Houston Academy is a non-profit independent college preparatory school in Dothan, Alabama. HA offers day schooling for grades 3P through twelve, and numerous after-school arts and sports programs. The nineteen-acre campus is located on the west side of Dothan in a middle class residential area, just northeast of Flowers Hospital.
History
Houston Academy G.E.N.T.S -
The school was founded in 1970 in response to integration of the public schools in Dothan, as a way to maintain segregated schooling under the guise of private education. This history received national attention in 2016, when Bill Clinton revealed in a campaign speech that his wife Hillary Clinton had made an undercover visit to the area investigating segregation academies in 1972. In 1970, the IRS allowed the school to retain its tax exempt status despite its policy of discriminating on racial grounds.
While the school no longer enforces a ban on non-white students, as of 2015 only eight black students were enrolled and only thirteen percent of the student population were minorities of any kind.
Campus
The campus, which was renovated in 1995, features four buildings connected by covered walkways. Included in the facilities are forty-five classrooms, two daycare rooms, a library, a Lower School science lab, Upper School labs for chemistry, biology, and physical science, a Middle School science lab, state of the art Lower and Upper School art rooms, two gymnasiums, a classroom for music and band, and a cafetorium. In 2002, the Dove Center was completed. It houses the Upper School English department, a computer classroom, an art room, and the library. In 2014, the Student Activity Center, a comprehensive weightlifting, fitness, and conditioning facility, was completed. The school also maintains two playgrounds, one renovated in 2005 with covered areas, the other renovated in 2015 to include an outdoor basketball court. In addition, the campus includes a practice football field and a practice baseball field.
School
The Houston Academy (H.A.) Upper School (grades 7-12) offers a college preparatory curriculum. Houston Academy offers four foreign languages (Latin, Spanish, French, and German). H.A. offers 11 Advanced Placement (A.P.) classes where students can earn college credit. H.A. offers A.P. classes in AB Calculus, Chemistry, Computer Science, English Language, English Literature, European History, French, Latin, Music Theory, Spanish, and United States History.
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