n October 2, 1899 the first two public schools in what would one day become Broward County opened their doors. Ivy Cromartie,

Ivy Cromartie and class

who later married and became Ivy Stranahan, was Fort Lauderdale's first teacher.  She welcomed nine students into a wood- framed schoolhouse located on South Andrews Avenue, south of the New River. Pompano's first teacher, Mary Butler also greeted nine students. Each teacher earned $40 per month. Since students needed to work in the farm fields, the school term was only four to six months long.

In 1899, Dade County, Florida included all of the land from St. Lucie Inlet south to the upper Keys, so Broward's early schools were part of the Dade County Public School System. Z. T. Merritt served as Dade County’s Superintendent earning $600 per year.

Even after the extension of the Florida East Coast Railway from West Palm Beach to Miami in 1896, only the hardiest pioneers made the decision to settle in Broward.  The area was considered a watery wasteland with 89% of its land officially in the Everglades.  By 1901, in all of Dade County there were only 26 wooden schoolhouses and enrollment was at 997 including 18 students in Fort Lauderdale and 28 students in Pompano. 

Twenty of those schools were for white students and six were for Black students.  The school system rigorously enforced racial segregation of pupils and teachers in concert with the philosophy of the South. In 1903, when schools opened in Dania and Hallandale, the first school for Black students, in what would one day become Broward County, was built in Deerfield.  The Reverend B. F. James was the school’s first teacher.  The Braitwaite School, a second school for Deerfield’s Black children opened in 1929. 

The first school for Black students in Fort Lauderdale opened in 1907.  Ten students attended classes in a one-room wooden building designated at that time as the “Colored School.” The building was located on Northwest Third Avenue between Broward Boulevard and Northwest Second Street. 

Hallandale’s first school for Black students, built in 1913 or 1916, was later used as a private home.  Over the years it became dilapidated and in 1975 it was torn down. 

Hallandale's first school for Black Students

Of course, there were no school buses.  In fact the first horseless carriage did not arrive in South Florida until 1901.  But, in 1902 the School Board did offer transportation to students living in Hallandale who needed to attend Fort Lauderdale’s school.  Each school day, students would climb on board wagons for the ride to school.  The school system paid wagon owners $20 a month for their services.

With the completion of a rock road from Biscayne Bay north to West Palm Beach in 1906, the basis of today’s Dixie Highway, the area’s population began to gradually increase.

The formation of Broward County was still six years away when Palm Beach County was established in 1909. Schools in Pompano and Deerfield left the control of Dade County and came under the control of the newly formed Palm Beach County School System.

In 1910, as Fort Lauderdale's population continued to grow, a new high school was needed. Before construction could begin, the old two-room framed schoolhouse was moved slightly northward to make room for the new school. The "modern" two-story concrete school was constructed for a total cost of $7,000.

South Florida became more appealing with the drainage and reclamation of the Everglades. In March of 1911, a land lottery of Everglades property was held. Between 3,000 and 3,500 land purchasers from all over the United States headed for Fort Lauderdale. One result of the influx was the establishment of a new community adjacent to Fort Lauderdale. Called Progresso, it was soon joined by another community called Zona, later to be re-named Davie. Students living in the Davie area initially attended classes in a room inside the “big store,” also known as Lowes Store.  The building was constructed of corrugated tin and also housed the community’s post office.  When a school was constructed in Davie in 1911, it was the first school in the Everglades.

Ft. Lauderdale High -  1910

First Superintendent of Schools J.M. Holding

With the new county came the Broward County School System. The Superintendent, a three-member Broward County Board of Public Instruction, and elected trustees of each school guided the county's schools. The first Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools was J.M. Holding and the first Board Chairman, C.D. Kittredge.

The county-wide replacement of wood-framed structures with concrete schools began in 1915. Among those replaced was Davie school. For nearly half a century after the new school was constructed, it was the western-most school in the Broward School District. Dedicated May 10, 1918, the lower-floor of the new school had four classrooms. The second floor housed the principal’s office, a library and an auditorium with long wooden benches that could seat up to 500 people. Electric lights were added at a cost of $750 in 1923. Though its original appearance was changed slightly by a hurricane in 1926 and by additions in the 1950s, the building, now known as Old Davie School, remains one of the least altered elementary school buildings in South Florida. Now used as a social, historic and cultural center, it is the oldest existing school building in continuous use in Broward County.

In 1916 Hallandale Elementary School was constructed. The two-story building served students in grades one through eight.  Unfortunately, the impressive building was damaged in a fire in the 1920s and was torn down in 1930.

Fort Lauderdale High School Track Team

School spirit has a long history in Broward Schools. Fort Lauderdale High School athletes first wore the Flying L symbol on their uniforms on March 30, 1918 at an annual meet between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. Many theories exist as to why the arrow and wing were added to the emblem. One theory is that during a track meet a spectator yelled, "He's a Flying L from Fort Lauderdale" prompting the addition of a wing for speed and an arrow for straight flight.

Educators had long pushed for frontier children to attend school regularly, but reality dictated that children assist their farm families in the fields. For that reason regular school attendance was low. But, in 1919, shortly after World War I, compulsory education was mandated. This, coupled with more highly trained teachers who considered teaching a career, increased the quality of education in Broward County.