The Heritage School (Newnan, Georgia)

The Heritage School is a co-educational private school in Newnan, Georgia, United States. Established in 1970, from its founding, the Heritage School maintained an open admissions policy, although initially no black students applied nor were enrolled.^[3][4] The National Association of Independent Schools, which insisted on open-admissions policies for all its member schools, admitted the Heritage School to its membership in 1970.^[5] According to historian Love Williams, the school's Federal Tax exempt status granted in 1970 was entirely conditioned upon the school having a racially inclusive enrollment policy.^[6] The school is a member of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA),^[7] and is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS).^[8] It received full re-accreditation in 2022.

The Heritage School
Address
2093 Highway 29 North Newnan , Georgia 30263 United States
Coordinates	33.4281911°N 84.7602026°W / 33.4281911; -84.7602026
Information
Type	Private school
Motto	Think Beyond.
Established	1970 (1970)
NCES School ID	00297361[1]
Head of school	Kristin Skelly[2]
Teaching staff	55 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Grades	PK-12
Gender	Co-educational
Enrollment	457 (including 11 Pre-K students)[1] (2019–2020)
Student to teacher ratio	7.8[1]
Campus type	Suburban
Color(s)	Red, white, blue
Athletics conference	GHSA
Mascot	Hawk
Nickname	Hawks
Accreditations	Southern Association of Independent Schools
Website	www.heritageschool.com

History

As he was being interviewed by the first Board of Trustees, the first Headmaster of the Heritage School, George H. Keller, Jr., made it a condition of his acceptance to the post that the school not be a segregation academy.^[9] The school was founded in 1970, and the school received a Federally recognized tax-exemption based on its non-discriminatory policy.^[10]: 1997 Before opening, the school ran newspaper advertisements informing the community of its non-discriminatory policy.^[11]

The IRS decision to grant tax exempt status to the school was investigated by Senate Select Committee on Equal Education Opportunity. Senator Walter Mondale asked IRS commissioner Randolph W. Thrower to explain why the school had been granted tax exempt status in light of a report that the school's headmaster told an NAACP investigator that "no black applicants were expected" but the investigator's children could apply if they "had $750 in their ass pocket."^{[10][12]: 2021 [13][14]} Commissioner Thrower, who was himself a champion of civil rights,^[15] dismissed Mondale's allegations of racism on the grounds that "sometimes charges are inaccurate and sometimes they are recklessly made."^[16]

The following year the school's board agreed to waive the tuition for enrollment for black enrollees selected for admission.^[10]: 2031

Athletics

In 2018, the school joined the Georgia High School Association in the 4-A private division.^[17] It previously competed in the Georgia Independent School Association. In the winter of 2022, the school elected to return to GISA due to the GHSA's new policy of multiplying "out of district students." The vast majority of Heritage students are what the GHSA considers "Out of district." This GHSA policy resulted in many independent schools leaving the GHSA because it would have put them at a competitive disadvantage against much larger public schools.

Demographics

The demographic breakdown of the 414 K-12 students enrolled for 2019–20 was:^[1]

• Asian – 5.4%
• Black – 9%
• Hispanic – 2.6%
• White – 72.8%
• Multiracial – 3.7%

National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) does not compile demographic information for Pre-K students.

References

1. "Search for Private Schools – School Detail for The Heritage School". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
2. "Welcome from The Head". The Heritage School. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
3. Atlanta Constitution, July 8, 1970, delineated between "segregated academies and new private schools which have open enrollment policies," and the Heritage School of Newnan was placed in the latter category. Atlanta Constitution, August 6, 1970 reiterated "a distinction should be made between private segregated academies and new private schools which have open enrollment policies (in reference to the Heritage School of Newnan).”
4. Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity (1970). Equal Educational Opportunity: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session-92nd Congress, First Session
5. Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity (1970). Equal Educational Opportunity: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session-92nd Congress, First Session, p. 2068
6. Love Williams, History of the First 25 Years of the Heritage School, 1995, p.4.
7. "List Of Member Schools – Georgia Independent School Association". Retrieved May 23, 2019.
8. "Heritage School – SAIS". www.sais.org. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
9. Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity (1970). Equal Educational Opportunity: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session-92nd Congress, First Session, p. 2068. For this reason, the founders were circumspect to keep the term "academy" from the name of the school lest it be perceived as a segregated school.
10. Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity (1970). Equal Educational Opportunity: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session-92nd Congress, First Session. Vol. 10. U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
11. “Student enrollment, without regard to race, creed, color or national origin will begin when the Headmaster takes office.” see Newnan Herald, March 5, 1970; “Applications are invited from all persons regardless of race, creed, color or national origin.” see Newnan Herald, July 16, 1970
12. Letter from Bob Vader, NAACP, to Senator Walter Mondale; August 7, 1970; Published in the Congressional Record
13. Clymber, Adam (August 13, 1970). "IRS is attacked on 'academies' — Mondale says exemptions are based on 'hoax'". The Baltimore Sun. p. 1.
14. Reich, Kenneth (March 28, 1971). "Administration Deceit Charge in Integration". Los Angeles Times. p. 4H.
15. Phyllis Kravitch, "Randolph Thrower," in Emory Law Journal, Volume 64, issue 2, 2014
16. Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity (1970). Equal Educational Opportunity: Hearings Before the Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity, Ninety-first Congress, Second Session-92nd Congress, First Session
17. "Revisiting GHSA region alignments for upcoming season". Retrieved August 14, 2020.

External links

• Official website