Sumter Academy

Sumter Academy was a private segregation academy PK-12 school for white students in unincorporated Sumter County, Alabama, near York.[2]

Sumter Academy
Location
York, Alabama
Coordinates32.5321004°N 88.2537875°W / 32.5321004; -88.2537875
Information
Founded1970
ClosedJune 2017
Faculty20[1]
Enrollment170 (2016[1])
Websitesumteracademy.org at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

History

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 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.[6] In 2016, the school had one Asian student and no Black students enrolled.[1]

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.[6] Joe Nettles, the leader of the American 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.[7]

Athletics

The school had an American 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]

Culture

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.[8]

Before it closed, Sumter sold an annual subscription to a weekly gun lottery. Each Wednesday, a gun would be given away.[9]

References
  1. "Private School Universe Survey". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. Home. Sumter Academy. Retrieved on January 15, 2019. "181 Sumter Academy Road York, Alabama 36925"
  3. Johnson, Wanda B. (December 1983). Fifteen Years Ago: Rural Alabama Revisited (PDF). U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. p. 4. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  4. Taylor, Drew (June 21, 2017). "Sumter Academy shuts down following dwindling enrollment". Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  5. Farzan, Antonia Noori (2018-08-15). "Sumter County, Ala., just got its first integrated school. Yes, in 2018". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  6. Hall, Lindsey (2017-06-20). "Sumter Academy closes". WTOK. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
  7. Farzan, Antonia Noori (2018-08-15). "Sumter County, Ala., just got its first integrated school. Yes, in 2018". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-15. - This article includes statements by Nettles, citing the Tuscaloosa News article, linking his statements to the establishment of the charter school.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20040616055719/http://www.sumteracademy.org:80/MascotandAlmaMater.html
  9. "2017 52 in 52 GUN RAFFLE". Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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