Ecole Toussaint Louverture

In 1896, there was only one school south of Main Street,  which was a six-classroom school. Since better school accommodations were obviously needed. The Board of Education sought a new site.  It took two years before the site on the corner of Arlington and Central Avenues was agreed upon.  The new school was named Nassau Street School. A l2-room building was planned and arranged so that two wings could be added.  In 1927, a gym was added and in 1952, extensive renovations were made to the interior. A library was built in the school in 1934 with the aid of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).  

In the 1970s, many schools in the city of East Orange were renamed after prominent African American people.  Nassau Street School’s name was changed to Ecole Toussaint Louverture, after the Haitian military leader who led a successful revolution against the French that made Haiti a free nation.