Miami Carol City High School - History

History

The school opened in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County in 1963. At the time, farms were in the surrounding area. Several years later integration busing placed African Americans from areas such as Bunche Park to Carol City. A graduate of Miami Carol of the Class of 1970, who identified himself as "Robert," told the Miami New Times that in his time at Carol City, White and Black students generally did not socialize with one another; he said most of the White students "hadn't had much experience with black people, and a lot of them didn't show much interest in giving us a chance."

In 1986, ten faculty members, including three teachers, were found to have engaged in crimes; each person was found to have committed recreational drug use or property theft.

The school was formerly located within the census-designated place of Carol City.

Garcia said that, in 2006, "a familial closeness still defined the school. And Carol City High students — until they graduated or dropped out, at least — seemed safe from the violence that had gripped the surrounding area. In spring 2006, three students from the class of 2006 were murdered; none of them were members of gangs, nor were they involved in the recreational drug trade. After Miami Carol City held its graduation ceremony, three graduates were killed. People in the Miami area referred to the class as the "cursed class of 2006." Garcia said "If there is a curse, it seems it has a much wider breadth than one class" and "Carol City bloodshed has only gained speed" after the class of 2006 graduated, since students from subsequent classes died in violent crimes. During a Tuesday in November 2007, a robber shot a teacher, who had been smoking a cigarette outside of the campus building, in the side. The 18-year old robber stole the teacher's wallet and was later arrested. The teacher survived the shooting.

In the New Miami Times article, Latoya Bentley, a member of the Class of the 2006, said that most of the Carol City teachers were "really excellent and very caring." In the same article, 20-year-old Robert Williams, who had attended Carol City for a period, described it as "a ghetto place. The building, the teachers, the kids — it's got this real ghetto atmosphere."