CONCORD, NH — Concord's school superintendent is recommending the board of education keep the name of the city's middle school the way it is, in honor of Louis Rundlett, who was school superintendent in the city for nearly five decades.
Tim Herbert made the recommendation at the board's Tuesday night meeting, saying the district received 722 responses from the public, including 211 from students, after sharing a submission form. About a dozen and a half were deemed non-serious or inappropriate — "joke submissions with no community relevance," sexually explicit name suggestions, and nominations of people who were still living, like current students. One entry was submitted 29 times but was submitted as a single comment. Herbert said the top two responses were keeping Rundlett, which received 195 submissions, about 27 percent of the responses, and "Concord Middle School," which received 16 percent.
Herbert said the district "cast a wide net" to get input from the community. He suggested the district keep Rundlett because of many public comments about preserving city history and avoiding the costs of replacing uniforms, signage, letterhead, and other items. He also suggested retaining the Blue Dukes mascot.
One board member, Elizabeth Boucher of Zone B, who represents Wards 5, 6, and 7, requested two discussions: one on the school name and another on the mascot. Board President Pamela Walsh said a vote on the mascot name was not part of district policy. Boucher, without citing reasons, still requested a discussion about the Blue Dukes mascot.
Cara Meeker, another Zone B board member, requested more information about why people supported changing it to Concord Middle School.
Herbert said the responses said the rationale around using Concord would create a consistent identity between the middle school and high school. It would also be easily identified by students from other communities who did not know where Rundlett was but knew students were from Goffstown or Manchester since they were named after the community. Herbert also said the name was chosen because it is inclusive of the broader community, "regardless of whether it is or not." He read a student submission noting the name was short and simple and would honor all city residents.
There was some discussion about whether a public hearing was needed or should be held. Walsh suggested it should be included on an agenda, shared in advance. This would allow people to attend and comment at that time or reach out to board members.
Alex Dubois of Ward C said he would be concerned about calling the middle school Concord because it might create confusion within the district having two schools with the CMS initialism.
Madeleine Mineau of Ward A asked about the comment concerning being inclusive of the broader community.
"I don't really understand that," she said. "Like, how Concord Middle School is a name that is more inclusive to the broader community."
Herbert said the school was inclusive of the broader community regardless of the name, but he believed the point was identifying the community in the school's name.
Walsh called the list of names and the research put into them by students and submitters.
Accompanying his presentation was a 15-page analysis by Herbert and staff concerning the methodology of the community submissions.
Between Feb. 4 and March 20, the district collected responses from Parent Square, letters to the editor in the Concord Monitor, Facebook comments on Patch, the district's Facebook page, and emails to the superintendent's office.
"The submission process was explicitly framed as community input, not a binding referendum," the analysis said. "Submissions are not weighted, verified for uniqueness, or restricted to one per person. Accordingly, raw counts should be treated as directional indicators of community sentiment, not as election results. The board retains full authority and responsibility for the naming decision."
One concept, naming the school Reid Memorial, after Djeswende and Stephen Reid, who were murdered by Logan Clegg on the Broken Ground trails in East Concord in 2022, received 29 submissions, all identified as Concord High School and CRTC students, using the same text. They were consolidated into one submission.
Many of the "high volume" of Rundlett submissions across Patch, Facebook, and email used "near-identical language" but were counted as individual responses. The board, however, "should be aware that this pattern reflects a mobilized response through social networks rather than a proportional organic community sentiment."
More than 400 responses were posted via ParentSquare, with 90 suggesting Rundlett and 115 suggesting Concord. Nearly 200 responses were received via the district's Facebook account, with 121 wanting Rundlett and 15 wanting Concord. More than 60 responses were posted on the Patch Facebook feed with 44 requesting Rundlett. Only five suggested Concord. There were 42 news comments with 28 suggesting Rundlett and none calling for a name change to Concord. Nineteen emails were submitted, with 17 for Rundlett and none for Concord.
Hundreds of other names were suggested for the new middle school, including former and current staffers and historic figures in the city and beyond.
Nearly three dozen people suggested naming the school after Kathleen Murphy, the district's superintendent who passed away last year.
Gene Connolly, the former Concord High School principal, was also a name considered by 25 people.
Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter, former Concord teacher Christa McAuliffe, astronaut Alan Shepard, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the noted labor activist and communist who was born in Concord, Michele Bartlett, Phelps (after Michael, Richard, and Gail Laker-Phelps), and Ray Trombly, all former teachers, were all named.
