Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/180498
Sarasota News Leader September 27, 2013 "The visitors and children gathered in the auditorium of the school house, and the 300 seats were not near enough to accommodate the audience," the newspaper article continued. A.B. Edwards told the students, "[T]he building and the grounds were theirs," and encouraged them to take "personal pride … in keeping them like they were on the opening day." Page 96 cipal, Professor T.W. Yarbrough, "was very proud of this, his first class to graduate," said the Sarasota Times. At commencement, an issue was raised that would resonate over the coming century. Referencing comments from Yarbrough, the Times article continued, "The school had suffered badly during the term because of the heavy turnover of teachers, due to the fact Edwards later that year became Sarasota's that they were paid only $50 and $55 a month first mayor, after arti— and it cost them cles of incorporation that much to live. He were received for the said salaries would municipality. The new have to be raised if school cost $23,000. higher educational The old general-purstandards were to be pose school, built of maintained." wood by volunteers THE POPULATION in 1904, was moved to BOOMS another site. The next year, the board of trustees for the school system decided to make SHS a "real" high school by extending classes through a 12 th year, along with implementing an elementary and junior high curriculum. As the number of students grew, the old 1904 building was returned to the site — an early version of a "portable" classroom. The first graduates in 1917 were four young women. The first prin- As Sarasota moved into the Roaring Twenties, it split itself off from Manatee County in 1921. A Sarasota County Commission was appointed to govern, and Yarbrough was picked as supervisor of public instruction. Sarasota's first high school opened on Sept. 15, 1913, and the Sarasota Times was there to cover it. Sarasota was not even an official municipality at that time. Image courtesy of the Sarasota County Schools By 1924, two new schools had been built, Central Elementary and Booker High School. In 1925, Bay Haven and Southside Elementary were erected.