Tipton-Rosemark Academy
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox school
| name = Tipton-Rosemark Academy
| motto = Bound for College, Prepared for Life.
| location = Rosemark, Tennessee
| country = United States
| coordinates = {{Coord|35.3638|-89.7708|display=inline;title}}
| pushpin_map = Tennessee
| established = {{Start date|1965}}
| type = Private Christian School
| grades = K-12
| mascot = Rebel
| newspaper = TRA Tribune
| colors = Red, White, and Blue
| website = {{URL|tiptonrosemarkacademy.net}}
}}
Tipton-Rosemark Academy (often abbreviated TRA) is a private Christian school in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States.{{cite gnis|2425427|Tipton-Rosemark Academy}} It is in the community of Rosemark, and near the border of Shelby and Tipton County.{{cite web| title=Tipton-Rosemark Academy| url=http://www.tiptonrosemarkacademy.net/index.cfm| accessdate=August 8, 2014}} It was established as a Christian academy {{cite web|url=https://www.tiptonrosemarkacademy.net/about/history|title=History|access-date=2024-09-05}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Patrick |title=The Rebel Made Me Do It: Mascots, Race, and the Lost Cause |url=https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2725&context=dissertations |publisher=University of Southern Mississippi |access-date=October 18, 2023 |page=196 |date=2019}} The founders since have framed the impetus for the school to be concern about the legal decision Abington School District v. Schempp, which prevented required government-sponsored Bible reading in public schools. An elementary school was established in a house in Munford, Tennessee, and named Tipton Academy.
In 1967, another group built a facility in Brighton, Tennessee. In 1970, a kindergarten 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 9â12. The newly acquired school was named Rosemark Academy. Some historians have cited Rosemark Academy as an example of a segregation academy.{{cite book| last1=Pohlmann|first1=Marcus D.|title=Opportunity Lost: Race and Poverty in the Memphis City Schools| date=2008|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=9781572336384|page=85|language=en}}
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.{{cite news |title=Deadline nears to save school |publisher=Commercial Appeal |date=June 22, 2008}} 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.[https://issuu.com/suzannedavidson/docs/the_cornerstone_sept_2021_ed4bca840ce188 The Cornerstone September 2021]
Athletics
TRA is a member of the TSSAA, classified as Division II, Class A West. The school's mascot is the Rebel, and all sports teams are known as the TRA Rebels. Football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, baseball, tennis, golf, cross country, and cheerleading are offered as varsity athletics.{{cite web|title=Tipton-Rosemark Academy: Athletics|url=http://www.tiptonrosemarkacademy.net/athletics/index.cfm|accessdate=August 8, 2014}}
The school has won the following TSSAA championships:{{cite web | url=https://tssaasports.com/school/?id=508 | title=Tipton-Rosemark Academy Championship History }}