Capital City Middle School was also suggested by 15 entries, while Commons or Concord Community were suggested by five.
Eight people suggested naming the school after Franklin Pierce, the only president from New Hampshire who lived in Concord for part of his life.
Ten people suggested returning RMS to its former name, Rundlett Junior High School or Louis J. Rundlett Middle School.
Three people also suggested naming the school after former Dewey and Kimball schools principal and school board member Clint Cogswell, whose wife was also a longtime children's advocate.
Christine Rath, the former long-time school superintendent, received two submissions.
Other suggestions included Drumlin (glacial geological formations around the city); Encompass (representing all ethnic populations); Pannukog (the original Abenaki name for Concord); Abenaki; Future View; Penacook; Rumford; Wolfpack Village (after the second-grade teacher, Larry Wolfe); Rattlesnake Hill; Solidarity (a synonym for "concord," harmony and unity); Eastside (based on the school's directional location); Reunion; Eastman (after Capt. Ebenezer Eastman, the city's founder); John Parker Hale (an advocate of civil rights who served in the U.S. Senate); Ellen Garrison (an abolitionist who grew up in Concord); Harriet Dame (a Civil War nurse from Concord); Mary Parker Woodworth (the first woman to serve on the city's board of education); Sarah Josepha (an abolitionist from Newport); Tomie dePaola (the New Hampshire children's book author); John Coolidge Adams (a classical composer who grew up in Concord); John Winant (the former governor of New Hampshire who lived in Concord); Hugh Gallen (the late-New Hampshire governor); Sylvia Larsen (the former state Senator); Tara Mounsey (the women's Olympic hockey team member); Charles Foley (the former principal of Concord High School); Michael Garrett (the former teacher and assistant principal at Concord High School); Warren Rudman (the late-U.S. Senator); Armenia White (donated land for White Park to the city); Levy Hutchins (the inventor of the alarm clock who lived in Concord); Red Mamba (after Matt Bonner as well as his full name); Richard Potter (a magician from New Hampshire); Abraham Lincoln; Jim Bouley (former city mayor); Bill Veroneau (former city mayor); Christine Holliday-Rowe (a former teacher at the school); Carl Bartlett (a long-time Rundlett principal); Greater Winnipesaukee; Betty Hoadley (former school board member and educator); Arnie Alpert (the former American Friends Service Committee activist); Alan Natkiel (the owner of Georgia's Northside); Michael Night (a former student); Rosa Parks (the civil rights activist); John Langdon Jr. (the Revolutionary War commander); Henry Wilson (an abolitionist); Styles Bridges (the former governor and Senator); Charlie Kirk; Josiah Bartlett (the former governor and justice); Hannah Dustin (the survivalist and folk hero); Herbert (the current superintendent); Ronnie James Dio (the heavy metal singer from New Hampshire); Robert Brown (the former Concord teacher); Mary Kenneth Keller (one of the first women to earn a computer science doctorate); and Talesha Saint-Marc (the first Black woman to serve as a judge in New Hampshire).
Some of the other names included "The Back to Work Middle School," since senior citizens and retirees will be forced to go back to work "because of this insanely overpriced Taj Mahal of a middle school"; Adam Sandler; Granite State; Concord Promise; Rundlett Middle School of Integrated Studies; Schooly McSchool Face; Hawthorne; Lilac Fields; Ray Of Science; Diddy; Capital View; Spirit Halloween — "because the school is still a joke even with new paint"; Mathainotas Mazi; Roussos; Beth Dixon; Mel Bolden; Droopy; Extraordinary; King D; Timothy Stone; Robert Frost; Odysseus; Azul; Duke Summit; Conant; Future Leaders; Happy Land; Clever Foxes; Patriot; Fullam; Drake Maye; Samuel Lewis; 67 Rizz; Fritz Weatherbee; Pramod; Finn Gfoerer; Majad Shmais; Dan Breen; Mohammed; Blueberry; South Street; Daniel Richardson; and J. Epstein's School for the Functionally Impaired, a "deep and meaningful name for this new center of education," the writer suggested.
Several Concord residents also suggested selling naming rights to the school.
"We need to pay for it somehow," one community member said.
The groundbreaking for the new school will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26, right before homecoming.
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