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Home > Blogs > Springfield Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2008 > December > 10 > Entry
What’s in a (school’s) name?
Over the weekend I drove by Mulligan Stew Academy, a Dayton private elementary school.
Mulligan Stew. That may be the most interesting school name I’ve seen.
In other interesting school name news, in November a New York City school district became the first public school system to name a building after President-elect Barack Obama, spurred by student requests, the New York Times reported.
Barack Obama Elementary School was christened before some states even finalized their counts.
Choosing a name for a school can be a tough choice sometimes, particularly lately as local districts are partnering with the OSFC to build new schools. A lot of schools kept their same name and location. Some schools changed their name because they moved or because two or more schools blended into one.
Conventional wisdom says you don’t name a building after a still-living figure because, well, if they’re still alive, they still have time to screw something up somehow. There are probably a few people cringing over Ted Stevens International Airport right now. And after Nixon’s landslide victory in 1972, a California freeway was named after him and hastily amended when he resigned over the Watergate scandal.
Luckily, Clark County doesn’t have any of those.
Several of our local schools have adopted geographical names: Donnelsville, Enon, South Vienna are all good examples of that and that seems to be one of the most common ways to name your schools. Some are named for the town, for the neighborhood or for a nearby street.
Lots of schools, especially in smaller districts, just have the district name like Northwestern’s schools.
Then there’s the former presidents: Roosevelt, Lincoln, et al.
Warder Park and Snyder Park share their names with parks nearby that were named for families that donated the land, according to our newsroom historian Tom Stafford.
And Perrin Woods is named for one of Springfield’s early families, the Perrins, who lived in that area, he said. Horace Mann, a noted education reformer, is considered the “father of American public education.”
I haven’t been here long so I’m not familiar with how all the schools got their names. But if anyone has a question about a specific school, I’ll find out the answer and put it out there; or you can share what you know about local school’s names.
Read more education news at our education blog.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Springfield City Schools
Comments
By Stan
December 10, 2008 11:29 AM | Link to this
I find Springfield High School a cumbersome name to say and tell people. You can’t say your kids go to Springfield. It must always be Springfield High. Greater Springfield has too many schools to just say the city name for the schoo. Perhaps a name change is in order. Perhaps name it after Jean Harper, who put this together..or better yet, Snafu High
By Stan
December 10, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this
I find Springfield High School a cumbersome name to say and tell people. You can’t say your kids go to Springfield. It must always be Springfield High. Greater Springfield has too many schools to just say the city name for the schoo. Perhaps a name change is in order. Perhaps name it after Jean Harper, who put this together..or better yet, Snafu High
By Stan
December 10, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this
I find Springfield High School a cumbersome name to say and tell people. You can’t say your kids go to Springfield. It must always be Springfield High. Greater Springfield has too many schools to just say the city name for the schoo. Perhaps a name change is in order. Perhaps name it after Jean Harper, who put this together..or better yet, Snafu High
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