The school for black students
at the south end of the island, 1925-1965.
September/October • 2020 • GASPARILLA MAGAZINE 33
The early four-room school
at 1st Street and
Gilchrist Avenue.
taken down. It is thought that some of the
materials from the Gilchrist Avenue school
were used in the construction of a building
called The Teacherage, where the school
principal and one or more teachers lived.
That building was moved in recent years and
currently houses Boca Bargains and the Boca
Grande History Center.
The new school that was built on 1st Street
still stands, and is now called the Boca
Grande Community Center. The Spanish
style, U-shaped structure was built upon land
donated by Francis and Louise
Crowninshield. Residents of the island
contributed to the construction through
bond, with the Crowninshields providing
much of the fi nancing.
The building cost $33,492. There were
six classrooms, two offi ces, two bathrooms
and an auditorium. Elementary classes were
held in the west wing, high school classes
were held in the east wing. In 1936 two more
classrooms were added.
In the 1930s as many as 150 students
attended the school, coming from Gasparilla
Village, Port Boca Grande, the town of Boca
Grande and, via the school boat, from Cayo
Costa, Punta Blanca, Cabbage Key and other
points on Charlotte Harbor.
The fi rst high school class graduated in
1933 and consisted of two students. The
last class to graduate was in 1963, although
elementary school classes continued there
until 1965.
Another school on the island was for black
children. Located at the south end by the
lighthouse, it was fi rst in a rented church and
later in a building constructed for $1,900 on
two acres of land, fi nanced by the Joseph
Rosenwald Fund and by a subscription sheet
passed by Louise Crowninshield among the
wealthy families and visitors to the island.
One of its students, Florence Jelks, credits
Mrs. Crowninshield with providing food for
school lunches and educational materials not
supplied by Lee County.
The school educated students through the
eighth grade, but they, too, would have to
stay with families or friends in other parts of
Charlotte or Lee counties to continue their
education. That school closed in 1965.
The island was without a school until 2000,
when The Island School – a public charter
school for kindergarten through fi fth grade
– was founded. Classes were fi rst held in
two rooms of the Boca Grande Community
Center, with a mobile annex for the youngest
students. The new building was open for
the beginning of the school year in 2006,
and now employs 17 teachers and staff.
It has a maximum capacity of 60 children,
kindergarten through fi fth grade, who live
on the island or whose parents work on the
island.
To learn more about the history of Boca
Grande and Gasparilla Island, visit the
History Center at 171 Park Ave. (in the
building with Boca Bargains), by calling
(941) 964-1600 or by going online to
bocagrandehistoricalsociety.com.
Please send comments or questions via
email to bocagrandhistorical@gmail.com.
/bocagrandehistoricalsociety.com
link
