ecords show that the first 16mm film to be housed in the District’s Film Library was purchased in 1947.  The Film Library and

Film Library Manager Tina Seip - late 1970's

the rest of the what was then called the Instructional Materials Department was located in one of the former Army barracks at Sailboat Bend in Fort Lauderdale. Most District departments were located at Sailboat Bend at the time.  It was a national trend to have films and other materials distributed from a central location rather than housed at schools.  By the early 1960s school buses were being used to circulate the approximately 500 films housed in the Film Library.  By 1977, the collection had grown to nearly 10,000 films and slides that were used by the District’s 116 schools. 

As technology advanced, videotapes, videodiscs and models were added to the Film Library’s collection and the library’s name was changed to the Media Resource Center.  Over the years it became increasingly more practical for schools to house their own collections, so in June, 2005 the center closed its doors after more than 40 years of service.

Francis Hatfield served as director of the Learning Resource Department from 1943 to 1987. Ms. Hatfield was an advocate for the establishing of professionally staffed libraries in every Broward elementary school.

Broward’s population continued to grow and by 1940, it had reached 30,794.  In 1947 the District had 17 schools and the Broward County Board of Public Instruction grew from three members to five.

World War II had an impact on curriculum in Broward County, as it did in all of Florida. State education authorities wanted to be sure that what was taught would help the war effort and foster patriotism. Math students were asked to calculate such things as the percentages of airplane kills or the weights of tank parts, while home economics courses emphasized management skills.

The war also led to the establishing of training bases in Broward County. Every airfield in the county as well as the future site of Broward Community College's central campus, was converted into a training facility.

After the war, thousands of servicemen decided to return to Broward with their families. Between 1950 and 1970 the population of Broward County soared from 83,933 to 620,000 and the need for more schools was evident.

Colbert Elementary

In 1949, South Broward High School opened at its present location and in the fall of 1952, both Colbert Elementary School in Hollywood and Blanche Ely High School in Pompano opened. Letters written by parents, teachers and students resulted in Hollywood naming its new school for Paul F. Colbert. Mr. Colbert served Broward County Public Schools as a Principal, Supervising Principal, Assistant and Associate Superintendent. Pompano named its new school for Principal Blanche G. Ely who had so positively impacted students in the community.

Growth in Broward County continued.

In 1953, what would later become Fort Lauderdale’s second high school opened. Stranahan Elementary School was built on land donated to the School Board by Ivy Cromartie Stranahan, Fort Lauderdale’s first teacher. The school was named for her husband, Frank Stranahan. It soon grew into one of the largest elementary schools in the state with just under 1,500 students. There was no cafeteria but, with a good deal of planning a large portable served that purpose. The cafeteria was far too small for even half of the school’s students, so students went to lunch by homerooms. A teacher or assistant principal would stand at the door and signal when there was room for another class. There was no covered walkway, so on rainy days an umbrella brigade was formed for the student’s jaunt to the cafeteria.

In 1955 Stranahan became a junior high and in 1957 a senior high. The class of 1959 was the first to graduate from Stranahan.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools must integrate in 1954, Broward’s Superintendent O.K. Phillips vowed that Broward’s schools would remain segregated.  But in 1961 Chester Seabury walked through the doors of Stranahan High School.  He was the first Black student allowed to attend a White public school in the county and, in 1963, he became the first Black student in the county to graduate from a previously all-white school.  In 1977, cross-county busing to integrate all of Broward’s public schools began.

Named for Broward teacher Ms. Mertie Olsen, Olsen Junior High in Dania opened in 1954 giving the District a total of 41 schools.  The original building is still in use housing the school’s 6th grade students. The new Olsen Middle School was completed in 1994 and serves as the main campus housing 7th and 8th grade students.

A new school in Pembroke Park opened in 1955. Watkins Elementary was named for Ms. Pauline Watkins Adams, a teacher in Broward County for 35 years, in honor of her long service to students.

Two more schools opened in Hollywood. In 1956 McNicol Middle School opened and early in 1958, ground was broken for McArthur Junior School. J. N. McArthur, a former Miami-Dade principal and founder of McArthur Farms and Dairy, donated 40 acres of his farmland for use as a school site.  At that time, it was thought to be the largest school site in the state.  McArthur, at a cost of one million dollars, was considered to be an ultra-modern school. The school was soon converted to a high school and graduated its first class in 1960.

In 1956 the decision was made that the Superintendent of Broward County Public Schools should no longer be an elected official. Instead, the Board began appointing the best candidate to fill the position.

Named for Mrs. Leona Collins, Collins Elementary School in Dania opened in 1959.

Broward County Council of PTA’s has had a long history of working to support better education, provide more resources and increase school safety, but in the late 1950s the group took on a particularly ambitious project. Ann Murray, who was serving as President of Broward County Council of PTAs at the time, learned that some families were unable to provide suitable clothing for their children and, for that reason, children were not attending school.  In response to the problem, the Ann Murray Clothing Bank was established.  Clothing donations were sought and gathered into a central location and volunteers offered their time to dispense the clothing to those in need.  The clothing bank, located on the grounds of Fort Lauderdale High, still operates today and Ann Murray is still on the list of many volunteers who give of their time to make it a success.  Students and families served are referred by a social service agency, principal, or PTA representative.  The clothing bank provides clothing to hundreds of families each school year.

Parkway Junior High Band

The 1958-59 school year was an important one for students who had been attending Rogers Junior High in Navy barracks on the Naval Air Campus (now the south side Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale International Airport). The students moved into new schools. Half the students moved to the new Rogers Junior High that later became Rogers Middle School, while the other students moved into Parkway Junior High School.

The Naval Air Campus was not vacant for long. When the Rogers’ students moved into their new schools, Hortt and Harbordale elementary students moved into the barr

Rogers Junior High Field Day, 1962

acks on the campus for the 1958-59 school year while their new schools were constructed. Both schools would be built on their original sites. Today, the Hortt site, on SW 14th Court in Fort Lauderdale, houses the district’s Facilities & Construction Management Department.

Both schools were completed in time for the beginning of the 1959-60 school year; in fact Hortt Elementary was completed in time for 6th grade graduation ceremonies to be held at the new school’s cafetorium. When Hortt and Harbordale students moved out, students attending the newly established New River Junior High occupied the Naval Air Campus.