Madison-Ridgeland Academy

Madison-Ridgeland Academy (MRA, Madison-Ridgeland) is a private, co-educational school in Madison, Mississippi, for students from K-3 through 12th grade. It was founded in 1969 as a segregation academy. 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). History Madison-Ridgeland Academy was established in 1969 as a segregation academy, to serve the communities of Madison, Ridgeland and other surrounding cities. 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. In 1971, MRA joined the Mississippi Private School Association, a group formed to legitimize segregation academies. In 1970, MRA was one of three segregation academies named in a lawsuit by the NAACP because the state provided public funding enabling the private schools to prolong school segregation. In 2019, University of Mississippi chancellor Glenn Boyce was criticized because of his past affiliation with Madison-Ridgeland Academy.