Robert E. Lee Academy, also known as Lee Academy, is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Bishopville, South Carolina Bishopville is a town in Lee County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 3,471 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lee County. Geography Bishopville is located at (34.219027, -80.248877) near Lee State Park. According t ...

, United States. It was established in 1965 as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. ...

and continued to serve an overwhelmingly white student body in the 2000s, with only three black students among a student body of more than 250 in 2018.

History

Prior to 1965,

Bishopville High School Bishopville High School is a historic high school building located at Bishopville, Lee County, South Carolina. It was built in 1936. When the school built, only white students were allowed to attend, while Black students attended Dennis High Schoo ...

served white students, while black students attended

Dennis High School Dennis High School, also known as Dennis Elementary School and Dennis Primary School, is a historic high school building for African-American students located at Bishopville, Lee County, South Carolina. White students attended Bishopville High Sch ...

three blocks away. In 1965, the Federal government mandated the integration of public schools in South Carolina. In response, many

segregation academies Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. ...

like Robert E. Lee Academy were established by white parents so their children could continue with a segregated education. The school was named after Confederate general

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of Nort ...

. According to SCISA founder

Tom Turnipseed George Thomas Turnipseed (August 27, 1936 – March 6, 2020) was an attorney and Democratic member of the South Carolina State Senate known for his liberal activism. Beginning in the late 1970s, he became active within the civil rights movement ...

, Robert E. Lee academy was part of a pattern to oppose integration by founding segregated private schools, and naming them after Confederate leaders. As a result of the support of Lee Academy by Bishopville's white

power structure In political sociology, but also operative within the rest of the animal, animal kingdom, a power structure is a hierarchy of competence or aggression (might) predicated on power (social and political), influence between an individual and other ...

, public schools in Lee county struggled to raise taxes to educate their predominantly black student populations. As of 2000, the school did not enroll a single black student. In contrast, 92% of students in Lee County Public Schools were black. As of 2018, the school had three black students out of 268 total students. In the summer of 2020, the school announced plans to change the name to Lee Academy.

Academics

The school is accredited by the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) and is internationally accredited by Cognia. College credits can be earned through

Central Carolina Technical College Central Carolina Technical College (CCTC) is a public community college in Sumter, South Carolina. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System. The institution was established in 1962, when the South Carolina legislature created th ...

Athletics

In 2019, the school won the SCISA 2A championship in baseball.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Robert E. Academy Schools in Lee County, South Carolina Private K-12 schools in South Carolina Segregation academies in South Carolina Monuments and memorials to Robert E. Lee Educational institutions established in 1965 1965 establishments in South Carolina