1900's
- Arthur Mays and Polly Tanner were married. They
had two
children, Charles and Willie Arthur. The couple moved
to Naranja, Florida, built their home, and became
citrus crop growers.
1914
- Mays organized Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church.
1920's
- The church doors were opened for the purpose
of educating
youths. The school had one teacher, Mrs. Eunice Tanner
and eighty-two students. As enrollment continued to
increase it became necessary to move to the school.
1930's
- Mr. Talmadge Roux, the P.T.A. president, was very
instrumental in the development of the first permanent
school. Mr. Roux
along with Mr. Dorsett approached the general supervisor
to have the school relocated.
1935
- A new school was established. It was called Goulds
Elementary and Junior High School.
1939
- Mr. Roby George became the principal. He began with
a staff of nine teachers, and there were approximately
thirty-eight students per class. Students completed
grades one through nine.
1940's
- Vocational, agriculture and mechaninery repair programs
were
available in evening sessions for the veterans.
1951
- A new building was dedicated and named Arthur and
Polly Mays
Elementary-Junior High School. The school contained
twenty-six classrooms, office space, three corridors,
a kitchen, cafetorium, storage space, light lavatories,
and clinic rooms.
1951
- Grade ten was added.
1952
- Grade eleven was added.
1953
- Grade twelve was added. The senior class selected
the RAM as the school mascot.
1954
- Commencement exercises were held, twenty-nine seniors
marched.
1957
- The school's auditorium was constructed.
1959
- Mr. George passed after a long bout with cancer.
Mr. Elmo Sparks presided as interim principal for
one year.
1960
- Mays was converted into a Junior-Senior High School
due to the
opening of Pine Villa Elementary. Mr. James E. Simmons
became principal.
The school operated on three shifts.
1960
- Silver Knight Award winners. Diversified Cooperative
Training and
Upward Bound programs were implemented.
1964
- Mr. Wells became principal. His administration was
plagued by
boundary changes. Several students were participants
in a program which afforded them the opportunity to
act as Pages in Congress in Washington, D.C.
1968
- Mr. Nelson Bethel was appointed principal.
1969
- Mays Junior-Senior High was phased out as a senior
high school. Thus it became known as Mays Junior High
School.
1972
- Mr. John H. Pinckney was assigned as principal to
Mays Junior High School. Paula De Armas represented
the school in the county and state spelling bee contest.
She went as far as national representative where she
was defeated. Mays operated on two shifts.
1976
- Over crowding was eliminated due to the opening
of Centennial Junior High. Students were sent to Cutler
Ridge Junior High due to boundary changes. Eight hundred
students were enrolled. The Mays
Chapter I - New Century Reading Program was a model
for other schools in the county.
1979
- Mr. Victor Lopez, principal at Miami Senior High
School, was "Mays Teacher of the Year" who
went on to become "Florida's State Teacher of
the Year."
1983
- Mr. Robert Stinson became principal. During his
administration,
Mays Junior High was renamed Mays Middle School. Under
his administration the school became the first school
in Dade County to have two magnet programs. Humanities
was added in 1988 with visual and performing arts
added in 1990.
Project
Hope- Substance Education, Crime Watch, Career
Education programs and four community agencies which
are holding group counseling sessions at Mays Junior
High as well as Juvenile Justice Support Program and
Gifted Programs were added.
1996
- Mr. Timothy Dawson became principal. During his
administration he updated the existing technology
to provide teachers and students with the tools necessary
to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.
1997
- Mr. Kenneth S. Cooper became the principal. During
his
administration he oversaw the implementation of block
scheduling. In
addition, he was very instrumental in the development
of programs such as: School Improvement Plan, America
Reads Program, FCAT Tutorial Program, and Saturday
School to meet the Florida Comprehensive Assessment
Test (FCAT). Under Mr. Cooper's leadership, the school
achieved th greatest accomplishment of moving from
a "D" school to a "C" school,
for two consecutive years, according to Governor Jeb
Bush's "A+ Plan." Mr. Cooper assisted in
the initiation of evening classed of Florida Memorial
College. Under the auspices of Community School, the
South Dade Adolescent Teenage Pregnancy Prevention
Program and Community Health Involvement, who provide
assistance to students and families in the Goulds
Community, were added. The Arthur and Polly Mays Middle
Community School continues to strive for excellence
as a Full Service School.