Jackson Academy (Mississippi)

Jackson Academy is an independent, co-educational school Jackson, Mississippi founded in 1959 as a segregation academy.[2] Its founder, Loyal M. Bearss, claimed he established the school to teach accelerated reading and spelling in early grades using a phonics program he developed.[3][4] The school enrolls nearly 1200 students in grades K3 through 12, and is one of the largest independent schools in Mississippi.[5]

Jackson Academy
Address
4908 Ridgewood Road

Jackson
,
Mississippi
Coordinates32°21′45″N 90°8′28″W
Information
TypePrimary and Secondary Independent
MottoIntegrity, Achievement, Growth.
Established1959
FounderLoyal M Bearss
PresidentJack Milne
GradesK3 through 12
Enrollment1,183
Color(s)Navy, Silver and White
AthleticsBaseball, Basketball, Cross-Country, Dance/Cheer, Football, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track, Volleyball
MascotRaiders
NicknameJA
AccreditationSACS,[1] SAIS
YearbookReflections
AffiliationsNAIS, MAIS
WebsiteOfficial Website

History
See also: Education segregation in the Mississippi Red Clay region

In 1959, Loyal Bearss and ten families founded Jackson Academy, with the mission to teach children reading through the use of Bearss' phonics method, Beginning Phonics, developed while Bearss was working as a director of the speech and hearing clinic at University of Southern Mississippi, and as a faculty member at Millsaps College.[6]

By November 1960, JA was a private school corporation, jointly owned by the parents of its 49 students, and supervised by a board of directors elected from those parents.[7] The school served kindergarten (then called primer) and first through fifth grade.[7]

In 2008, JA started working towards becoming an Apple one-to-one environment.[8] In 2014, the school was selected as an Apple Distinguished School,[9] and maintains a 100% Apple Teacher certification, while providing all students in K5 through 12th grade with Apple devices for digital learning.[8]

The academy's board of trustees established the James Peter Jernberg, Jr. Scholars program in 2014.[10] The scholarship provides up to full tuition and fees for several students a year, and is named for President Emeritus Peter Jernberg, who led the school from 1988 to 2014.[10][11]

Racial segregation

For the 1965–1966 school year, 41% of Jackson Academy's tuition revenue came from grants provided by the state of Mississippi. In 1969, in Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi ruled that, since, in the court's opinion, Jackson Academy would refuse to admit qualified Black students, the tuition grant program violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.[12]

Jackson Academy's enrollment tripled in 1970 when a court ordered Jackson public schools to desegregate.[13] Later in 1970, Jackson Academy lost its tax exempt status after the school declined to provide the IRS with documentation that the school had race blind admissions policy.[14][13]

In 1973, the FCC was asked to revoke WLBT's broadcasting license because the station's largest shareholder, William Mounger, also served as a Jackson Academy Vice President.[13] The FCC filing stated that, since Mounger was affiliated with an institution that practiced racial segregation, he was not fit to hold a broadcasting license.[13][15][16] In 1974, the FCC rejected the complaint as untimely since the evidence of Mounger's association with the school and the school's discriminatory practices was available from at least 1969.[17]

In April 1979, Jackson Academy's campus was damaged in the Jackson Easter flood. The school resumed classes in temporary facilities provided by local churches.[18] Jackson Academy was forced to vacate the churches after a civil rights attorney filed a lawsuit to force the IRS to remove the churches' tax exempt status since the churches were aiding a racially segregated school.[19] The attorney who filed the IRS complaint, Frank Parker, recalled that he received so many threats of violence that he had to leave Mississippi for several weeks.[20]

As of 1982, no African-Americans had ever applied to or attended Jackson Academy. The headmaster at the time, Glenn Cain, explained "People of like kind educate better together."[21]

In 1986, the school enrolled its first two Black students.[22][23] Jackson Academy was the first segregation academy in the Jackson area to enroll black students.[22] Cain was succeeded by Jernberg as headmaster in 1988.[11]

In 2001, Jackson Academy had its first black graduate.[24][25]

As of 2009, the school was over 98% white, whereas Jackson city schools were 97.6% black.[26]

In the 2017-18 school year, Jackson Academy had 1,183 students. Not including pre-K, the students were 85% white, 13.4% black, and 1% Asian, with the remaining percentage split between Hispanic students and students of two or more races.[27]

Affiliations

Jackson Academy is accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.[1]

Jackson Academy is part of the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas that governs athletic competition for its member schools. Previously named the Mississippi Private School Association (MPSA), the organization was initially founded in 1968 as an accrediting agency for segregation academies. In 2019, the organization became the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, then the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools.[28][29][30]

Performing arts

In 2010, Jackson Academy opened an 800-seat performing arts center.[31]

JA has two competitive show choirs, the high school-aged group "Encore" and the middle school-aged group "Showtime".[32] The program hosts an annual competition.[33]

