False River Academy


False River Academy is a nonsectarian private school located in New Roads, Louisiana in Pointe Coupee Parish. It serves grades Pre-K through 12. The school is independent, and has its own school board. Its enrollment is drawn from Pointe Coupee and surrounding parishes. It is one of two private schools and one of three high schools in the parish.
It was founded as a segregation academy in 1969. Its first non-white students enrolled in the late 1990s. In 2005, somewhat more students of ethnic minorities enrolled after Hurricane Katrina displaced them from the New Orleans area. As of 2014, the school was 96.2% white.
During the 2013-2014 school year, the school had 483 students and 29.4 classroom teachers, for a student-teacher ratio of 15.6:1.

History

False River Academy was founded in the summer of 1969 as a segregation academy by white people upset by desegregation. Although segregation academies were forced to eliminate explicitly racial admissions policies in the 1970s, all of False River's students were white until the late 1990s. In 2014, the student body was more than 96% white. As part of an effort to increase diversity, the school offers several minority scholarships.
When the school was founded, it operated in temporary buildings on the edge of a sugar cane field in New Roads a short distance from False River. The school took its name from this nearby ox-bow lake. Permanent brick buildings and a gymnasium were added in the 1970s as the school grew.
The school is accredited by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and holds membership in Louisiana Citizens for Educational Freedom. In 2012, the school became accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement.
Beginning in 2015, the school began offering a dual enrollment course for college credit. The dual enrollment course offered include: College Algebra, Trigonometry, Chemistry, English, and Spanish. Credit for the courses can be earned with Louisiana State University or Southeastern Louisiana University.

Student body

Besides enrolling students from the local New Roads area, many students from throughout Pointe Coupee Parish and surrounding parishes attend this school. The school enrolls students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. During the 2005 and 2006 school years, the school had an influx of students from Hurricane Katrina-destroyed schools in the New Orleans area. During this time, the school had its largest number of ethnic minority students. According to a 2010 Pointe Coupee Parish Chamber of Commerce Report, which was based on Louisiana Department of Education data, the average composite ACT score for the school was a 21.6. This ranked the school second among the parish's four high schools.

Demographics

In the 2013-2014 school year, the demographic breakdown of the 483 students was:
False River Academy offers courses designed to meet the requirements for high school graduation set forth by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as the requirements for Louisiana's TOPS Opportunity Award college scholarship program.
The school is part of a vocational training program where students may take courses at a nearby satellite campus of Baton Rouge Community College for high school credit. In addition, it is also part of a dual enrollment program with Louisiana State University and Southeastern Louisiana University. In this dual enrollment programs, students in grades 11 and 12 may elect to take college level courses that are counted for both high school and college credit simultaneously. The dual enrollment courses currently offered are: Chemistry 101, English 101, English 102, American History 201, Spanish 101, College Algebra 1021, and Trigonometry 1022.

Extracurricular activities

The extracurricular activities include a Student Council, Spanish Club; and chapters of national organizations, such as the Beta Club, Junior Beta Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Students Against Destructive Decisions, and 4-H Club. Service organizations such as Key Club coexist alongside clubs which have a primarily social or recreational purpose. Other extracurricular activities include cheerleading; formerly, there was a dance team known as the Gatorettes. Journalism students produce and edit a school newspaper, the Gator Gazette, and the school yearbook, the Gator Tale.

Athletics

The school competes in the following sports:
In 1989, the school won the Louisiana Independent School Association football tournament. The school also won the LISA baseball tournament in 1991, as well as basketball in 1977 and 1978, and softball in 1987 and 1989. False River Academy is now a member of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association, and has been competing in this league since 1991. It is a Class single 'A' member of the LHSAA and competes in District 5. Since joining the LHSAA, the school has achieved a state championship in cross-country in 1995, as well as Boy's Powerlifting Championships in 1999, 2000, 2010, and 2015. The school's Girl's Powerlifting team achieved State Titles in 2006, 2007, and 2010.