[5] Kathleen McGrory wrote in 2009 that Miami Central was "historically beset by chronic truancy, declining enrollment, dispirited staff and general disrepair".

[5] That year the school was under threat of being closed and/or having special programs taken away under federal mandates that would penalize the school for a sixth failure on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT); for the five previous consecutive years it had received "F" grades.

President Barack Obama visited the school when he presented the SIG program to the American people.

[5] As part of the state's Accountability program, it grades a school by a complex formula that looks at both current scores and annual improvement on the Reading, Math, Writing and Science FCATs.

In 2009 McGrory stated that the football games, especially those against Northwestern, are well-attended, and that the students at Central "take pride in their marching band".