Calhoun Academy (CA) is a private school located outside of downtown

St. Matthews, South Carolina St. Matthews is a town in Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,021 at the 2010 census, a decline from 2,107 in 2000. It is the county seat of Calhoun County. St. Matthews is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metro ...

, United States. It was founded in 1969 as a segregation academy.

History

Calhoun Academy was founded on December 30, 1969, as a segregation academy. The school's racially discriminatory charter made it ineligible to operate as a tax-exempt charity organization. In 1985 CA changed its charter to allow non-white students to attend. The school renounced its formal policy banning black students in 1985 and applied for tax-exempt status in 1986. The

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

denied the school's application on the grounds that it had never, to that time, had a black student or teacher. This decision was upheld by the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

in 1990.

Academics

Calhoun Academy offers three courses of study: an Academic College Preparatory Diploma, a General College Preparatory Diploma, and a General Basic Diploma. CA is a member of the

South Carolina Independent School Association The South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) is a school accrediting organization. It was founded in South Carolina in 1965 to legitimize segregation academies.https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/blair_monica_k_201505_ma.pdf History SCISA ...

(SCISA).

Athletics

The academy's athletic program includes football, basketball, softball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, cross country, track, cheerleading, and golf. The Cavaliers' varsity football team were the SCISA Class AA Football Champions in 1978, 2004 and 2015. The varsity baseball team won the AA SCISA Championship in 1979, 2008, 2015, and 2016. The Cavalier varsity girls' basketball team was the 2017 AA SCISA runner-up.

References

Private high schools in South Carolina Private middle schools in South Carolina Private elementary schools in South Carolina Educational institutions established in 1969 Schools in Calhoun County, South Carolina Segregation academies in South Carolina 1969 establishments in South Carolina {{SouthCarolina-school-stub