Duluth Middle School

     A piece of land donated by Singleton Howell has been the site of public education in Duluth since before 1900. Over the years, 3057 Main Street has been home to Duluth School (grades 1–12), Duluth Elementary (grades 1–7), and Duluth Middle (grades 6–8). The original frame building was moved to the lot fronting Main Street in 1907, then replaced with a modern brick structure. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1935. A new building, later known as Duluth Elementary and Duluth Middle, was completed in 1937. During the construction period, students attended school in the old Methodist and Baptist churches.

     Duluth became an accredited school in 1933, serving grades 1–11 and boasting a graduating class of 14 students in 1938. After World War II, students attended school in the old cannery on Main Street, which housed eight classrooms. In 1954, the 12th grade was added, but just three years later, Duluth students in grades 8–12 moved to West Gwinnett High along with Norcross students. Duluth High was completed in 1958, enabling the students to return to Duluth. A new cafeteria and additional classrooms were built to accommodate growth, and “shop” students from Duluth High School built a wooden gym behind the main building.

     In 1970, Gwinnett County implemented the concept of middle schools, and Duluth Elementary became Duluth Middle, serving students in grades 6–8. In 1977, the original fine arts wing and a new gym were completed. The removal of the old gym made way for a parking lot. By 1978, the main brick facility was replaced by modern classrooms.

     Duluth Middle School temporarily housed students from crowded B.B. Harris Elementary between 1979 and 1983. In subsequent years, rising sixth graders came to Duluth Middle from two new schools— Berkeley Lake Elementary School starting in 1983, and Chattahoochee Elementary School starting in 1988.

    Band and art rooms, plus a two-story 34-room addition were constructed in 1992. Other modifications included a new media center and administrative offices.

     In the fall of 2004, the replacement school for Duluth Middle, located at 3200 Pleasant Hill Road, opened with approximately 1,750 students. The new 217,537 square foot facility was completed at a cost of $12,519,000. In its new facility, Duluth Middle School served students from Berkeley Lake, Chattahoochee, Charles Brant Chesney, and B.B. Harris elementary schools. The old school at 3057 Main Street continued to serve children as the site of the Monarch School until 2015. In August of 2016, the facility that formerly housed Duluth Middle School opened to again serve middle school students in the Duluth Cluster... this time as Coleman Middle School. With the opening of Coleman, the Duluth Cluster feeder pattern changed. Students from Berkeley Lake, Chesney, and Harris elementary schools transition to Duluth Middle School while Chattahoochee Elementary students move on to Coleman.

     Education in the Duluth community has undergone dramatic changes since the old Duluth Academy of 1880, when R.H. Villard and W.C. Wright taught 59 students a curriculum of mathematics, science, and classics! Over the years, Duluth Middle School has been recognized as a Georgia School of English/Language Arts Excellence, a Georgia School of Excellence, and a National School of Excellence. This proud tradition continues in the school’s new home which was dedicated on October 24, 2004.