Florida School for Boys facts for kids

The Florida School for Boys was a special kind of school called a reform school. It was open from 1900 to 2011. Reform schools were places for young people who had gotten into trouble with the law. They were meant to help these young people learn and get an education.

Undated postcard; from the 1940s, the school was known as Florida Industrial School for boys.

This school became known for two main reasons:

• Some of the boys who went there were treated very badly.
• Many boys died at the school.

For example, a school fire in 1914 caused some deaths. Also, a serious illness called the Spanish flu spread in 1918, and more boys died then. There was often violence among the boys, including fights.

Records of these deaths were often missing or unclear. The school had a cemetery with many graves, but most of them did not have names on the headstones. Some remains of dead people were even found outside the school grounds.

People started asking questions about the school as early as 1903, and again in the 1960s. However, a full investigation didn't happen until 2009. This investigation did not find much new information. The school finally closed in 2011, officially because of money problems.

Images for kids

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  Dining hall construction with "White House" in background, 1936

See also

In Spanish: Florida School for Boys para niños