Jackson Preparatory School (Mississippi)

Jackson Preparatory School (Jackson Prep) is an independent, coeducational, day school enrolling 820 students in grades six through twelve. The school is located in Flowood, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, and has a controversial history as a segregation academy.[1]

Jackson Preparatory School
Address
3100 Lakeland Drive

Jackson
,
Mississippi

United States
Coordinates32°19′59″N 90°6′30″W
Information
TypeIndependent
MottoScholarship, Service, Character, Leadership
Established1970
FounderDr. Marshall Fortenberry
HeadmasterLawrence Coco
Grades6 through 12
GenderCoeducational
Campus size84 acres (34 ha)
Color(s)Blue and Red
AthleticsYes
MascotPatriot
NicknamePrep
RivalJackson Academy and Madison Ridgeland Academy
NewspaperThe Sentry
YearbookPrécis
AffiliationsNational Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, The College Board, National Association of College Admissions Counselors, Southern Association of College Admissions Counselors, Cum Laude Society and the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.
Literary MagazineEarthwinds and Mindprints
Annual TuitionGrade 6: $14,228 Grades 7-12: $15,228
WebsiteHomepage

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

The school was founded in 1970 as a segregation academy.[1] A biography of James Meredith cited the school's creation as part of the campaign of massive resistance against the Brown v. Board of Education decision ordering racial integration of public schools.[2]

At the time of its founding, a local member of the White Citizen's Council remarked that schools like Jackson Prep were established because the "educational results of such forced interracial congregation are disastrous for children of both the white and black races".[3]

A 1973 Yale Law Journal article characterized Jackson Prep as "second generation segregation academy" since the student body lacked both black and low income white students, but unlike so called "rebel yell academies", employed competent staff offering a complete academic program and sought the same elite status as traditional upper class day schools in the rest of the country.[4]

As of 1978, Jackson Prep was not a charity and operated as a profit making institution.[5]

In 1981, Jackson Prep headmaster Jesse Howell said the school was established because the "upheaval" white parents experienced from desegregation "caused a need for stability, for a place to send their children. We've tried to provide that."[6] Howell claimed not to know why Jackson Prep had never enrolled any black students.[6]

As of 1986, Jackson Prep had never enrolled a black student.[7] The headmaster, Jesse Howell, told a newspaper that the lack of diversity was because "black communities don't choose to attend our school." A black parent disagreed, saying that he didn't enroll his sons because "Jackson Prep was formed in 1970 to try to maintain segregation."[7]

In a 1995 article in the Clarion Ledger, former headmaster Jesse Howell said that "There was resistance from both sides" to school integration. Gail Sweat, a student who had attended Jackson Preparatory before transferring back to a racially integrated public school, said that, in 1970, "initially there was panic, and most whites bailed out and went to private schools." However, leaving Jackson Preparatory was what "prepared her to live in a diverse society." Sweat added that, after leaving Jackson Preparatory "it wasn't that big a deal, blacks and whites going to school together."[8] In 1999, it was reported that Jackson Prep requires pregnant students to withdraw from the school.[9]

As of 2014, Jackson Prep's student body remained over 97 percent white.[1]

Role in elections

In the 1987 Mississippi gubernatorial election, Bill Waller was criticized for sending two of his children to the "all-white" Jackson Preparatory School.[10][11][12] In 1989, Jackson Mayor Dale Danks was similarly criticized for enrolling his daughter in Jackson Prep.[13]

In 1999, Madison county school board member Lee Miller acknowledged that his decision to enroll his children in Jackson Prep may have come across as "nebulous", but insisted the decision was not motivated by racial bias.[14]

Football

Jackson compete as the Patriots, in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), and currently competes in that league's AAA-I division. Jackson Prep is also the only school in MAIS history to win six championship titles in a row within their division (2013-2018).

