Continued from the home page.

In the bond election of July, 1923, the plan was approved by the majority, and the contract was let to J.B. Southard Company of Orlando. The cornerstone was laid with an impressive ceremony by the Longwood, Sanford, and Altamonte Masonic lodges in August 1924.

  The death of Howard Charles Lyman occurred on July 7, five days before the bond election, and in appreciation of his work with Mr. Overstreet the school was given his name. The new school opened in September, 1924, under the supervision of Professor Howard C. Douglas with three assistants. Prof. J.B. Anthony took over in 1925 with five assistants. In 1926 Prof. Herbert Chaffer added several new features to the school, and under his administration it became an accredited Junior High School. At this time the enrollment had increased to such an extent that it was again necessary to bond the district and add six new rooms to the building.

  Mr. J.N. Overholtz and Mr. J.H. Wyse were at the head of the school in 1927 and 1928 respectively. In 1929, the school came under the supervision of Mr. W.J. Wells, Jr., who had nine assistants. Under Mr. Wells, the school ran through the Eighth Grade and became accredited up to the Twelfth Grade shortly thereafter. The school was as modern as any school could be with a growing library, successful athletic teams, and a Girls' Glee Club directed by Mrs. Lyman It even had its own "lunch room" sponsored by the P.T.A.

  In 1963, Lyman School became Lyman High School, an accredited four-year institution, under the leadership of Mr. Carlton D. Henley. Just three years later, Lyman High School was integrated and admitted its first black students. Before this, black students attended the Rosenwald School, which opened in 1931.

  In 1970, the school was moved to a new building, just down the street. As the new Lyman High School took shape, the old school became Milwee Middle School. In 1994, after three decades of leading Lyman High School through massive growth, Mr. Henley retired and Dr. Peter Gorman stepped in as Lyman's new principal. After three years, Dr. Gorman moved on to work in Osceola and then Orange County, turning over the school to Mr. Sam Momary and then to the current principal Frank Casillo .

  2000 marked the first year of Lyman's new magnet program, the Institute for Engineering and Technology, as well as the first year for Lyman's "Alpha Period" concept, where students meet in the morning to prepare for the FCAT Exam and to take additional courses for credit.

  Lyman is being transformed before our very eyes. New sports complex and new buildings, including a new kitchen, classroom buildings, student union and a new performing arts facility, with a new up dated auditorium have recently been completed. Older buildings are being stripped to the bare brick and foundation, and being completely renovated. The round building that market the center of campus in the '70's is now just a memory, replaced by a courtyard.

  Lyman High School has always been on the cutting edge and remains poised to jump at the new ideas and technologies that will change the lives of her students for generations to come.

Significant Dates in Lyman History

1924 - The Lyman School (grades 1-12) opens on the site of what is currently Milwee Middle School.

1949  - Rayburn T. Milwee, Sr. became principal of Lyman School.

1963 - Lyman is formed as a four-year high school. Carlton D. Henley becomes principal.

1965 - Lyman receives its electronic scoreboard, used in the Tangerine Bowl in 1962, from the Coca-Cola Company.

1966 - Black students attend Lyman High School for the first time after it is integrated.

1970 - Lyman moves to its current campus, just down the road from its old campus.

1994 - Principal Carlton Henley retires after 31 years as principal.

1996 - LHS establishes a home page on the World Wide Web

1994 - The 1975 reunion committee forms and goes on to create a memorable 3 day reunion event for the class of '75.

2005 - The 1975 committee expands to include alumni from the class of 1976 and the two class committee is formed.

2006 - The combined reunion committee pulls off a memorable two class reunion event for the class of '75 and '76.