Rock Hill Academy

Private school
38°02′31″N 78°28′25″W / 38.042081°N 78.473617°W / 38.042081; -78.473617InformationTypePrivateOpened1959Closed1979PrincipalWilliam StoryGrades8-12

Rock Hill Academy was a private high school in Charlottesville, Virginia, established in 1959 when the city's schools were closed rather than comply with orders to desegregate following the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling.[1]

In 1958, federal courts ordered the city's public high schools, Lane High School and Jackson P. Burley High School to integrate. The city chose instead to close its schools in a political stratagem called Massive resistance. Rock Hill Academy (a high school) and the Robert E. Lee School (elementary) were founded by the Charlottesville Education Foundation and the Parents' Committee for Emergency Schooling in Charlottesville.[2][3][4]

Tuition at Rock Hill was covered in part by state tuition grants.[4][5] Grants to a "nonprofit, nonsectarian private school", even segregation academies, were upheld by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.[6]

The campus was taken over by Heritage Christian Academy (now defunct).

References

  1. ^ Caudell, Robin (Nov 4, 2016). "A Virginian's boyhood during segregation". Press-Republican. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  2. ^ Robert E. Lee School and Rock Hill Academy. 1970. OCLC 789660175. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  3. ^ "Private School Unit Applies for Charter". Daily Progress. July 12, 1958.
  4. ^ a b Gilliam, George. "Interview with Judge Barry Marshall". Virginia Center for Digital History, University of Virginia. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  5. ^ McBride, Jennifer. Christ Episcopal Church Amidst Massive Resistance: A Theological Examination of Christian Duty (PDF). p. 16. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  6. ^ "Text of Supreme court's Decision ordering Virginia County to Reopen Its Schools". New York Times. May 26, 1964. Retrieved 28 August 2017.