Cape Fear Academy Explained

Cape Fear Academy
Location:3900 S College Road
State:North Carolina
Zipcode:28412
Country:United States
Ceeb:344347
Headmaster:Edward M. Ellison[1]
Grades:PK3–12
Gender:Co-ed
Age Range:3 to 18
Enrollment:720[2]
Athletics:NCISAA
Colors:Blue and gold
Mascot:Captain Fear[3]
Nickname:Hurricanes
Coordinates:34.1707°N -77.8934°W
Pushpin Map:North Carolina#USA
Ratio:9:1[4]
Language:English
Campus Size:47acres
Tuition:$16,800–24,350[5]

Cape Fear Academy is a private, coeducational PK3 - 12 school in Wilmington, North Carolina, that was established on September 11, 1967, as a segregation academy.[6] [7] It was named for Cape Fear Military Academy, an independent school for boys in Wilmington that operated from 1868 until 1916.[8] The present school's first class graduated in 1971.[9]

History

The school was founded as a segregation academy in response to the court ordered integration of public schools. In 1967, the civil rights activist Lee Shelton claimed that Ku Klux Klan was raising funds to establish Cape Fear Academy as a private school for white students.[6] [10] [11] [12]

Overt racial discrimination by the school administration eventually faded. The first black student to graduate was in 1984. One other black student had attended, but had left the school without graduating after experiencing bullying and racism.

In 2005, the student body voted to change the school's athletics team name from The Rebels to The Hurricanes.[13]

In 2021, Cape Fear Academy was sued by a student who alleged that CFA expelled her after she protested the school's failure to take action after she was sexually assaulted and then harassed by three male students, in violation of Title IX.[14] [15] [16] [17] The school argued that, since it never accepted federal funding, it was not subject to any federal non-discrimination laws.[14] [18] [19] In June 2022, Judge James C. Dever ruled that since CFA had recently begun to accept loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program, the school was obliged to comply with federal civil rights laws.[20] [21]

The lawsuit led to renewed media attention concerning Cape Fear Academy's history of racial and gender discrimination.[22] It was alleged that racial and gender-based discrimination and harassment remained prevalent at the school.[17]

Facilities

There are four Pre-kindergarten class (ages 3.5 to 5), along with Kindergarten through Grade 5, Middle School (grades 6 - 8) and Upper School classes (grades 9 - 12).[23] [24] [25]

The school is situated on a 47acres campus. Facilities include two classroom buildings, a gymnasium with six classrooms, the Beane Wright Student Center, science laboratories, and multiple athletic fields, including a tennis facility.[26]

In 2022, the school purchased an 11acres plot of land originally owned by Trinity United Methodist Church.[27]

Accreditation

Cape Fear Academy is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and also by the Southern Association of Independent Schools. The school is also an active member of the National Association of Independent Schools, the Southern Association of Independent Schools, the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools, the Educational Records Bureau, the Independent School Management Consortium, and the College Entrance Examination Board. Cape Fear Academy offers affordability plans for tuition; a majority of the awards go to students in the Middle and Upper School.[28]

Student activities

Starting in sixth grade, students can play sports; 80% of students in the Upper School participate in at least one sport.[29] Some notable athletics activities in the school are soccer, volleyball, tennis, basketball, and lacrosse.[30] The school houses many clubs like Beta Club, National History Day, YMCA's Youth and Government, and National Honor Society.[31] The school also has a theater program that produces many different genres of plays from Musicals to Dramas. Along with the stage on the campus, the school is the only school high school allowed to perform at Thalian Hall in Wilmington.[32] The Upper School has a student-government association with a branch called the Honor Council that deals with and makes recommendations for disciplinary infractions.[33] [34] Students starting in ninth grade are also required to get four "engagement units" per semester. These can range from attending a religious ceremony outside of one's faith, participating in a community service project, attending a city council meeting, etc.[33]

