Georgia Floyd Morris, who our school is named after, taught school at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels in West Virginia, Georgia, and California. She began her Rialto teaching career at Henry Elementary School in 1967. Elegant, beautiful, and over six feet tall, she was an outstanding teacher. She became a counselor at Frisbie Junior High in 1969 and, in 1971, was promoted and became the first African-American administrator in the Rialto School District Office.

Her accomplishments in the field of administration are many, including holding the position of Assistant Superintendent of Schools, in Harris County, Georgia, and serving as Director of Personnel Services, Rialto Unified School District. She also held administrative posts in Human Relations, Head Start, Guidance, and Attendance.

She won many awards, including the 1988 Presidential Citation from the National Association of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, the Martin Luther King Jr. Education Award, the Southern California Edison “Leadership in Community Activities” Award, and the Black Voice Women’s Achievement Award.

Mrs. Morris was the first African-American administrator in the Rialto Unified School District, and the first African-American female to be named to the Human Relations Commission in Rialto. During her tremendous 37 years in education she has been a teacher, counselor, coordinator, director, administrator, assistant superintendent, and held other trailblazing positions as she ascended the education ladder. Mrs. Morris is also a dedicated worker in the community. She had a unique vision of “giving students" a voice at the Board of Education/ Central Office levels, and in 1989, she started the District Student Advisory Committee. She also served on the Board of Directors for the Provisional Accelerated Learning (PAL) Center in San Bernardino/ Muscoy.

A long time resident of Rialto, she died peacefully at her home on Sunday, December 11, 2011. She was born December 21, 1922 and was preceded in death by her husband Rudolph Morris, her only son Donald Floyd Johnson, and both parents and two siblings. Mrs. Morris lived her life by this quote, “I shall pass this way only once and whatever good I can do, let me do it day by day.”

We thank Mrs. Morris for all she has done for our students and the Inland Empire.