminder announcement will be posted to the Leatherwood Academy - Little Bird Primary Facebook page and letters will be sent home with current students. 

Kindergarten to Fifth Grade spots are open for enrollment until classes reach capacity. Please contact the school by calling (814) 275-3515 or emailing leatherwoodacademy@gmail.com for more information.

Scholarships and grants are available for qualifying families. Leatherwood Academy ~ Little Bird Primary Fundraising Committee also organize four opportunities during the school year to assist families with monthly tuition. 

Mission Statement

Leatherwood Academy strives to provide a safe, encouraging, and supportive learning environment which nurtures curiosity, wonder, and lifelong learning while giving back to the community.

Tenets of Faith

Leatherwood Academy is a ministry of Leatherwood Church and as such reflects the position of the church concerning tenets of faith.

• We believe that there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God. 

• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious atonement through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal and visible return in power and glory.

• We believe that man was created in the image of God, that he was tempted by Satan and fell, and that, because of the exceeding sinfulness of human nature, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for salvation.

• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by Whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life, and by Whom the church is empowered to carry out Christ’s great commission.

• We believe in the bodily resurrection of both the saved and the lost; those who are saved unto the resurrection of life and those who are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.