"Education is an obligation, not a privilege.
If you are ignorant, the world is going to cheat you.
If you are weak, the world is going to kick you.
If you are a coward, the world is going to keep you running."

No person deserves to be congratulated unless he has done the best he could with the mental equipment he has under the existing circumstances.
-Dr. Benjamin Mays

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Walter Leonard Parks was born in the Pittsburgh Community to Mary N. and Green B. Parks and lived within a radius of 20 blocks all of his life. He was one of eleven children. He married Eva B. Ware, a native of the South Atlanta community, on September 6, 1916.

He and a few others organized the Pittsburgh Improvement League which brought many needed services to the community: lights, paved streets, sanitary facilities, better transportation, gas, etc. He also operated the Parks Brothers Grocery and General Merchandise located at 841 McDaniel Street, SW. He also established the Parks Loan and Investment Company through which a large number of citizens were able to become homeowners.

People who remember him loved and respected him as a kind-hearted business leader. W.L. Parks was a pillar of economic strength in the historic and once thriving Pittsburgh community.

Parks, the school, was originally opened at 2025 Jonesboro Road in 1966 as Walter Leonard Parks Junior High School.  Eventually the school was relocated to its present location and the name changed to Walter Leonard Parks Middle School.