On April 17, 2008, I read with interest, in the Americus Times-Recorder, Mrs. Suzanne Nordwall’s comments concerning her son’s happy experience in the Sumter County School System. However, she expressed some opinions about private schools that are simply not true. Southland Academy has a very diverse population with students attending or having attended from Korea, India, China, Germany and France. Now if Mrs. Nordwall is referring to blacks, Southland has black students who have graduated, and others who will graduate in the near future. Some have attended since kindergarten. Octavia Felton, a black student, graduated with honors in the Class of 2006. All of Southland’s students have experiences outside the classroom, including trips to Spain, France, Germany, the nation’s capital and many fine arts experiences too numerous to name.

To say that Southland is a segregated school is a total untruth. Southland Academy, as do all member schools of the Georgia Independent School Association, maintain a policy, as has appeared in the past in this newspaper, of non-discrimination according to race, religion or sex in its enrollment policies.

The last time I checked, America was a free country. That means that parents have a choice as to schooling their children. Southland is one of the choices. It is my opinion that Americus and Sumter County would be hurt economically without Southland Academy. Parents considering moving to this area have a choice of two systems. Some of them will not move to Americus and Sumter County if they do not have a private school, with Southland’s reputation, which offers a viable alternative to public education.

I have been in Americus since 1949, and was headmaster of Southland Academy from 1971-1996. What gives you, Mrs. Nordwall, a newcomer, the right to cast negative implications on a school that has the reputation for academic excellence that Southland has all over the state, the Southeast and other areas of our nation?

Led by a caring, enthusiastic and well-prepared faculty, Southland’s students are attending or have attended many of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the nation, including Duke, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, University of Georgia, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Georgia Southwestern, Georgia Southern and Valdosta State, just to name a few. These graduates then go on to the workforce and work beside people of all races and nationalities. Just as an example one graduate, Dr. John David Hall, was mentioned in the Americus Times-Recorder on April 17, 2008, (same day as the Nordwall letter) as having been named chief resident of the Department of Anesthesiology at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.

As a final thought, I am happy that your child is having a good and rewarding experience in the Sumter County School System. However, I do want to remind you that criticizing one system to enhance another system is not, and has never been a good idea. Supporting your choice with enthusiasm and hard work is the best idea.

Southland Academy has been in Americus and Sumter County for 41 years, and whether you like it or not, will still be in Americus and Sumter County when Mrs. Nordwall and Melvin Kinslow are forgotten.

Melvin T. Kinslow

Americus