Atlanta’s David T. Howard Middle School hosts 100 year anniversary celebration

In honor of Black History Month, David T. Howard Middle School is hosting a centennial celebration. Today’s celebration highlights the school’s 100 years in Atlanta Public Schools.

The school closed in 1976 and served primarily as an office building until it was refurbished and re-opened as a middle school in 2020.

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During today’s event, they unveiled a mural that pays tribute to the history of the school and the City of Atlanta.

“We are very diverse student body, but we still honor that past and each other’s cultures, and that’s what makes it great,” Principal Tekeshia Hollis said.

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Howard originally opened as an elementary school for African American students for the 1923-- 1924 school year before becoming the city’s second high school for African Americans in 1948.

And an interesting note – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. attended the school as a child in the 1930s and 40s. Other notable alumni include former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, Basketball Hall of Famer Walt Frazier, real estate mogul Herman J. Russell, and Olympic gold medal winner Mildred McDaniel Singleton.

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