Schoolhouse Children's Museum and Learning Center

The Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center is housed in one of the first schools in Boynton Beach. Originally known as simply Boynton School, the building was constructed in 1913 and replaced the small wooden one-room schoolhouse that was being used at the time. Built with sturdy concrete block construction, the “new” Boynton School contained two floors, six rooms, indoor plumbing and served as Boynton’s only school for the next fourteen years, throughout which attendance increased steadily. A principal and three teachers divided the classes by grade level to handle the increasing attendance – with teachers assigned to grades 1 through 8 and the principal assigned to teach grades 9 through 12.

Soon after, a high school was built in 1926 and opened in 1927 next door to the Boynton School, allowing it to become Boynton Elementary School. It operated until 1990 when it was no longer needed. It was then used for community programs.

In 1994 the Boynton Beach Elementary School was added to the National Register of Historic Places thanks to the efforts of the Boynton Beach Historical Society and local supporters. The Palm Beach County School Board transferred the title to the property to the City of Boynton Beach in 1994, which sparked a movement by local supporters to raise funds and create plans for the building to be restored an used as a children’s museum. A committee of supporters raised enough to place a South Florida history-based Children’s Museum located centrally in Boynton Beach. In 2001, the movement efforts were honored with the opening of the Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center. Since its operation, hundreds of thousands of children and families have visited the museum, having the opportunity to enjoy and learn from its programs, services and exhibits.