Schools & Churches: Introduction

By 1919 a rapidly increasing population in Palm Beach County was leading to plans for new or improved schools. The Glades communities of South Bay and Ritta were both slated to receive additions, while lumber had been set aside, awaiting site selection, for new schoolhouses at Bacom Point, Prosperity Farms, and Connersville (W. J. Conners Farms). Bureaucracy often delays plans, however; a “List of School Plants According to Year of Construction” shows no new schools built in 1919 and only one in 1920.

The School Board Minutes of 1926 listed subjects taught in one West Palm Beach school, which included Latin, French, Science, History, Math, Home Economics, Manual Training, and Physical Training. But not all schools were equal in Palm Beach County. Education was still segregated, and even white schools ranged from primitive to modern.