Fazlalizadeh, an art teacher at Star Spencer who started at the school as a student, said she wants to retire there because it feels like home.
The teacher — along with colleagues, fellow alumni, students and neighbors — will celebrate the school’s 50th anniversary Tuesday with a Black History Month event.
Fazlalizadeh came to Star Spencer in 1972 when it was fully integrated because of the closing of nearby Dunjee High School.
Students weren’t happy about leaving Dunjee but soon came to love Star Spencer, she said.
Fazlalizadeh graduated in 1974.
"We were determined to go back to Dunjee,” Fazlalizadeh said. "But when we saw we weren’t going back, we made the best of it. We had some teachers here who really helped us bond.”
Shift in population Before it was a high school, the building served students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
For the 1958-59 school year, it became a high school.
A host of alumni kept bonds they made at Star Spencer and returned to teach.
Claudette (Mustin) Reid graduated in 1964 and joined the faculty in 1990.
"I feel drawn because I feel there is a spiritual reason for me to be here,” Reid said.
Reid said families helped students deal with the challenges of integration, which had started slowly. Times were tense, but students tried to stay focused.
Eventually things improved so much that Reid was elected secretary of her senior class, she said.
"It was tense. We were a little frightened. The ratio was just the opposite that it is now,” Reid said.
But, Reid added, the situation improved as students grew to understand each other.
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