Monroe Academy (often referred to as MA) is a

private 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 ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

, accredited by the

Alabama Independent School Association The Alabama Independent School Association is an organization of private schools in Alabama, formed in 1966 as the Alabama Private School Association. Originally a group of eight segregation academies, the membership grew to 60 by the 1971–72 sch ...

and the

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is an educational accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. This agency accredits over 13,000 public and priv ...

, which offers

coeducational 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 ...

college preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

classes for students from K-3 through

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

12. Monroe Academy is located in

Monroeville, Alabama Monroeville is the county seat of Monroe County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census its population was 5,951. Monroeville is known as the hometown of two prominent writers of the post-World War II period, Truman Capote and Harper Lee, w ...

and was founded in 1969 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. ...

. In 1969, the headmaster told the ''Atlanta Constitution'' that he was "sure the integration was one of the primary reasons for the school be established". According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', many parents struggled to afford the tuition and made financial sacrifices to avoid sending their children to racially integrated public schools. In 1982, Jerry Steele, Monroe Academy's first board chairman, stated that the school's lack of racial integration was because the school "is run by the people who put up the money." The school has an enrollment of over 400 students, all of them white. , although Monroe Academy has posted a non-discrimination policy on their website, there has yet to be a single black student admitted.

Notable alumni

B. J. Wallace Billy Lyle "B. J." Wallace, Jr. (born May 18, 1971) is a retired American professional baseball pitcher. He played college baseball for Mississippi State University and pitched for the United States national baseball team in the 1992 Summer Olym ...

- Olympics and minor league baseball player

References

External links

Monroe AcademyAlabam Independent School AssociationSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools
Private high schools in Alabama Private elementary schools in Alabama Private middle schools in Alabama Educational institutions established in 1969 Schools in Monroe County, Alabama Preparatory schools in Alabama 1969 establishments in Alabama Segregation academies in Alabama {{Alabama-school-stub