Bayou Academy

Bayou Academy
Location
1291 Crosby Road Cleveland, Mississippi 38732
Coordinates	33.762°N 90.763°W / 33.762; -90.763
Information
Type	Private
Established	1964[1]
Head of School	Will Reed[1]
Faculty	30.5 (on FTE basis)[2]
Grades	Pre-Kindergarten to 12
Enrollment	350
Student to teacher ratio	7.1[2]
Color(s)	Royal Blue, and White[3]
Athletics conference	MAIS Div. AAA District 1[3]
Mascot	Colts[3]
Rivals	Lee Academy, Indianola Academy
Accreditation	MAIS[3]
Affiliation	Non-sectarian[2]
Website	www.bayouacademy.net

Bayou Academy is a non-profit school located in unincorporated Bolivar County, Mississippi, near the City of Cleveland on Highway 8. The school serves about 500 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. The school is accredited by the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools.

History

Bayou Academy was founded in 1964 as a segregation academy.[4] In 1966, the all-white school board sold Skene Attendance Center to a white group called Skene Civic Improvement Society, Inc. for $1.00. The property was then leased to Bolivar Academy, achieving a transfer of public property to the segregationist group.[5] After the United States Supreme Court decided Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education in 1969, ordering the desegregation of public schools in the South, the all-white Bayou Academy doubled its enrollment for the 1970 school year.[6] In 2009, the old Skene school building burned to the ground.[7]

In 2021 the former elementary school principal was arrested for placing a camera in the girls locker room.[8]

Of the 372 students who attended in the 2011–2012 school year, 99 percent were white.[9]

References

1. "Staff Directory | Bayou Academy". www.bayouacademy.net.
2. "Bayou Academy". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 2008-02-12. Total enrollment: 254
3. "Bayou Academy". Mississippi Association of Independent Schools. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15. Retrieved 2008-02-12.
4. Thornton, Mary (1983-04-21). "A Legacy of Legal Segregation Returns to Haunt a Small Town". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
5. "Board seeks return of school". Clarksdale, Mississippi: Clarksdale Press Register. November 29, 1983. Retrieved 15 July 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Jason Sokol (14 August 2007). There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945-1975. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-307-27550-9. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
7. Hartfield, Charles. "Abandoned School Set Ablaze: Fraternity Fundraiser Jeopardized". Archived from the original on February 1, 2017.
8. Warren, Anthony (February 1, 2022). "School principal charged with attempted child exploitation". WLBT. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
9. "Bayou Academy". Private School Universe Survey. U.S. Department of Education.

External links

• Bayou Academy