Madison-Ridgeland Academy
Address
7601 Old Canton Road

Madison
,
Mississippi

United States
Coordinates32°26′59″N 90°6′25″W / 32.44972°N 90.10694°W / 32.44972; -90.10694
Information
TypeIndependent
MottoEducating the Mind, Body & Spirit
Religious affiliation(s)Christianity
Established1969
School district6A
DeanHerbert Davis (high school)
Danny White (middle school)
PrincipalGreg Self (high school)
Ben Haindel (middle school)
Headmaster"Termie" Land
GradesK3-12
GenderCoeducational
Enrollment1,200 (est.)
CampusSuburban
Color(s)MRA Red, White, Patriot Blue
     
AthleticsBasketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Track & Field, Cross Country, Tennis, Soccer, Volleyball, and Archery
NicknamePatriots
RivalJackson Prep, Jackson Academy
AccreditationSACS, SAIS, MAIS
NewspaperThe Patriot Recap
AffiliationsMississippi Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Websitewww.mrapats.org

Madison-Ridgeland Academy (MRA, Madison-Ridgeland) is a private, co-educational school in Madison, Mississippi, for students from K-3 through 12th grade. It was founded in 1969 as a segregation academy. There are 4 divisions; the Kindergarten (K3-K5), the Elementary (1st–5th grade), the Middle School (6th–8th grade), and the High School (9th–12th).

History

Madison-Ridgeland Academy was established in 1969 as a segregation academy,[1] to serve the communities of Madison, Ridgeland and other surrounding cities.[2] MRA was housed in a Madison church for its first year as a school; the following year the school relocated to their first facility on their 25 acre campus.[3] In 1971, MRA joined the Mississippi Private School Association, a group formed to legitimize segregation academies.[4]

In 1970, MRA was one of three segregation academies named in a lawsuit by the NAACP because the state provided public funding enabling the private schools to prolong school segregation.[5]

In 2019, University of Mississippi chancellor Glenn Boyce was criticized because of his past affiliation with Madison-Ridgeland Academy.[6]

Dress code

The school has a strict dress code and does not allow any bright colored clothing other than school colors nor Black hairstyles such as cornrows, dreadlocks or twists.[7]

Demographics

As of 1986, the school had never enrolled a black student, although it had a nondiscrimination policy and had received several inquiries.[8] As of 2012, 95 percent of the students were white, 2 percent were Asian and 2 percent were black.[9]

In 2019, Nicolas Rowan became the school's first African-American salutatorian.[10]

Athletics

The school's sports programs have won multiple MAIS football championships, the most recent being in 2021. The school nickname is Patriots.[11]

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ Klein, Rebecca (2018-12-14). "The Segregation Academies That Now Ban Pregnant And LGBTQ Students". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  2. ↑ Hamby, Tom (December 27, 1969). "Whites deserting canton schools". Clarion Ledger. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "History - Madison-Ridgeland Academy | Independent School, Madison, MS".
  4. ↑ Flora IV, Ernest (2020). Instant Schools: The Frenzied Formation And Early Days Of The Mississippi Private School Association (PHD thesis). University of Mississippi. p. 97.
  5. ↑ "State NAACP hits private school books". Greenwood Commonwealth. September 2, 1970. p. 1.
  6. 1 2 Payne, Daniel (October 5, 2009). "New chancellor worked at three 'segregation academies' early in his career". The Daily Mississippian. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  7. ↑ Pittman, Ashton (December 21, 2018). "Mississippi's 'Seg Academies' Creating National Dialogue". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Hayes (September 5, 1986). "Academy Enrolls Black Student for First Time". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1B.
  9. ↑ "Great Schools: Madison-Ridgeland Academy". Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  10. ↑ Clark, Patrice (May 28, 2019). "First African-American MRA salutatorian scores millions in scholarships, chooses to attend Naval Academy". Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  11. ↑ "Madison-Ridgeland Academy's defense dominates in MAIS 6A championship win vs. Hartfield Academy".
  12. ↑ "Jack Carlisle".
  13. ↑ "Official Website of the Atlanta Falcons Football Club".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.