SAN ANTONIO – Thousands are expected to gather Monday morning at Martin Luther King Academy to take part in San Antonio’s 39th annual MLK March and Celebration.
However, Monday will mark the end of an era for the school, which is set to be demolished to make way for a new MLK Academy campus.
The building, constructed in the 1950s, was initially named James Whitcomb Riley Elementary-Junior High School, according to the San Antonio Independent School District’s website. That name remained until the 1980s.
Robert Brooks, a former student at Riley Middle School, said the name changed during his eighth-grade year to MLK Middle School.
“It’s a lot of memories running through those hallways,” he said.
He recounted his interactions with teachers and coaches, such as Coach Carter, Patterson, Kemper, and Ms. Thompson, and the impact they had on generations of students on San Antonio’s East Side who attended the campus.
Brooks said everybody was on board when Rev. R.A. Callies, a teacher at Riley Middle School, lobbied for the name change.
“Because of the man Martin King was, you know, what he fought for and what he stood for, we were OK with that, 100%,” Brooks said.
Callies is credited with spearheading the renaming of the street where the school is located from Nebraska to Martin Luther King Drive. Callies is also credited with starting San Antonio’s MLK March, which is said to be the largest in the nation.
According to SAISD’s website, the school’s name changed again in 2004 to MLK Academy.
Brook said no matter the name, every student who went to that campus shared one thing.
“We took pride in our school,” he said.
But the upcoming changes to the school will completely transform the building’s physical look, unlike how it has been known for decades. A black mesh-covered construction fence is already up ahead of the demolition.
The new MLK Academy has been described as a state-of-the-art campus for art integration with laboratories, a new gym, playgrounds, a library, and an auditorium.
Construction is being funded by the district’s 2020 bond, approved by voters.
Brooks said he is on board with the progress, but hopes the legacy of Callies and all the teachers and coaches who taught here is not lost or erased.
“Riley, it really is going to be missed,” Brooks said. ”I really hope they let it be known to the kids going forward, who Rev. Callies was and what he meant to so many and what he stood for. It’s going to be a new building, but it’s still the same roots, and the foundation is still there.”
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