When Jackson Prep was established in 1970, the Murrah High School football coach moved to Jackson Prep, along with all the white players. The Murrah High School weight room equipment was also transferred to Jackson Prep since the booster club said that the equipment belonged to the club and not to the Jackson Public School District.[15]

In 1978, NFL coach Romeo Crennel was working as an assistant at Ole Miss and visited Jackson Prep to scout a player. Crennel later recalled that he was the first black person to attend a game at the school and that he had used the alias "Romano Crenelli" to disguise his racial background.[16][17]

Coach Ricky Black was named the National High School Coaches Association's Coach in 2018. In 21 seasons at Jackson Prep, Coach Black won 10 MAIS championships.[18]

Performing arts

Jackson Prep has two competitive show choirs, the high school-level Revellion and the junior high-level Fusion.[19] The program has hosted a competition since 2014, coinciding with the opening of a new theater.[20]

Notable alumni

See also

Footnotes
  1. Wolfe, Anna (December 17, 2014). "What is a 'Segregation Academy'?". Jackson Free Press.
  2. McGee, Meredith Coleman (2013). James Meredith : warrior and the America that created him. Westport: Praeger. p. 40. ISBN 978-0313397394.
  3. Bolton, Charles C. (2005). The hardest deal of all the battle over school integration in Mississippi, 1870 - 1980 (1 ed.). Jackson, Miss.: Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 175. ISBN 1578067170.
  4. Segregation Academies and State Action Yale Law Journal 82, no. 7 (June 1973): 1436-1461
  5. "Private Academies Don't foresee problems with IRS tax guidelines". Clarion Ledger. August 23, 1978. p. 1B.
  6. Demmons, Douglas (May 12, 1981). "Private schools: Quality or bias". Rankin Focus (Clarion-Ledger). p. 1.
  7. Ingram, Ruth (November 9, 1986). "Perception of Racism still Keeping Black Students From Academies". Clarion Ledger. p. G1.
  8. Kanengiser, Andy (December 10, 1985). "Desegregation Helps them Cope Now". Clarion Ledger.
  9. Plohetski, Tony (September 30, 1999). "Balancing school, motherhood tough". Clarion-Ledger. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Private School Issue Raised in Race". Hattiesburg American. June 18, 1987. p. 3.
  11. Davis, Dan (June 18, 1987). "3 pro-public Education Dems sent their kids to private schools". Clarion Ledger. p. 1.
  12. McCausland, Phil (November 25, 2018). "'Segregation academies' are common remnants of Mississippi's troubled history". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  13. Richards, Rhonda (April 10, 1989). "Candidates sent kids to Private Schools". Clarion-Ledger. p. B1.
  14. Pholetski, Tony (November 12, 1998). "The private side of public education". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, MS. p. E1.
  15. Lines were drawn : remembering court-ordered integration at a Mississippi high school. Horn, Teena F., Huffman, Alan., Jones, John Griffin. Jackson. 2016-01-25. p. 184. ISBN 9781626746640. OCLC 924683934.CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. "Anything for the team". Tampa Bay Times. February 16, 2005. p. 8C.
  17. "Overheard". Baltimore Sun. February 16, 2005. p. C2.
  18. "High school football: Jackson Prep's Ricky Black coach of year".
  19. "SCC: Viewing School - Jackson Preparatory School". Racing Reference. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  20. Noble, Lilly (January 25, 2019). "Show Choir Masters takes center stage on campus". The Sentry. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  21. "Paul Lacoste—He Ain't Who He Was". Mississippi Christian Living. September 3, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  22. "Dent May: International man of Mississippi". Jackson Clarion-Ledger. November 12, 2014. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  23. "Jackson Prep QB picks Ole Miss amid heavy recruiting buzz". USA Today High School Sports. June 5, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  24. Kellenberger, Hugh (24 October 2017). "Jonathan Randolph goes old school to get his game going for Sanderson Farms Championship". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  25. "'The Help' Comes Home". Retrieved 2017-11-10.
  26. Cleveland, Ricky (September 22, 2016). "Scott Stricklin's difficult decision: Stay with State or head to Florida?". Mississippi Today. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  27. "Jackson Prep (Jackson, MS) Alumni Pro Stats". ProFootball Reference. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  28. Anderson, Seph (April 22, 2013). "Exclusive: Ole Miss, NFL Star Todd Wade Discusses Bid to Become Mayor of Oxford". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  29. "Jackson Prep alum Swayze Waters to be featured on NFL Network show 'Undrafted'". WJTV. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

References
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