Robert E. Lee Academy facts for kids

Robert E. Lee Academy is a co-educational private school in Bishopville, South Carolina, United States. It was established in 1965 as a segregation academy 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 served white students, while black students attended Dennis High School three blocks away. In 1965, the Federal government mandated the integration of public schools in South Carolina. In response, many segregation academies like Robert E. Lee Academy were established by white parents so their children could continue with a segregated education. The school is named after the Confederate general and slaveholder Robert E. Lee. According to civil rights activist Tom Turnipseed, Robert E. Lee academy was part of a pattern of segregation academies established in response to desegregation and named after Confederate leaders.

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 a total 268. Turnispeed argued that, as a result of the support of Robert E. Lee Academy by Bishopville's white power structure, public schools in Lee county struggled to raise taxes to educate their predominantly black student populations.

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 and is internationally accredited by Cognia. College credits can be earned through Central Carolina Technical College.

Athletics

Although the school was founded to preserve segregation, the football teams of Robert E. Lee and Lee Central, whose student body is 96% black, meet together for an annual pregame meal, and have for a dozen years. In 2019, the school won the SCISA 2A championship in baseball.