| Sumter Academy | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 32°31′56″N88°15′14″W / 32.5321004°N 88.2537875°W |
| Information | |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Closed | June 2017 |
| Faculty | 20 [1] |
| Enrollment | 170 (2016 [1] ) |
| Website | sumteracademy.org at the Wayback Machine (archive index) |
Sumter Academy was a private segregation academy PK-12 school for white students in unincorporated Sumter County, Alabama, near York. [2] It closed in 2017.
Sumter was founded in 1970 as a segregation academy. [3] Five hundred students enrolled the first year. [4] White students had been pulled out of public schools of the Sumter County School District. [5]
Sumter attracted the attention of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, prompting an inspection tour in 1982, along with eight other schools in Alabama [3]
In the early 1980s, headmaster Allyn Watts attributed the schools declining enrollment to a decline in anger about the racial desegregation of public schools. Watts wanted to seek nonprofit status to boost fundraising, but Sumter academy board was unwilling to fulfill IRS requirements and recruit minority students. [6]
In the 1990s it had about 400 students. As Sumter County experienced an overall population decline, the school's population also declined. [4] Circa 2015 it had 172 students. [7] In 2016, the school had one Asian student and no Black students enrolled. [1]
As of 2004, Sumter academy had no black faculty, although the headmaster had sought to hire a black teacher to serve as a role model to minority students. [8]
The school board decided to close the school in 2017. Headmaster Glenn Sanders stated that the school closed since it had fewer than 50 students and the school had budgeted for an enrollment of about 110. [7] Joe Nettles, the leader of the football team, stated that chatter about a proposed charter school convinced some prospective families that Sumter Academy was bound to decline and close anyway, so they chose not to enroll their children. Nettles also cited the decision to end the football team, made earlier that month, as it made some prospective families disinterested in the school. [4] University Charter School opened on the campus of the University of West Alabama in 2018. [5]
The school had a football team. In 2016 it had 17 members, with most of them being in the junior high school level. The team won one game in the 2016-2017 season. The school decided to end the team in July 2017, shortly before the decision to close the school occurred. [4]
The mascot was the bald eagle. The alma mater was designed by a committee, and the lyrics and music of the fight song were created by the class of 1985 and its advisor. [9]
Before it closed, Sumter sold an annual subscription to a weekly gun lottery. Each Wednesday, a gun would be given away. [10]
Sumter County is a county located in the west central portion of Alabama. At the 2020 census, the population was 12,345. Its county seat is Livingston. Its name is in honor of General Thomas Sumter of South Carolina. The University of West Alabama is in Livingston.
Livingston is a city in and the county seat of Sumter County, Alabama, United States and the home of the University of West Alabama. By an act of the state legislature, it was incorporated on January 10, 1835. At the 2010 census the population was 3,485, up from 3,297 in 2000. It was named in honor of Edward Livingston, of the Livingston family of New York.
The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama, United States. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a 130-acre (0.5 km2) campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Tuscumbia, Sheffield and Muscle Shoals. The four cities compose a metropolitan area with a combined population of 140,000 people.
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Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, and 1976, when the court ruled similarly about private schools.
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Jackson Preparatory School is a private school in Flowood, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, with a controversial history as a segregation academy. The school is coeducational and serves preschool through grade 12.
Pillow Academy (PA) is an independent, co-educational college preparatory school in unincorporated Leflore County, Mississippi, near Greenwood. It was founded by white parents in 1966 as a segregation academy to avoid having their children attend school with blacks.
Orangeburg Preparatory Schools, Inc. is an independent, college-preparatory, coeducational day school enrolling students in preschool through 12th grade. It is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Orangeburg Prep has two campuses: the Lower Campus, housing preschool to 5th grade; and the Upper Campus, housing grades 6 to 12. OPS also operates a year-round day care center on the Lower Campus. Orangeburg Prep was formed through the merger of two segregation academies, Wade Hampton Academy and Willington Academy.
The Donoho School is a private school in Anniston, Alabama, United States, that was honored by the Blue Ribbon Schools Program in 2005. The Donoho School serves students in grades PK through 12.
Wilcox Academy is an independent school in Camden, Alabama. It is accredited by the Alabama Independent School Association and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school has been described as a segregation academy.
Sumter County School District is a school district operating public schools in Sumter County, Alabama; its headquarters are in Livingston.
Tuscaloosa Academy (TA) is a private school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It has been described as a segregation academy.
Central Academy (CA) was a private school in Macon, Mississippi, at 300 Hale Street. It was founded in 1968 as a segregation academy. Central closed in 2017, citing dropping enrollments. The population of Noxubee County had dropped in every decade since 1940.
University Charter School (UCS) is a charter school in Lyon Hall, on the campus of the University of West Alabama in Livingston, Alabama.
Sumter County High School was a senior high school in York, Alabama. It was a part of the Sumter County School District.
Livingston High School was a senior high school in Livingston, Alabama. It was a part of the Sumter County School District.
Bessemer Academy is a private, non-denominational K–12 school in Bessemer, Alabama, founded in 1969 as a segregation academy.
