It was established in 1887 with elementary grades, before expanding to junior high school at a later point. Its original location was a temporary facility at 424 Osceola Street. In its history it was known as the Demonstration Elementary School and The Model School. It was named the Lucy Moten Elementary at Florida A&M University in 1932. Its name changed from a "laboratory school" to the current one around the time the Sidney Martin Developmental Research School Act of 1991 passed.[1]