M-DCPS Renames School after Johnnie M. Parris, Civil Rights Pioneer Instrumental in Early Desegregation of Schools in Miami

Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) is renaming Colonial Drive Elementary to Johnnie M. Parris Colonial Drive Elementary, in honor of the Civil Rights pioneer and Richmond Heights community organizer who played a large part in the school’s construction.

Johnnie M. Parris founded Dade County’s first chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and was a field secretary to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ms. Parris helped integrate the first schools in Miami in 1957 and fought hard to get a school for the children of the Richmond Heights neighborhood where she lived. That school, located at 10755 S.W. 160 Street and built in 1966, will bear her name.

The M-DCPS School Board voted in favor of the name change during the October school board meeting. A ceremony honoring Ms. Parris and the new name change will take place at a later date.