Bayou Academy
Bayou Academy is a non-profit segregation academy located in unincorporated Bolivar County, Mississippi, near the City of Cleveland on Highway 8. The school serves about 500 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. The school is accredited by the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.
Bayou Academy | |
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Location | |
Bayou Academy | |
Coordinates | 33.762°N 90.763°W |
Information | |
Type | Private |
Established | 1964[1] |
Principal | Keith Aycock (elementary)[2] |
Headmaster | Curt McCain[1] |
Faculty | 30.5 (on FTE basis)[3] |
Grades | Pre-Kindergarten to 12 |
Enrollment | 350 |
Student to teacher ratio | 7.1[3] |
Color(s) | Royal Blue, and White[4] |
Athletics conference | MAIS Div. AAA District 1[4] |
Mascot | Colts[4] |
Rivals | Lee Academy, Indianola Academy |
Accreditation | MAIS[4] |
Affiliation | Non-sectarian[3] |
Website | www.bayouacademy.net |
History
Bayou Academy was founded in 1964 as a segregation academy.[5] In 1966, the all-white school board sold Skene Attendance Center to a white group called Skene Civic Improvement Society, Inc. for $1.00. The property was then leased to Bolivar Academy, achieving a transfer of public property to the segregationist group.[6] After the United States Supreme Court decided Alexander v. Holmes in 1969, ordering the desegregation of public schools in the South, the all-white Bayou Academy doubled its enrollment for the 1970 school year.[7] In 2009, the old Skene school building burned to the ground.[8]
It is notable that in the 2010 census, the City of Cleveland was 47.5 percent white,[9] and Bolivar County was 33.5 percent white.[10] Demographic data for Bayou Academy shows that of the 372 students who attended in the 2011–2012 school year, 99 percent were white.[11]
Sports
Bayou academy Elementary hosts several sports for different grades including: cross country (boys and girls), swim (boys and girls), peewee basketball (boys and girls), peewee cheer (girls), peewee football (boys). The sports in Bayou Academy high school register in grades starting at 7th grade and ends with 12th grade. The following sports are played by both male and female: Track, cross country, basketball, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis. The next few sports are male only: Football, baseball. The following sports are female only: Cheer, softball
References
- "Headmaster". Bayou Academy. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- "Administrator". Bayou Academy. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- "Bayou Academy". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
Total enrollment: 254
- "Bayou Academy". Mississippi Association of Independent Schools. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
- Thornton, Mary (1983-04-21). "A Legacy of Legal Segregation Returns to Haunt a Small Town". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
- "Board seeks return of school". Clarksdale, Mississippi: Clarksdale Press Register. November 29, 1983. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
- Jason Sokol (14 August 2007). There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945-1975. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-307-27550-9. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- http://www.dsusinfonia.org/2009-09-06.shtml
- "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - Cleveland, Mississippi". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12.
- "Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics - Bolivar County, Mississippi". U.S. Census Bureau. 2010. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12.
- "Bayou Academy". Private School Universe Survey. U.S. Department of Education.