Macon Road Baptist School

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Coordinates: 35°12′01″N 89°41′17″W / 35.2002973°N 89.6880489°W / 35.2002973; -89.6880489
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Macon Road Baptist School
Location
Map
Arlington, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee

United States
Coordinates35°12′01″N 89°41′17″W / 35.2002973°N 89.6880489°W / 35.2002973; -89.6880489
Information
TypePrivate
Religious affiliation(s)Baptist
Established1973
Closed2023
NCES School ID01611904[2]
A0503322[3]
Faculty54[1]
GradesPreK–12
Enrollment612 (2015[1])
Student to teacher ratio9:1[1]
Color(s)Blue, Black and White
   
MascotKingsmen
AffiliationsAmerican Association of Christian Schools[2]
Websitewww.maconroadbaptist.org

Macon Road Baptist School was a private Baptist Christian school with several locations in the Memphis, Tennessee area.

Overview[edit]

Macon Road's main campus, which housed grades K–12, was originally located in the Berclair neighborhood of Memphis. The school eventually opened locations in the Memphis suburbs of Arlington, Lakeland, and Oakland (Fayette County). In the 2010s, Macon Road had around 500 K3–12 students, around 200 of which in the 7–12th grades. The school mascot was the Kingsmen and the colors were blue, black, and white.[4]

History[edit]

Macon Road Baptist Church opened the school in 1973 in the church's Berclair Road campus. The school was part of a wave of private schools formed by white parents seeking to avoid sending their children to racially integrated public schools.[5]

Dr. Wayne Webb headed the school from 1974 to 2021. In March 2014, Macon Road became accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), an accreditation division of AdvancED.[6]

In 2014, the school closed its Berclair campus; both the school and Macon Road Baptist Church moved to Arlington. The Berclair campus then became a satellite campus for the Frayser-based charter school Memphis Business Academy.[7]

In 2023, the school announced plans to re-open.[8]

Academics[edit]

Macon Road used the Abeka curriculum, which has been described as Christian Nationalist revisionism, even describing slavery as "black immigration".[9][10] All students were required to take a Bible class from K3–12th grade; the school only accepted the King James Version of the Bible.

Elective courses included several Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses, yearbook, personal fitness, Christian ethics, and various higher level sciences and math classes including anatomy and physiology, physics, and advanced math.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Private School Universe Study". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Macon Road Baptist School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  3. ^ "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for Macon Road Baptist School-east Campus". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved October 19, 2013.
  4. ^ "About Us". Macon Road Baptist School. Archived from the original on October 24, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  5. ^ Pohlmann, Marcus D. (2008). Opportunity Lost: Race and Poverty in the Memphis City Schools. Univ. of Tennessee Press. p. 85. ISBN 9781572336384.
  6. ^ "MRBS is now accredited through SACS". Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 14, 2014.
  7. ^ "Old Berclair church officially new Memphis Business Academy location". www.actionnews5.com. July 9, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  8. ^ "Macon Road Baptist School Announces Reopening Plans". Macon Road Baptist School. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  9. ^ Klein, Rebecca (August 12, 2021). "The rightwing US textbooks that teach slavery as 'black immigration'". Retrieved November 14, 2023. The Guardian reviewed dozens of textbooks produced by the Christian textbook publishers Abeka, Bob Jones University Press and Accelerated Christian Education, three of the most popular textbook sources used in private schools throughout the US. These textbooks describe slavery as "black immigration", and say Nelson Mandela helped move South Africa to a system of "radical affirmative action".
  10. ^ Smietana, Bob; McFarlan Miller, Emily (December 23, 2022). "How the Battle Over Christian Nationalism Often Starts With Homeschooling". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved November 14, 2023. "The History of the United States in Christian Perspective," a textbook from Abeka, promises students: "You will learn how God blessed America because of the principles (truths) for which America stands." Those truths made America "the greatest nation on the face of the earth," the book says, before issuing a warning: "No nation can remain great without God's blessing."
  11. ^ "Macon Road Baptist School East Campus 2013 - 2014 Class Schedule Grades 7-12" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
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