Parklane Academy is a private Protestant school from grades Kindergarten through 12th grade located in

McComb, Mississippi McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States. The city is approximately south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 12,790. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi Micropolitan Statist ...

. It was founded in 1970 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. ...

. Parklane is a member of the

Mississippi Association of Independent Schools The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for its ...

(MAIS). Currently the elementary school principal is Linda Love, the high school principal is Jill Jackson, and the superintendent is Jack Henderson.

History

The school was founded in 1970 in reaction to the

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

of the

public schooling system (

McComb School District The McComb School District is a public school district based in McComb, Mississippi, US. Schools *McComb High School **1982-1983 National Blue Ribbon School *Denman Junior High School *Higgins Middle School *Kennedy Elementary School *Otken El ...

). Originally new students were required to have the sponsorship of two families whose children attended the academy and no black students were invited. Asked about the lack of African-American students in 1994 Kathy Miller, administrative assistant at Parklane, told the ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' that " have a couple of black students. Well, we have a couple of students named Black." By 2002 Parklane had tax-exempt status and therefore, according to school official Billy Swindle, followed a required non-discrimination policy. In a city that was 58.40%

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

as of the 2000

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, no African-American children had attended Parklane Academy as of 2005. However, according to Swindle, "Parklane does have some Asian pupils

n 2002 N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

noted that "its annual tuition of $2,600 could be an impediment."

Athletics

In 2001 The

Mississippi Private School Association The Midsouth Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for its ...

(MPSA) allowed member schools to participate in athletic matches against public schools. The Mississippi High School Athletic Association requires that their member schools only play schools which meet accreditation standards set by 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 ...

(SACS). Sixty nine of the MPSA's member schools, among them Parklane Academy, failed to meet SACS standards at that time. A Parklane School administrator stated that "Parklane has no plans to compete against public schools in athletics. In my opinion, not many of the private schools will. It's strictly a choice between the two schools involved. It's an autonomy question. Each school has to decide on their own."

Notable alumni

* Jeff Calhoun, former Major League Baseball pitcher *

Paul Ott Carruth Paul Ott Carruth, Jr. (born July 12, 1961) is a former running back in the National Football League and the United States Football League. Biography Carruth, Jr. was born on July 12, 1961, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His father, Paul Ott Carru ...

a former running back for the Green Bay Packers and the University of Alabama. *

Ted Jackson Ted M. Jackson (born 1956) is an American photojournalist, writer and public speaker who has spent over three decades exploring the human condition while covering news, sports and features for the ''Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans, Louisiana. He ...

, photojournalist *

William W. Parsons William Parsons may refer to: * William Parsons (composer and copyist) (fl.1545–1563), English Renaissance composer and copyist from Wells * William Parsons (composer and musician) (1745/6–1817), Master of the King's Music *William Parsons (po ...

, Center Director,

John F. Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field ...

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

attended Parklane until ninth grade *

Bryan Spears Bryan James Spears (born April 19, 1977) is an American film and television producer. He is the older brother of singers Britney Spears and Jamie Lynn Spears, and was co-manager of Britney's conservatorship. He was also a co-producer of the tel ...

, Film producer *

Jamie Lynn Spears Jamie Lynn Marie Spears (born April 4, 1991) is an American actress and singer. From 2005 to 2008, Spears played Zoey Brooks on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom ''Zoey 101''. She is the younger sister of singer Britney Spears. Beginning in December ...

completed tenth grade at Parklane

References

External links

* {{authority control Private K-12 schools in Mississippi Schools in Pike County, Mississippi Segregation academies in Mississippi Educational institutions established in 1970 McComb, Mississippi