The National Alliance of Christian Schools (NACS) began as the Southern Baptist Association of Christian Schools (SBACS) which was organized in February 1979 by a group of educators at the Christian School  Management Seminar hosted at the Southern  Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville, TN. Their intent was to create and associating body of Southern Baptist Christian schools. A constitution and by-laws were adopted and officers were elected shortly thereafter. The Executive Committee held annual meetings and hosted Summer Conferences for member schools through the 1980s.

In 1993, SBACS hired its first Executive Director, Dr. John Chandler, who led the association through incorporation in 1995, established the Outstanding Scholars award program in 1996, achieved 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in 1997, and created a unique relationship with Dr. Glen Schultz who was hired by the Baptist Sunday School Board to head the new Christian School Department. This relationship was instrumental is forming a solid foundation for the association in Kingdom Education.

Then in 2003, SBACS hired Dr. Ed Gamble as the second Executive Director upon Dr. Chandler’s retirement. Dr. Gamble and Dr. Schultz started the Building a Kingdom School Institute (now known as the Kingdom School Institute KSi) in 2003. The association by-laws were rewritten in 2004. The first Business Administrator Roundtable was held in 2003, the Outstanding Scholars and Musician Scholarship program began in 2004, and Christian School 101, a program to start new Christian schools, was instituted in 2006. Through this program Dr. Gamble, with the help of Dr. Sonny Sherrill and others, started over 30 Christian schools. The SBACS Virtual Academy and Guidance Counselor Roundtable were added to the association in 2013.

Upon Dr. Gamble’s retirement in 2016, SBACS hired Dr. Wesley Scott as the third and current Executive Director. Dr. Scott has worked with the Board of Trustees on their 2020 Vision Strategic Plan and started more roundtables (Heads of School, Admissions Directors, Fine Arts Directors, and Athletic Directors). In 2018 the Board of Trustees created an Accreditation Committee which instituted the creation of the KingdomEd Accreditation program, based on the principles of Kingdom Education. In 2020, the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA) approved the program.

With the new accreditation program, emphasis on a national presence, and a desire to help smaller Christian schools reach accredited status the Board of Trustees began to seek the Lord’s will regarding possibly re-branding the association. After much discussion, counsel, and prayer, in 2019 the Board of Trustees voted to re-brand to the DBA National Alliance of Christian Schools (NACS), retaining its legal name as SBACS. “National” to express the reach of the organization. “Alliance” because Christian schools/parents and Christian schools/churches for alliances to impact students for the Kingdom and the organization wants to form alliances with Christian schools to serve them in their vision and mission.