It’s official.
David T. Howard Middle School is the new name for the school opening up in the Old Fourth Ward building where Martin Luther King, Jr. attended third through sixth grades back in 1936 through 1940.
Atlanta Public Schools is in the midst of a more than $50 million renovation and expansion of the building, which was known as Howard High School before it closed in the 1970s.
The district plans to reopen the building to house students who currently attend Inman Middle School.
Inman will be used as the temporary site of Morningside Elementary School while renovations take place at the Morningside building. APS has not announced what will become of the Inman building after the Morningside work is done in 2022.
The school board this week unanimously approved a recommendation to name the new middle school Howard Middle School. The name pays homage to Howard, a former slave who founded the city’s first black-owned bank. He donated the property where the school is located.
Howard High School educated students who grew up to be among Atlanta’s most famous residents, including Maynard Jackson, the city’s first African-American mayor.