The Academy Stories/Admissions

13/07/2026

Back from Pakistan, Jonathan Addleton watched Georgia history unfold. The future U.S ambassador reached out to the Admissions Project to share his own 1970 Macon, Georgia school story.

by: eafentressPosted on: July 10, 2026July 12, 2026 Back from Pakistan To Be In Georgia History Jonathan Addleton Ballard Hudson Middle School 1970-1971 Macon, Georgia       In the fall of 1970 public schools in Macon, Georgia finally integrated. It was also the year my family, Baptist missiona...

10/07/2026

Poor white families like hers bought into the academy, financial crunch or not, Bailey Hammond remembers. New on the site.

by: eafentressPosted on: July 9, 2026July 9, 2026 The Cost in Money, Mileage and Mindset Bailey Hammond Wayne Academy 1999-2003 Waynesboro, Mississippi I attended Wayne Academy in Waynesboro, Mississippi, from grade 4 through halfway through grade 8. I had no idea at the time that I was participatin...

09/07/2026

New on the site. Isabelle Ezelle Higbee stayed in Jackson, Miss. public schools. Oh yes and then there was the cross burned in her family's front yard.

by: eafentressPosted on: July 6, 2026 The Decision to Stay in Jackson Public Schools Isabelle Ezelle Higbee Murrah High School Class of 1974 Jackson, Mississippi         I made my way through the Jackson Public Schools at the same time that my family navigated through the civil rights-era in...

08/05/2026

Joe Reiff reflects on his meaningful and occasionally messy time learning in his newly integrated public high school. From textbooks? Sure, but the education pushed lots further for teenaged Joe.

by: eafentressPosted on: May 6, 2026May 7, 2026 The White Parents Had a Failure of Imagination Joseph T. Reiff,  Murrah High School  Class of 1972 Jackson, Mississippi It was spring 1970, in tenth grade English class on the second floor of Jackson Murrah High School’s east end. Fifth period. Beg...

08/05/2026

Daaiyah Heard hopes to hear stories from legacy segregation academy alums to interview anonymously for her dissertation in progress. Meanwhile, here's her own story as a Columbus, Mississippi student and then Terry, Mississippi high school teacher

by: eafentressPosted on: May 6, 2026May 7, 2026 I Wondered Where Sarah Was. It’s My Dissertation Topic Now Daaiyah Heard Columbus High School Class of 2007 Columbus, Mississippi Terry High School Teacher 2017-2023 Terry, Mississippi      I am a proud product of the Columbus Municipal School D...

30/03/2026

John Mark Pitner’s wry story captures a serious truth about 1970 school integration which has continuing impact still. The initial success of public school integration varied town to town, hinging on how community leaders framed the importance of making it work.

by: jschoolerPosted on: March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 Don’t Torpedo It, He Told My Daddy John Mark Pitner standing far left in photo. John Mark Pitner: Winona Academy 1970, Winona High School Class of 1982, Winona, Mississippi I acknowledge there’s evidence the Winona Academy First Grade Class Fa...

19/01/2026

As always, Marshall Ramsey nails it! HB 2 is loaded with public dollars for private schools with stipulations that the private schools cannot be held accountable. Meanwhile, HB 2 devotes a complete section in its 446 pages to new, unfunded accountability and reporting requirements for public schools.

Courtesy of Mississippi Today
https://ow.ly/7sFL50XYils