Stuart Training School
{{Short description|High school in Martin County, Florida}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
Stuart Training School, in Stuart, Florida, was the high school for African Americans in Martin County, Florida during segregation. C.E. Murray was principal from 1925 to 1939.{{cite news
|title=Indiantown School Segregation Set
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=August 16, 1939
|page=3
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32205040/the_palm_beach_post/}} His brother Robert G. Murray was principal from 1945 to 1958.{{cite news
|title=May Name New School After Murray Family
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=June 10, 1964
|page=13
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32211623/stuart_training_school_principals_name/}}{{cite news
|title=Schools named for area achievers
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=February 27, 2008
|page=N016
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32204791/who_some_florida_schools_were_named_for/}} Its building at 800 SE Bahama Avenue, still in use by the School's successor, Spectrum Junior/Senior High School, opened in 1931.{{cite news
|title=School memories of an era gone (Part 1)
|first=Pat
|last=Moore
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=January 16, 2000
|page=837
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32214042/stuart_training_school_reunion_part_1/}}
Students "read second-hand books...that were discarded from their all-white counterparts at
|title=Students remember receiving hand-me-down books, uniforms (Part 2)
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=January 16, 2000
|first=Pat
|last=Moore
|page=27
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32215654/stuart_training_school_reunion/}}
Stuart went out of existence in 1964. A new school for negroes, Carver Gardens Junior/Senior High School, renamed Murray Junior/Senior High in honor of the principals mentioned above, opened in Port Salerno.{{cite news
|title=$1 Million Suggested for Negro Schools
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=April 4, 1964
|page=13
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32211925/plans_to_help_negro_schools/}}
In a 1989 naming contest, students picked the name Spectrum (Spectrum Junior/Senior High) as a synonym for "all-inclusive".{{cite news
|title=Some School Names Need Explaining
|newspaper=Palm Beach Post
|date=December 5, 2007
|page=N006
|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/32205133/school_names_in_palm_beach_county/}} However, by 2000 it was "marked for problem students who have had trouble attending mainstream schools"; it was "surrounded by tall chain-link fences". In 2009 a teacher described it as "a drop-out center".{{cite web
|date=May 29, 2009
|title=Spectrum Junior/Senior High School
|publisher=GreatSchools
|url=https://www.greatschools.org/florida/stuart/6575-Spectrum-Junior-Senior-High-School/}} In 2019 it is the Spectrum Academy; its web site describes it as an "alternative secondary school for students who are seeking creative scheduling options that include full-time credit recovery and co-enrollment opportunities with the student’s home school."{{cite web
|title=Spectrum Academy Overview
|author=Martin County Schools
|accessdate=June 3, 2019
|url=https://www.martinschools.org/domain/421}} In 2016–17 there were 76 students and 7 teachers.{{cite web
|title=SPECTRUM JUNIOR/SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
|author=National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education
|accessdate=June 3, 2019
|url=https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&SchoolID=120129002655&ID=120129002655}}
Famous alumni
=Stuart Training School=
- Howard Porter, basketball player
=Spectrum Academy=
- Omar Mateen, islamic terrorist, mass murderer and perpetrator of the Orlando nightclub shooting{{Cite web|url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/nation-now/exclusive-mateens-school-records-reveal-suspensions-drug-use-crime/277-246332588|title=Exclusive: Mateen’s school records reveal suspensions, drug use, crime|website=ktvb.com}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1964
Category:Historically segregated African-American schools in Florida
Category:Public high schools in Florida
Category:Martin County School District
Category:Defunct public schools in Martin County, Florida