| 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. [9]
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. [10]
Before it closed, Sumter sold an annual subscription to a weekly gun lottery. Each Wednesday, a gun would be given away. [11]
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.
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-most populous city. The population was 99,600 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 110,602 in 2022. It was known as Tuskaloosa until the early 20th century. It is also known as "the Druid City" because of the numerous water oaks planted in its downtown streets since the 1840s.
The University of Alabama is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the public universities in Alabama as well as the University of Alabama System. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
The University of Alabama, the state's oldest continuously public university, is a senior comprehensive doctoral-level institution located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The Montgomery Academy is a non-sectarian independent day school located in Montgomery, Alabama. The Lower School accommodates kindergarten through fourth grade and the Upper School fifth through twelfth. The school's current total enrollment is just under 900, of which approximately 300 are in the Upper School. Montgomery Academy was founded in 1959 as a segregation academy.
The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston Female Academy was selected in 1836, and four of the seven board members were Presbyterians.
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.
Benton Academy is an independent, co-educational college preparatory school in Benton, Mississippi. It is a member of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools. It was founded as a segregation academy in 1969, and still did not enroll a single black student as of 2010. The school is located in Yazoo County, Mississippi.
Central High School is a high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, enrolling grades 9 to 12. The school enrolls approximately 700 students, and is one of three traditional high schools in the Tuscaloosa City School District along with Paul W. Bryant High School and Northridge High School. Central High School offers the International Baccalaureate program.
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 and Willington Academy.
Brookwood High School is a high school in Brookwood, Alabama, in the United States and serves grades 9-12. It previously served grades 7-12 until 2002. It is the third largest high school in the Tuscaloosa County School System. The school was established in 1927. Prior to 2014, the school was housed in a building designed by noted architect Don Buel Schuyler, who was a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright. In 2012, construction began on a new state-of-the-art building and was completed in 2013. The new high school opened to students at the beginning of 2014. During the fall of 2022, TCSS broke ground on a new football stadium, though the facility is being paid for by a $18.2 million grant from the Alabama Board of Education.
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.
For the Methodist institution in Birmingham, Alabama of the same name that existed 1866-1923 see Sherman Industrial Institute
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.
Sports Leadership and Management Charter School (SLAM) is a public charter school for intermediate and secondary grade levels in Little Havana, Miami, Florida.
