Bonner Elementary

Bonner Elementary

868 George W. Engram Boulevard (formerly 900 Cypress Street)

Bonner Elementary, formerly known as Cypress Street Elementary School, was built in 1926 to relieve the over-crowded conditions that existed in the elementary grades of the Daytona Colored School (later Campbell Street High School and now John H. Dickerson Center). Bonner Elementary is Daytona Beach's most significant surviving historic Black grammar school and continues to serve the educational needs of the area.

Mary Evelyn Bonner (1892-1977) was a prominent educator and leading advocate for the education of Black children in Daytona Beach during the early 20th century. She advocated for a new elementary school to be constructed to serve the Black population in the fastest-growing part of the city. The school was intended to be comparable with the city’s best white schools. It was built in the Mediterranean Revival style, the most popular design for buildings constructed in Florida during the land boom period. Identifying elements of the style include a rough stucco exterior, a central arched opening that leads to a recessed main entrance, a tower with a truncated hip roof, and an incised balcony with Tuscan column supports.

The school was segregated until the late 1960s. Integration caused some painful separations, spreading the close-knit Bonner Elementary students and faculty among several schools. Many Daytona Beach families include third generation recipients of a Bonner Elementary education.

Bonner was named the school's first principal, serving from 1927 to 1959. To honor her, the name was changed from Cypress Street Elementary to Bonner Elementary. Following her retirement, Ms. Bonner continued to visit the school almost daily until her death in 1977.

In 1996, Bonner Elementary was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Timeline

1892 - Mary Evelyn Bonner Born

1926 - Cypress Street Elementary School opens

1927-59 - Mary Evelyn Bonner Principal

1954 - Name changed to Bonner Elementary

1959 - Mary Evelyn Bonner retires