Originally, Martin Luther King Jr., Learning Center was named Colonial Hill. It was built in 1902 and was named after the affluent Anglo-American community it served. In the mid-fifties, the neighborhood experienced a transition as the population became increasingly African-American. The transition in the community led to African-American students being assigned to the school which was renamed Colonial Elementary School in 1957. Colonial Elementary served grades 1 - 8.
The Colonial attendance zone has experienced many changes under several court orders. From 1964 until the 1976 court order, Colonial served grades 1 - 6. In 1976, students in grades 4-6 were reassigned to Reinhardt Elementary. As a result of the relocation of the intermediate students, Colonial became an Early Childhood Education Center serving grades K-3. During 1984 - 1987, Colonial students in grades 4-6 attended H. S. Thompson Learning Center in order to comply with the 1984 Federal Desegregation Court Order.
In the1980-1981 school year, construction began on the main building. Students and staff occupied the new facility in the spring of 1982. An addition to the new facility was built in 1987 to accommodate the return of grades 4-6 to the campus.
In May 1986, the United States Fifth District Court, under Judge Barefoot Sanders, granted the motion to expand the South Dallas Learning Centers. This motion established Colonial as a Learning Center, adopting the South Dallas Management Plan and all requirements of the April 30, 1984 Court Order. The order set the guidelines for assignment of additional personnel, fiscal and program resources, selection of teachers, and a decreased teacher-student ratio of 1:18. The Colonial Learning Center opened for the 1988-1989 school year.
Approximately 480 PK-6 students attended Colonial Learning Center in the 1988-1989 school year. The Center was departmentalized for its instructional program at grades 4-6 and self-contained at grades PK-3. Specialized teachers provided enrichment in self-contained classrooms in piano, band, orchestra, vocal music and visual art. The school also had the benefit of a community liaison whose efforts were to ensure a stronger home-school relationship, full-time counselor and nurse, a computer specialist, as well as an assistant principal and dean of instruction.
On August 27, 1998, the Dallas Board of Education and DISD Area 9 school board member, representative Ron Price, unanimously approved the renaming of Colonial Learning Center to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Learning Center.
