Fletcher Junior High News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Jo Ann Bayne Phillips, 80, of Jacksonville Florida, passed away on January 31, 2023.

JACKSONVILLE BEACH —  Although there’s an understated elegance to its brick construction and long windows, the old schoolhouse is nothing fancy: a simple rectangle that once held four classrooms. With links to a woman born into slavery who went on to teach children in her kitchen, it became known by several names: School #144, Jacksonville Beach Colored School and Jacksonville Beach Elementary.  For generations of Black residents at the Beaches, it became a distinct mark of pride, a centerpiece and social center for the community — as well as a refuge during Hurricane Dora in 1964. ...