Ray Brooks School
Ray Brooks School is a K-12 school in unincorporated Bolivar County, Mississippi, near Benoit, and a part of the West Bolivar Consolidated School District. In September 2015 it had 214 students. Its namesake was its first principal, Ray Brooks; it was originally known as the Nugent Center School,[1] and until 2014 was the only school of the Benoit School District.
Ray Brooks School | |
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Ray Brooks School Ray Brooks School | |
1827 Hwy 1 , 38725 United States | |
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Information | |
School type | Public |
School district | West Bolivar Consolidated School District (2014-) Benoit School District (1959-2014) |
Grades | K - 12 |
Website | www |
History
The school built in 1959, originally served grades 1-12.[1] It was also known as Benoit High School.[2] In 1986 it was redesignated as a Kindergarten through 9th grade school.[1] High school students were assigned to West Bolivar High School of the West Bolivar School District, in Rosedale.[2]
In 1998 the school received its current name.[1] In 1999 it had 320 students,[3] and in 2000 it had 268 students; that year principal Barbara Akon described it as the smallest school in the state.[4]
High school classes resumed in 2000.[2] Linda Coleman, a Democrat member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from Mound Bayou, stated that the costs of transporting children to West Bolivar from Benoit were too high.[5] The first high school class of that generation graduated in 2002.[1] In 2002 the school was the second smallest school in the state.[2]
It was operated by the Benoit School District until July 1, 2014, when that district was consolidated into West Bolivar Consolidated.[6]
References
- "Ray Brooks School." West Bolivar Consolidated School District. Retrieved on July 2, 2017.
- "Wilson hopes to break out the shoes'." Franklin County Times. January 10, 2002. Retrieved on July 3, 2017.
- "Best Practices-Technology: A one-school district in Mississippi proves that size doesn’t matter: Infusion of new technology will give the district’s 320 students all the advantages of larger systems." eSchoolNews. June 1, 1999. Retrieved on July 3, 2017.
- Hopkins, Gary (2000). "All Aboard the Success Express: On the Road With the Secretary of Education Day 3". Education World. Retrieved 2017-07-03. - Akon's quote and information about the school are in the right-hand sidebar
- Wright, Megan (2012-05-12). "Bill passes to consolidate Delta county's school districts". Mississippi Business Journal. Retrieved 2017-07-03.
Coleman noted that West Bolivar and Benoit combined high schools for a time in the 1990s, but said transportation costs were too high.
- "School District Consolidation in Mississippi." Mississippi Professional Educators. December 2016. Retrieved on July 2, 2017. Page 2 (PDF p. 3/6).
Further reading
- "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Bolivar County, MS" (PDF). 2010 U.S. Census. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2017-08-01. - Includes the Benoit School District boundary, which was the attendance boundary of the Ray Brooks School up to July 1, 2014
External links
- Ray Brooks School - West Bolivar Consolidated School District
- Benoit School District at the Wayback Machine (archive index) (at the time Ray Brooks was the sole school of the Benoit School District)