Posted on 10/29/2025 4:51:20 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The historically black boarding academy in Mississippi is a model worth seeking to emulate.
Piney Woods, Miss.
It’s no revelation that Dixie has long lagged other parts of the country—be it economically, educationally or otherwise—or that Mississippi has long been the region’s poster child for underachievement.
A defining feature of Mississippi’s past was its violent and persistent opposition to black civil rights. It’s where 14-year-old Emmett Till was lynched in 1955. It’s where segregationists rioted over black Air Force veteran James Meredith’s attempt to integrate the University of Mississippi in 1962. During Jim Crow, Mississippi’s black voter-registration rate was the lowest in the region.
The good news is that Mississippi, which is home to the highest percentage of black residents of any state, has made admirable strides, especially regarding educational achievement. Ten years ago, it ranked 49th among fourth-graders in reading proficiency on the National Assessment for Educational Progress. Currently, it ranks ninth. Among low-income students, it ranks first. Among black students, it ranks third. Bravo.
Mississippi is also home to the Piney Woods School, which was founded in 1909 to educate the descendents of former slaves and is now the nation’s oldest historically black boarding school. Located 20 miles south of Jackson in the Pine Belt region, the school enrolls about 100 students in grades 8 through 12. Around a third are Mississippi natives. The rest hail from other states (California, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Nebraska, Georgia) and other countries (Somalia, Rwanda, Canada, Brazil, Colombia).
“Some people think that if it’s all-black, there must be something wrong. It must be a reform school of some kind,” Will Crossley, the school’s president, told me during a recent visit. In fact, Piney Woods exemplifies black education success, and Mr. Crossley is living proof. He grew up on the South Side of Chicago in...
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
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