ORIGINAL JONES HIGH AND CALLAHAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

SIDE ONE: Completed in 1921, the original Jones High School opened for the 1922 school year. Its mascot was a Tiger. The Orange County School Board appointed Lymas C. Jones principal in honor of his family donating land for the school. Jones High School, established during the era of Jim Crow segregation, was the first Black school for the Parramore neighborhood. Students in grades 6-10 were moved here from Johnson Academy, a nearby public school. Soon after, the school year was expanded from 5 to 9 months, and by 1929, the school served first through twelfth grades. Jones celebrated its first graduating class in 1931. The school also served as a cultural center for the growing Black community. In the evenings, it hosted vocational classes where adults could earn certificates in various trades, including cooking, carpentry, and domestic service. By 1950, the school had become overcrowded. Paul C. Perkins, an attorney for the local NAACP chapter, sued the Orange County School Board for failing to provide equal accommodations for Black students. In response, the board approved construction of a new Jones High on Rio Grande Avenue. In 1952, the former Jones High School was converted to Callahan Elementary School. SIDE TWO: Callahan Elementary School was named in honor of Dr. J.B. Callahan, a prominent Black physician in the Parramore community who had been instrumental in the establishment of Orlando General Hospital. Classes for first through sixth grades initially focused on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Science and art were later added to the curriculum. Administrators and teachers were offered one-year contracts, renewed at the end of the school year. In 1970, Callahan became the only school in Orange County to close due to desegregation. Students were transferred to other area schools and the building was later sold to the City of Orlando. In 1978, the Callahan Neighborhood Association Inc., was formed and began efforts to improve the neighborhood. In the early 1980s, the association partnered with the City of Orlando and other organizations to turn the old school into a community center. The building was re-designed but was required to keep the original building’s colonial-style architecture and arched front façade. The site became “The Dr. J. B. Callahan Neighborhood Center” in 1987 and has hosted city recreation programs, after-school programs, tutoring, summer camp, senior activities, and community events ever since.