Tunica Academy is a K-12 non-denominational Christian

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 ...

located in

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

Tunica County Tunica County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,782. Its county seat is Tunica. The county is named for the Tunica Native Americans. Most migrated to central Louisiana during th ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, near Tunica. The school was founded in 1964 and has been described 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. ...

. Tunica Academy is an accredited member of 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 ...

History

The school was originally established by white parents in 1964 by the name Tunica Institute of Learning as a

in response to the court ordered desegregation of Tunica public schools. The name was later changed to Tunica Academy. The first class to graduate was the class of 1970. The tuition of this school is $5200 per year. The mascot of the school is the Blue Devils. For the 1965–1966 school year, 67% of the Tunica Academy's tuition revenue came from grants provided by the state of Mississippi. In 1969, a federal court ruled that, since, in the court's opinion, Tunica Academy would refuse to admit qualified black students, the tuition grant program violated the

equal protection clause The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "''nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal ...

of the fourteenth amendment. In 1969, the ''

Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

'' reported that Tunica Academy enrolled about 225 students, or one-third of the white students in

. In 1970, the IRS suspended the school's non-profit status due to its policies of racial discrimination. In 1973, Tunica Academy was named in the '' Norwood v. Harrison'' decision by the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...

. The court held that any program that provides aid to schools that discriminate on the basis of race is unconstitutional. In its ruling, the high court noted that, as of 1971, Tunica Academy declined to attest to a racially non-discriminatory admissions policy.

Demographics

, 97% of the students were white. This differed from Tunica's public high school,

Rosa Fort High School Rosa Fort High School (RFHS) is a senior high school in unincorporated Tunica County, Mississippi, adjacent to the North Tunica CDP, and near Tunica. It is a part of the Tunica County School District. History After the rise of the gambling indu ...

, where 98% were black. In 2014 there were 16 African-American students out of a total student population of 234, or 7%, while the

Tunica Public Schools The Tunica County School District is a public school district based in Tunica, Mississippi ( USA). The district's boundaries parallel that of Tunica County. History Tunica County schools organized in April 1846. The county seat was moved from ...

student body was 97% African-American.

References

External links

Tunica Academy
Private K-12 schools in Mississippi Schools in Tunica County, Mississippi Segregation academies in Mississippi {{mississippi-school-stub