 Allan Turner of the "Houston Chronicle" said that the building served as an "educational anchor" for the Third Ward as many professionals in the Third Ward community such as educators, ministers, and lawyers received education in it.Since Ryan's beginning, Turner said that the school's fortunes had risen and fallen as time passed.The HISD school board forced Yates principal William S. Holland to stay at Ryan Middle School instead of moving onto the new Yates, and a petition from the community did not succeed in changing this.