Copiah Academy, founded in 1967, is a private Christian school in Gallman in the south-central region of Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, covering grades K to 12 (ages approximately 4 to 18). The school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

 is named for Copiah County

Copiah County, Mississippi

As of the census of 2000, there were 28,757 people, 10,142 households, and 7,494 families residing in the county. The population density was 37 people per square mile . There were 11,101 housing units at an average density of 14 per square mile...

 where it resides. It is properly referred to as Copiah Educational Foundation, and consists of an upper-middle school, lower school, and high school known as Copiah Academy, and a financial

FINANCIAL

FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...

 branch named the Copiah Educational Foundation, which deals with long-range financial matters.

History

Copiah Academy's first classes were held in 1967 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Copiah County, Mississippi, United States, located about 30 miles south of the state capital Jackson along Interstate 55. The population was 4,400 at the 2000 census...

, just a few miles south of its current location. After a continued increase in the number of enrolled students, classes were continued the following year in a one million

Million

One million or one thousand thousand, is the natural number following 999,999 and preceding 1,000,001. The word is derived from the early Italian millione , from mille, "thousand", plus the augmentative suffix -one.In scientific notation, it is written as or just 106...

 dollar

Dollar

The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...

 building on land donated by the T.M. Smith family. Continued operation has resulted in attempts by the school's administration to provide more academic and athletic

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

 opportunities to its students.

Copiah Academy began taking steps to achieve accreditation by the Mississippi Private School Association

Mississippi Private School Association

The Mississippi Association of Independent Schools is a consortium of schools in Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. It is responsible for accreditation of its member private schools as well as governing athletic competition for its member schools....

 and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. This process involved meeting certain educational standards

Standardization

Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....

 accepted by these organizations.

Mission

The school states that its mission is "to provide a positive educational experience in a safe Christian environment, thus enabling all students to achieve their academic potential and pursue a successful future".

Students

Copiah Academy offers several opportunities for students to become involved in sports and other scholastic activities away from class. Many students dedicate countless hours to their sports and are still able to manage very high Grade point averages. Despite several impressive academic and athletic opportunities, Copiah Academy does not offer a very diverse student population. It is becoming relatively diversified as opposed to its prior state. In the 2001-2002 school year, Copiah Academy welcomed its first black student. Prior to this, several students from other ethnicities had already been enrolled as students at the facilities for several years.

Discipline

There is a demerit system for misbehaving students, with 10 demerits leading to one detention.
For significant offenses, Copiah Academy's policy is to administer corporal punishment at the discretion and at the direction of the Headmaster.