# Canton Academy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Canton_Academy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Canton_Academy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Academy > Source revision: 1352949842 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Canton Academy** is a private school in [Canton, Mississippi](/source/Canton,_Mississippi), which was established in 1970 to formally preserve racial segregation in schools.[4]: 72 ## History Further information: [Education segregation in the Mississippi Red Clay region](/source/Education_segregation_in_the_Mississippi_Red_Clay_region) Canton opened in January 1970 as a [segregation academy](/source/Segregation_academy). The school's founders, officially known as the **Canton Academic Foundation**, were so concerned about the impact of school desegregation that they accepted white students from families they knew could not afford tuition.[4] Canton Academy board president J. D. Weeks said that he "anticipat[ed] the public school system of Canton would be virtually all black".[5] In the school's first year, all but one white high school senior withdrew from [Canton Rogers High School](/source/Canton_Rogers_High_School) and enrolled in Canton Academy.[4]: 73 Canton Academy was initially housed in an abandoned tent factory.[4]: 75 The curriculum was reported to be similar to public schools, but with an extra focus on the "evils of [communism](/source/Communism)".[4]: 76 In the case *[Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission](/source/Coffey_v._State_Educational_Finance_Commission)* (1969), the [United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi](/source/United_States_District_Court_for_the_Southern_District_of_Mississippi) found that "No Negro pupils would be admitted to the private school."[6][7] ## Sports Canton competes in shooting sports against [Jackson Preparatory School](/source/Jackson_Preparatory_School) and Tri-County Academy.[8] The school sponsors a *Twenty Guns in Twenty Days* raffle to support athletics.[9] ## Demographics In the 2025-2026 school year, the school had an enrollment of 366 in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.[2] A survey conducted for the 2019-2020 school year included enrollment by race and ethnicity for 252 students, of whom 3 were Asian (1.2%), 10 were Black (3.9%), 3 were Hispanic (1.2%), 233 were White (92.5%), and 3 were two or more races (1.2%).[10] ## Notable people [Glenn Boyce](/source/Glenn_Boyce), chancellor of the [University of Mississippi](/source/University_of_Mississippi), coached football at Canton Academy. In 2019, Boyce was criticized for his past affiliation with segregation academies like Canton Academy.[11] ## Alumni - [Reed Stringer](/source/Reed_Stringer) (1979–), college football coach[12] ## References 1. ["Canton Academy Names Jimmy Nix III as Head of School"](https://cantonacademy.org/canton-academy-names-jimmy-nix-iii-as-head-of-school/). *Canton Academy*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20260429153521/https://cantonacademy.org/canton-academy-names-jimmy-nix-iii-as-head-of-school/) 29 April 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 April 2026. Canton Academy has named veteran educator and award-winning teacher Jimmy Nix III as its new Head of School 1. ["Private School Universe Survey"](https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00735997&Zip=39110&Miles=20&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=00735997). National Center for Education Statistics. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20260429152248/https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=00735997&Zip=39110&Miles=20&NumOfStudentsRange=more&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=00735997) 29 April 2026 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 April 2026. 1. Klein, Rebecca (2018-12-14). ["Schools That Were Segregation Academies Now Ban Pregnant And LGBTQ Students"](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/segregation-academy-mississippi_n_5c12a7bee4b0449012f7f16d). *HuffPost*. Retrieved 2026-04-30. 1. Loewen, James (1973). [*SCHOOL DESEGREGATION IN MISSISSIPPI*](http://sundown.tougaloo.edu/content/LoewenMonographSCHDESEG.pdf) 1. ["School districts quiet"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/124968439/). *Florida Today*. January 6, 1970. p. 3A. 1. ["Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission"](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/296/1389/1982533/). U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. January 29, 1969. Retrieved 6 January 2018. 1. Cooper, Maudine (1971). ["Tax Exempt Status of Private Segregated Schools under 501(c) (3) - Internal Revenue Code Note"](https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/howlj16&i=409). *Howard Law Journal*. **16**: 391. 1. Broom, Brian (May 26, 2016). ["Scholastic Shooting Sports Program championship results"](http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/2016/05/26/scholastic-shooting-sports-program-championship-results/84971098/). Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 6 January 2018. 1. ["Gun Give-Away January 2018"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180107061644/http://cantonacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/Gun-Raffle-Daily-Guns-2018.pdf). Canton Academy. Archived from [the original](http://cantonacademy.org/wp-content/uploads/Gun-Raffle-Daily-Guns-2018.pdf) on January 7, 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018. 1. ["Canton Academy"](https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&Zip=39110&Miles=20&ID=00735997). National Center for Education Statistics. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20231003235511/https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&Zip=39110&Miles=20&ID=00735997) 3 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 October 2023. 1. Payne, Daniel (October 5, 2009). ["New chancellor worked at three 'segregation academies' early in his career"](https://thedmonline.com/new-chancellor-worked-at-two-segregation-academies-early-in-his-career/). *The Daily Mississippian*. Retrieved 2020-06-16. 1. ["Former CA players honored"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-madison-county-herald-former-ca-play/157561600/). *[Madison County Herald](/source/Madison_County_Herald)*. January 25, 2021. p. 9. Retrieved October 21, 2024. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com) ## Bibliography - Bolton, Charles C. *[The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980](/source/The_Hardest_Deal_of_All:_The_Battle_Over_School_Integration_in_Mississippi,_1870-1980)*. [University Press of Mississippi](/source/University_Press_of_Mississippi), 2005. ISBN 1604730609, 9781604730609. - Cobb, James Charles. *[The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity](/source/The_Most_Southern_Place_on_Earth:_The_Mississippi_Delta_and_the_Roots_of_Regional_Identity)*. [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press), 1994. ISBN 0195089138, 9780195089134. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Canton Academy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Academy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Academy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.