WHEREAS, Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation, an esteemed institution of Lynchburg City Public Schools, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023; and

WHEREAS, after the Black community in Lynchburg petitioned the Lynchburg City School Board for a new Black high school, Dunbar High School opened its doors to students in 1923; up to 90 percent of its graduates in the 1920s went on to higher education; and

WHEREAS, throughout the 1930s, Dunbar High School was increasingly operated under the leadership and authority of Black administrators at the school, including Clarence Williams Seay, who would serve as the school's principal from 1938 to 1968, guiding the school to academic excellence in spite of the segregationist barriers in place at the time; and

WHEREAS, as the faculty at Dunbar High School grew larger and more diverse, the school's curriculum evolved beyond its classical program to include more general and vocationally oriented courses, encouraging a greater number of students to matriculate at the school; and

WHEREAS, Dunbar High School's eminence would continue to grow in the post-war period, as new buildings were constructed, state championships were won, and the school's graduates attended the nation's most prestigious schools and went on to become leaders across various distinguished professions at the local, state, and national level; and

WHEREAS, the desegregation of Lynchburg City Schools through the 1960s would ultimately result in the closure of Dunbar High School in 1970 and its students began attending E.C. Glass High School; and

WHEREAS, in 1994, the school reopened as the Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation, an initiative that was started by a magnet schools continuation grant and that has since been administered by Lynchburg City Schools, with support from the Lynchburg City School Board; and

WHEREAS, for 30 years, Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation has fostered the intellectual, social, and emotional well-being of its students and nurtured the achievements of its faculty and staff, helping to make Lynchburg a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation hereby be commended on the occasion of its 100th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for the school's history and its contributions to Lynchburg and the Commonwealth.