Stuart Training School, in

Stuart, Florida Stuart is a city in and the county seat of Martin County, Florida, United States. Located in southeastern Florida, Stuart is the largest of five Municipal corporation, incorporated municipalities in Martin County. The population is 17,425 accordi ...

, was the high school for African Americans in

Martin County, Florida Martin County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state, state of Florida, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 158,431. Its county seat is Stua ...

during

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of human ...

. C.E. Murray was principal from 1925 to 1939. His brother Robert G. Murray was principal from 1945 to 1958. Its building at 800 SE Bahama Avenue, still in use by the School's successor, Spectrum Junior/Senior High School, opened in 1931. Students "read second-hand books...that were discarded from their all-white counterparts at /nowiki>Martin County High School">Martin_County_High_School.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Martin County High School">/nowiki>Martin County High School/nowiki>. They also wore secondhand basketball and football uniforms.... The students and their parents built the basketball court and sidewalks at the school without the help of the school board. 'We even put in wiring for lights along the sidewalk, but the school board never connected the electricity.'" 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. In a 1989 naming contest, students picked the name Spectrum (Spectrum Junior/Senior High) as a synonym for "all-inclusive". 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". 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." In 2016–17 there were 76 students and 7 teachers.

Famous alumni

Stuart Training School

* Howard Porter, basketball player

Spectrum Academy

Omar Mateen Omar Mir Seddique Mateen (; born Omar Mir Seddique; November 16, 1986 – June 12, 2016) was an American domestic terrorist and mass murderer who killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub, a gay nightcl ...

, islamic terrorist, mass murderer and perpetrator of the

Orlando nightclub shooting On , 2016, 29-year-old Omar Mateen shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States before Orlando Police officers fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff. I ...

References

{{authority control Stuart, Florida Educational institutions disestablished in 1964 Historically segregated African-American schools in Florida Public high schools in Florida Martin County School District Defunct public schools in Martin County, Florida 1964 disestablishments in Florida Buildings and structures in Martin County, Florida