Notable alumni

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Faculty & Staff. Cape Fear Academy. September 14, 2022.
  2. Web site: Cape Fear Academy Buys 11 Acres On S. College Road For Over $5M. WilmingtonBiz. September 14, 2022.
  3. Web site: Cape Fear Academy . January 26, 2024 . Introducing... Captain Fear!! . February 11, 2024 . YouTube.
  4. Web site: Cape Fear Academy. Cape Fear Academy. September 14, 2022.
  5. Web site: Admission. Cape Fear Academy. February 4, 2024.
  6. Book: Eaton, Hubert Arthur. Every Man Should Try. 1984. Bonaparte Press. en. 94. Hubert A. Eaton. [Lee Shelton] declared that the Klan was raising funds to establish a private school, Cape Fear Academy, for white students.
  7. Book: Godwin, John L . Black Wilmington and the North Carolina way: portrait of a community in the era of civil rights protest . 2000 . University Press of America. 0761816828 . Lanham, Maryland. 43648608 . 206 . The reopening of Cape Fear Academy showed the extent to which wealthier white citizens of the locality sought, through private education, to retain the conservativism of the bygone days of the nineteenth century.
  8. Web site: Cape Fear Academy's Early History . September 14, 2022 . www.cfhi.net.
  9. Web site: 2022 - 2023 History of Cape Fear Academy . September 14, 2022 . Google Docs . en.
  10. News: KKK Accused of Interfering with Head Start . June 8, 1967. 13. Asheville Citizen Times. Newspapers.com. Lee Shelton ... said klansman are engaged in raising funds for a private school for white pupils in that section to be called Cape Fear Academy.
  11. News: Klue Klux Klan Responsible for Cut of Funds . June 6, 1967. Kingsport Times . 21 . . Lee A Shelton said ... the KKK was so strong in New Hanover county that it is now even raising funds to start an all-white private school to be called Cape Fear Academy.
  12. News: Klan accused in cut of head start fund. June 8, 1967. . 3 . [Lee Shelton] said klan influence is strong in New Hanover and that klansmen there are now engaged in raising funds to establish a private school for white students which will be called Cape Fear Academy. . . subscription .
  13. News: Bellamy . Cammie . Cape Fear Academy celebrates 50 years in Wilmington . Wilmington Star-News . August 25, 2016 . en.
  14. Web site: December 9, 2021 . Cape Fear Academy says lawsuit claims by former students are not valid . July 10, 2022 . WWAYTV3 . en-US.
  15. Web site: October 8, 2021 . Lawsuit details retaliatory actions against girls at Cape Fear Academy after speaking out about bullying, sexual harassment . July 10, 2022 . Port City Daily . en-US.
  16. Jane Doe vs Cape Fear Academy Inc E.D.N.C. Case 4:21-CV-00149 Initial Complaint ECF-1
  17. Web site: Hoover . Sydney . December 8, 2021 . More former Cape Fear Academy students speak out on harassment & retaliation . https://web.archive.org/web/20211215185122/https://eu.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2021/12/08/former-cape-fear-academy-students-speak-out-harassment-relatiation/6387137001/ . December 15, 2021 . February 20, 2024 . Wilmington Star-News.
  18. Web site: Hoover . Sydney . February 17, 2022. Fight over Cape Fear Academy's Title IX coverage continues as motions to dismiss face judge . July 10, 2022 . Wilmington Star-News . en-US.
  19. Jane Doe vs Cape Fear Academy Inc E.D.N.C. Case 4:21-CV-00149 Memorandum in Support of Defendant’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint for Failure to State a Claim ECF-23
  20. News: Court denies Cape Fear Academy's motion to dismiss former students' Title IX, breach of contract claims . July 10, 2022 . WECT . en.
  21. Web site: Hoover . Sydney . Cape Fear Academy sexual harassment lawsuit: Judge upholds Title IX claims . June 17, 2022 . July 10, 2022 . Wilmington Star-News . en-US.
  22. Web site: Cape Fear Academy's history: Segregationist past to Title IX lawsuit . April 4, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220404120107/https://eu.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2022/04/04/cape-fear-academy-segregationist-origins-title-ix-lawsuit/6981674001/ . Sydney. Hoover. July 10, 2022 . April 4, 2022 .
  23. Web site: Lower School - Ages 3.5 - Grade 5 . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  24. Web site: Middle School at Cape Fear Academy Wilmington, NC . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  25. Web site: Upper School at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  26. Web site: Cape Fear Academy Campus - Wilmington NC . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US . September 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220914233843/https://www.capefearacademy.org/about/facilities/ . dead .
  27. Web site: Cape Fear Academy buys 11 acres on S. College Road for over $5M . September 14, 2022 . WilmingtonBiz.
  28. Web site: Admission & Affordability . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US . September 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220914233845/https://www.capefearacademy.org/admissions/ . dead .
  29. Web site: Upper School at Cape Fear Academy in Wilmington . September 15, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  30. Web site: Athletics at Cape Fear Academy . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  31. Web site: CFA Upper School - Student Life . September 14, 2022 . Google Sites . en-US.
  32. Web site: Theatre . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20220914233840/https://www.capefearacademy.org/fine-arts/courses/theater/ . September 14, 2022 . September 14, 2022 . Cape Fear Academy . en-US.
  33. Web site: CFA Upper School - Student Activities . September 14, 2022 . Google Sites . en-US.
  34. Web site: 2022 - 2023 US Handbook . September 14, 2022 . Google Docs . en.
  35. Web site: Roth . Kamerin . Gonzalez . Simon . September 2016 . Half a Century of Academic Excellence . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20171202102718/http://www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com/article.asp?aid=1259&iid=156 . December 2, 2017 . December 1, 2017 . www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com.
  36. Web site: My graduation from a "segregation academy" . Shuford. Reggie . May 29, 2017. Reggie Shuford. November 3, 2017.
  37. Book: Suspect Citizens: What 20 Million Traffic Stops Tell Us About Policing and Race. Cambridge University Press. 9781108688826 . 39. Baumgartner. Frank R.. Frank Baumgartner. Epp. Derek A.. Shoub. Kelsey. 2018.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cape Fear Academy".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.