P. L. Dunbar Middle School for Innovation is located at 12th and Polk streets. PLDMSFI is named for Paul Laurence Dunbar, a distinguished and gifted African-American poet and a precursor to the Harlem Renaissance. Our school buildings and campus have a rich and diverse history in the community. The original name of the school, Dunbar High School, still remains engraved in marble on the central building. Dunbar High School opened its doors to students in 1923. The school represented the fulfillment of a request by the black community to the all white school board to create a new black high school. In the early years, the Dunbar faculty and administration were primarily white. The curriculum then reflected the classical tradition. In order to graduate, a student had to take four years of English, Mathematics, History, Science and Latin. The curriculum was extremely successful in preparing graduates for college. As many as 90% of the students in the graduating classes from the 1920s enrolled in college. At the heart of the “community school” concept was the goal to create a program and mold a staff that could meet the needs of all the black youth in Lynchburg and, at the same time, offer cultural, athletic, and educational programs to the entire community.

In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled in an unanimous decision that state law establishing separate public schools for black and white students was unconstitutional. This was the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. The 1954 Supreme Court decision did not bring immediate change to Dunbar High School. Those at Dunbar in 1954 remember receiving word of the decision and feeling a sense of victory, but there was no expectation of immediate change, and none came. It was not until the early 1960s that the 1954 decision was felt in Lynchburg as a consequence of a lawsuit filed by members of the black community. Virginia had resisted desegregation as long as possible. Within the black community, the debate over desegregation was sometimes bitter and, for some, the consequences painful. To achieve the goal of desegregation, the existence of Dunbar High School was in jeopardy. Some blacks citizens favored the transfer of black students to the white school. Others argued that desegregation could be achieved by bringing white students to Dunbar. The decision that was finally made resulted in the end of Dunbar as a high school in 1970. Click here to read more about the history of Dunbar High School.

We recognize that Black History Month holds a place of significance in the hearts of many of our students, staff, and community members, especially here at Dunbar with our rich African-American History. We believe it is important to highlight not only national Black history events and figures, but local ones as well. Lynchburg is rich with little-known Black history that has, and continues to, shape our diverse community. We hope that by sharing these stories with our children in February (and throughout the year), it will help inspire students from all races and backgrounds to look beyond themselves to stand up for what they believe in, and change their communities.

Our Black History Assembly-2/26

This month our school news station, WDMS, will air Black History stories about national and local figures. Our English and history teachers will also be covering local, regional, and national events and figures significant to Black History. Some of our science teachers are even getting in on the action by highlighting Black scientists and inventors. We will conclude Black History Month with a school-wide assembly featuring a panel discussion of prominent, local Black leaders and a musical performance by a local band, which will cover some historically significant songs and artists from Black History and the Civil Rights movement! The significance of the musical selections will be described before each song. We also like to include the arts in our Black History assemblies because we believe that the arts (especially music) is one of the few things that transcend all racial and ethnic groups. That’s exactly what we want all of our Dunbar students to get out of this month’s activities…a better appreciation and understanding of each other.

We could not host this amazing group without the help from our generous sponsors at the Academy Center of the Arts. We will send another email closer to the event with specifics about our special speakers and our musical guests and their connection to African culture and history, as well as information about how parents can come join us for this performance.

Post from the PTO

NEXT MEETING 2/11 6:00 PM

Can’t volunteer your time right now? How about a little financial help? Get on board and donate to PTO to help "Raise the Bar at Dunbar"! No amount is too small, and the funds will be used for initiatives that benefit all the students and staff—including the Golden Poet initiative and staff appreciation events. You can donate online using the PayPal link below. Just click on the link, enter the amount you wish to donate, and indicate if you would like to donate through a credit card or your PayPal account.

Click here to donate to Dunbar Middle School PTO online!

Track tryouts will start the week of February 25th from 3:30 to 5:30. Students must have a physical to tryout.

Tennis tryouts will be in Mid-March. We will let you know once a date is established. Students must have physical to tryout.

Encourage our teachers- Only TWO staff members have been recognized by parents this year...We know our teachers and staff members work very hard and need a pat on the back every now and then. If you would like to recognize a staff member for going above and beyond, you can click here to submit a positive referral using our Google Form, or email me with your nominations browndr@lcsedu.net . (Our teachers appreciate this more than you know!)

The Principal's Challenge

Our Principal's Challenges have been going great! These challenges are simple and quick acts of kindness and respect towards peers and staff. Students will NOT receive any reward or special acknowledgement for completing these challenges. It's just our way of giving them the opportunity to "Raise the BAR!" Please help us out with this by asking your child what the challenge for the week is and how they are completing it. Next week's challenge is about Character. Don't Be Salty - The students will be instructed to think about a salt packet and imagine to dump it on a napkin. Then think about how hard it would be to put the crystals back into the pack. This is the same as our words — they are difficult to take back. Be kind and think before you speak. This week help others, don't hurt them. Students can give these notes to their homeroom teachers and homeroom teachers can deliver them to Ms. Bell to be distributed..