Tipton-Rosemark Academy (often abbreviated TRA) is a private

Christian school A Christian school is a Parochial school, religious school run on Christianity, Christian principles or by a Christian organization. These schools often include religious education and worship in their curriculum. They may also have a distinct Ch ...

in Shelby County,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is in the community of Rosemark, and near the border of Shelby and Tipton County. It was established as a Christian academy and uses confederate imagery, including the nickname Rebels.

History

Tipton-Rosemark Academy's inception came in 1965, when a group of parents established a Christian academy using the name Tipton Academy. The founders since have framed the impetus for the school to be concern about the legal decision

Abington School District v. Schempp ''Abington School District v. Schempp'', 374 U.S. 203 (1963),. was a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case in which the Court decided 8–1 in favor of the respondent, Edward Schempp, on behalf of his son Ellery Sc ...

, which prevented required government-sponsored Bible reading in public schools. An

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

was established in a house in

Munford, Tennessee Munford is a city in Tipton County, Tennessee. The population was 5,927 at the 2010 census, when it was listed as a town. History Beginning as a small village which grew around the Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church in the early 1850s, it was ...

, and named Tipton Academy. In 1967, another group built a facility in Brighton, Tennessee. In 1970, a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

was added. Tipton Academy purchased Rosemark School, a closed public school built in 1922 from Shelby County in hopes of expanding the academy into grades 9–12. The newly acquired school was named Rosemark Academy. Some historians have cited Rosemark Academy as an example of 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 ...

. Seventh and eighth grades were moved to the Rosemark Academy in 1986 as the first step to consolidate all grades to the Rosemark campus. As part of the consolidation process, a new elementary school building was constructed in 1988. The decision was then made to combine the names of the two schools, thus creating the modern name of Tipton-Rosemark Academy. In May 2008, RTA abandoned the old Rosemark school building, which had been built in 1922. In response to the Tennessee Preservation Trust's desire to save the building, the school offered to preserve it if $200,000 in donations could be raised by August, otherwise it would be razed before the new school year started. According to the school website, due to fire codes, the old Rosemark high school building came down in the summer of 2008. The cornerstones were saved and became part of the new TRA Performing Arts Center and Chapel. The Head of School at Tipton-Rosemark Academy is Dr. Andy Graham, Jr.. He was appointed to the position in July 2021.

Athletics

TRA is a member of the

TSSAA The Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), along with the affiliated Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association (TMSAA), is an organization which administers junior and senior high school sporting events in Tennessee. The TSSAA ...

, classified as Division II, Class A West. The school's mascot is the

Rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...

, and all sports teams are known as the TRA Rebels.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, cross country, and

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

are offered as varsity athletics. The school has won the following TSSAA championships: *Girls softball (2011, 2014)

References

{{Reflist Schools in Shelby County, Tennessee Segregation academies in Tennessee Private K–12 schools in Tennessee 1965 establishments in Tennessee Educational institutions established in 1965