Athletics

In 1989, a retired NFL player, Glenn Collins, was the color commentator for Jackson Academy football radio broadcasts. Collins, who is black, was instructed by Jackson Academy athletic director Bobby West not to attend the game to be played at East Holmes Academy on account of his race. When he was later interviewed about his action, West attempted to cast blame onto a supposed third party whom he refused to name, explaining that he had "passed along the information given" to him, disclosing neither the source nor substance of any such "information."[34]

Jackson Academy currently fields 23 athletics teams, 10 male and 13 female.[35] JA's football team, which competes in the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools, won nine state titles from 1995 to 2016.[36]

Alumni

References
  1. Institution Summary, AdvancED, Retrieved 2012-07-10
  2. McGee, Meredith Coleman (2013-03-21). James Meredith: Warrior and the America that Created Him. ABC-CLIO. p. 40. ISBN 9780313397400.
  3. McIntire, Carl (December 1, 1963). "Try New-Old Methods: Jackson Academy Plans Open House Next Sunday" (PDF). Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi). p. 58. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  4. Dilmore, John (January 25, 1996). "Bearss discusses JA founding" (PDF). Northside Sun. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  5. "Bunting and Lyon's private school directory". Comprehensive Directory of Private Schools.
  6. "The History of Jackson Academy 1959-2019". The Northside Sun. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  7. "13 Nov 1960, Page 49 - Clarion-Ledger at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. "Jackson Academy to launch distance learning". WJTV. 2020-03-21. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
  9. "Jackson Academy selected as an Apple Distinguished School". www.wlbt.com. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  10. "EDUCATION CONNECTION—Jackson Academy Jernberg Scholars Program - Mississippi Christian Living". web.archive.org. 2016-10-28. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  11. "Jernberg scholar". The Northside Sun. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  12. Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission  296 F. Supp. 1389 (S.D. Miss. 1969) 
  13. Ruby, Robert (November 30, 1973). "FCC asked to Reconsider". Delta Democrat Times. p. 16.
  14. Sparks, John (October 7, 1970). "IRS Revokes tax Status of another 14 Schools". Clarion Ledger. p. 1.
  15. Kay, Mills (2004). Changing channels: the civil rights case that transformed television. Jackson, Miss.: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604736045. OCLC 774384400.
  16. Gent, George (27 November 1973). "Church Group Seeks to Bar TV License". The New York Times.
  17. United States. Federal Communications Commission. FCC Reports, Second Series, Volume 48, August 16, 1974 to October 18, 1974, report, 1976; Washington D.C.; page 810
  18. "Jackson Academy relocating classrooms to area churches". Clarion-Ledger. April 21, 1979. p. 4.
  19. Harrist, Ron (September 28, 1979). "Kids takes from temporary school when tax exemption issue raised". Hattiesburg American. p. 2.
  20. "Civil Rights Lawyer Sees Changes". Greenwood Commonwealth. May 2, 1985. p. 7.
  21. Weaver, Nancy (November 29, 1982). "Race Remains a Factor in School Choice". Clarion Ledger. p. 12.
  22. "Jackson Academy Enrolls Black Students". Clarksdale Press Register. September 5, 1986. p. 2.
  23. Johnson, Hayes (September 5, 1986). "Academy Enrolls Black Student for First Time". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1B.
  24. Wesley, Joan Marshall; Dalbey, Matthew; Harris, William M. (2005). "Urban Segregation in the Deep South: Race, Education, and Planning Ethics in Jackson, Mississippi". Race, Gender & Class. 12 (3/4): 11–30. ISSN 1082-8354. JSTOR 41675259.
  25. Hayden, Cathy. "JA to graduate 1st black pupil". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1.
  26. Pettus, Emily (July 3, 2009). "Four decades later, freedom rider returns to Mississippi". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  27. "Search for Private Schools - School Detail for JACKSON ACADEMY". nces.ed.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  28. Mack Spencer. "When is a recruit not a recruit? Good question". Franklin Banner-Tribune. Retrieved January 6, 2013.
  29. Suzanne E. Eckes (2002). Separate by design, unequal by mistake: the current barriers to educational integration in Delta County. University of Wisconsin Madison. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  30. The Clarion-Ledger: Miss. sports group MPSA changes name; Archived at WebCite
  31. "Jackson Academy Performing Arts Center". CANIZARO CAWTHON DAVIS. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  32. "SCC: Viewing School - Jackson Academy". Show Choir Community. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  33. Floyd, Nell. "Young Director Brings Commitment & Enthusiasm to JA's Encore". Productions Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  34. Press, From Associated (1989-10-12). "White School Accused of Barring Black Broadcaster". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
  35. "Jackson Academy Raiders Official Athletic Site". goraiders.org. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  36. dkerekes@themeridianstar.com, Drew Kerekes. "Weems takes over at Jackson Academy". Meridian Star. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  37. "Oscar Nominations 2012: Full List". ABC News. ABC. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  38. Jackson, Robyn (September 7, 2011). "How Brunson Green 'Helped'". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
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