Columbia Academy (Mississippi)

Columbia Academy is private school in Columbia, Mississippi, that was founded as a segregation academy in 1969 to provide white-only education.

Columbia Academy
Location
1548 Hwy 98 E Columbia , Mississippi 39429 United States
Coordinates	31.2534°N 89.7793°W / 31.2534; -89.7793
Information
Type	Private school
Religious affiliation(s)	Christian (no specific denomination)
Established	1969 (1969)
NCES School ID	00735909[1]
Head of school	Angie Burkett[2]
Teaching staff	42.9 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades	PK–12
Gender	Co-educational
Enrollment	460 (2017–2018, excluding PK)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	10.7[1]
Color(s)	Orange, white, and royal blue
Nickname	Cougars
Website	www.cacougars.com

History

Columbia Academy was created in September 1969 for white students in grades 1-8 as an alternative to attending public schools with black students.^[3][4] Grades 9-12 were added in January 1970, after a meeting at the Marion County Annex.^[5] The first headmaster was Thomas Blakeney.

While the school has a non-discriminatory admissions policy, over 99% of the student body are white.^[6] As of 2018, the school had 460 students, 457 of whom were white, and designates itself a Christian school. Of the three non-white students, one was Asian, one was Hispanic, and one was black.^[1]

Admissions policy excludes married or pregnant students, and any student who becomes married or pregnant is not allowed to continue.^[2]

In 2019 Columbia Academy was one of several segregation academies awarded money by the Mississippi State Legislature through a program for students with disabilities, even though the school does not provide services for those students.^[7]

Notable people

Logan Cooke, NFL punter^[8]