Pulaski Academy (PA) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

, independent college preparatory preschool, elementary, and junior/senior

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

headed by Brock Dunn in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood of

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, United States. PA was established in 1971 as a

segregation academy Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend Racial segregation in the United States, desegregated public schools. They ...

and remains as the only independent, non-sectarian,

college preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...

in Arkansas.

History

When busing was introduced in the early 1970s to counteract the effects of racially defined residential patterns, whites built private schools in the suburbs or fled the county altogether. In 1971, the segregationist businessman William F. Rector announced the construction of the private Pulaski Academy in the western suburbs of the city for those, he said, who "don't like busing." Pulaski was the first school established after the '' Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education'' decision (1971). Rector said, "I even hope we'll be allowed to play ''

Dixie Dixie, also known as Dixieland or Dixie's Land, is a nickname for all or part of the Southern United States. While there is no official definition of this region (and the included areas have shifted over the years), or the extent of the area i ...

'' if we want to without having a riot about it." In 2003, one of 102 graduating seniors was black. In the 2015–2016 school year, 955 of 1,221 students in grades 1-12 were white (78%). In 2016, Little Rock was 48% white. In 2006, Pulaski Academy purchased the campus of Fellowship Bible Church, on the corner of Hinson and Napa Valley, increasing the campus to .

Academics

PA is accredited by ISACS (

Independent Schools Association of the Central States Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

), and ANSAA (Arkansas Non-public School Accrediting Association). PA is a member of the

Cum Laude Society The Cum Laude Society is an international organization that honors academic achievement at secondary institutions, similar to the Phi Beta Kappa, which honors academic achievements at the university level. History The Cum Laude Society was fo ...

, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE),

Arkansas Activities Association The Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) is the primary sanctioning body for high school sports in state of Arkansas. AAA is a member association of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSHSA). Every public secondary s ...

(AAA),

College Board The College Board, styled as CollegeBoard, is an American not-for-profit organization that was formed in December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to expand access to higher education. While the College Board is not an asso ...

and NAIS (

National Association of Independent Schools The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, board ...

). Pulaski Academy was named 2003 "Best of the Best" Private High School by the readers of an

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas's counties. By virtue of one ...

contest. During the 2008–09 academic year, fifteen members of the Class of 2009 were named as National Merit Scholars, three as Commended Scholars and twelve as Finalists. Enrollment for the 2009–10 academic year was approximately 1,210 K-12 students, with a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 8.9:1.

Extracurricular activities

The school's mascot is the Bruin and school colors are Navy blue and Vegas gold. For 2024-2026 the Pulaski Academy Bruins play in the 7A Central Conference administered by the

. The school participates in baseball, basketball (boys/girls), cheer, cross country, Pom, football, soccer (boys/girls), softball, swimming and diving (boys/girls), tennis (boys/girls), golf (boys/girls) volleyball(girls), lacrosse (boys/girls), and wrestling. The school's football team has won nine state championships since 2003. The team was coached by Kevin Kelley until 2021, who gained notoriety for his

strategies Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "troop leadership; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art o ...

, which include the total rejection of punting and returning punts, as well as a reliance on the

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff (under American and Canadian rules) or punt (under Canadian rules only) deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a t ...

. The team is now coached by Anthony Lucas.

Athletic state championships

The Pulaski Academy Bruins have won 80 state championships: * Wrestling (4x): 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 * Girls Tennis (19x): 1980, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 * Boys Tennis (18x): 1987, 2002, Fall 2003, Spring 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 * Baseball (5x): 1993, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2013 * Girls Soccer (9x): 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2024 * Boys Soccer (3x): 2000, 2001, 2007 * Girls Swimming (2x) 2014, 2015 * Football (11x): (2003 3A), (2008 5A), (2011 4A) (2014 5A), (2015 5A), (2016 5A), (2017 5A), (2019 5A), (2020 5A), (2021 5A), (2022 6A) * Boys Basketball (2x): 2002, 2003 * All Golf Team (5x) : 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 *Dance (2x) : 2020, 2021

Notable alumni

* Ashlie Atkinson, actress * Ayana Gray, novelist * Dusty Hannahs (born 1993), basketball player in the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

* Will Hastings, American football wide receiver * Hunter Henry, tight end in the NFL for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

* John M. Jumper, AI researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry * Jason King, former offensive guard in the NFL for the New England Patriots and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

Amy Lee Amy Lynn Lee (born December 13, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She is the co-founder, lead vocalist, lead songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Evanescence. A classically trained pianist, Lee began writing music at ...

, lead singer of

Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...

. The song ''Listen to the Rain'', written by her, was sung at her Class of 2000 graduation ceremony *

Jonathan Luigs Jonathan Luigs (born August 11, 1986) is an American former professional football center who played in the National Football League (NFL). Luigs played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks, earned consensus All-American honors, and won ...

, played in the NFL for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

* David Venable, intelligence officer, author, and businessman

References

External links

* {{Authority control African-American history in Little Rock, Arkansas High schools in Little Rock, Arkansas Preparatory schools in Arkansas Educational institutions established in 1971 Private high schools in Arkansas Private middle schools in Arkansas Private elementary schools in Arkansas Segregation academies in Arkansas 1971 establishments in Arkansas