Madison-Ridgeland Academy | |
Motto: | Educating the Mind, Body & Spirit |
Religious Affiliation: | Christianity |
Established: | 1969 |
Type: | Independent |
Gender: | Coeducational |
Affiliations: | Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Independent Schools, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools |
Principal: | Greg Self (high school) Ben Haindel (middle school) |
Headmaster: | "Termie" Land |
Dean: | Brent Cofield (high school) Danny White (middle school) |
Enrollment: | 1,500 (est.) |
Grades: | K3-12 |
Address: | 7601 Old Canton Road |
City: | Madison |
State: | Mississippi |
Country: | United States |
District: | 6A |
Pushpin Map: | Mississippi |
Accreditation: | SACS, SAIS, MAIS |
Campus: | Suburban |
Colors: | MRA Red, White, Patriot Blue |
Athletics: | Basketball, Baseball, Football, Golf, Track & Field, Cross Country, Tennis, Soccer, Volleyball, and Archery |
Mascot: | Patriot |
Rival: | Jackson Prep, Jackson Academy |
Newspaper: | The Patriot Recap |
Nickname: | Patriots |
Madison-Ridgeland Academy (MRA, Madison-Ridgeland) is a private, co-educational school in Madison, Mississippi, for students from K-3 through 12th grade. There are 4 divisions; the Kindergarten (K3-K5), the Elementary (1st–5th grade), the Middle School (6th–8th grade), and the High School (9th–12th).
MRA was housed in a Madison church for its first year as a school; the following year the school relocated to their first facility on their 25 acre campus.[1]
In 1970, MRA was one of 4 private schools accused by the NAACP of using state provided public funding for textbooks. M. A. Snowden, Executive Secretary of the State Textbook board, stated that Mississippi law requires the loaning of textbooks to all students, whether they attend public or private schools. [2]
In 2019, University of Mississippi chancellor Glenn Boyce was criticized because of his past affiliation with Madison-Ridgeland Academy.[3]
The school has a strict dress code that requires uniforms.[4]
As of 1986, the school had never enrolled a black student, although it had a nondiscrimination policy and had received several inquiries.[5] As of 2012, 95 percent of the students were white, 2 percent were Asian and 2 percent were black.[6]
In 2019, Nicolas Rowan became the school's first African-American salutatorian.[7]
The school's sports programs have won multiple MAIS football championships, the most recent being in 2021. The school nickname is Patriots.[8]
Basketball coach, Richard Duease, was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2024. He is the winningest boys and girls high school coach in Mississippi, and the third winningest active high school basketball coach in the nation. [9]