New Names on Table for Six Renew Schools

A handful of renew schools in Newark may kick off the new year under new names.

The Newark Schools Advisory Board will vote next Tuesday on whether to change the names of

But that vote certainly won't come easy.

Several board members argued at Tuesday night's business meeting that the name changes were finalized without enough community participation and changing them would strip the schools of their historic identity.

"I just don't see the urgency of changing a school name," said board member Marques-Aquil Lewis. "We're talking about renewing a school. I don't see how changing a school name has anything to do with academic achievement."

The new names were conceived during various community meetings this summer, part of each The revised names are as follows: Chancellor Achievement Academy, Camden Street Dream Academy, Peshine BRICK South Ward Academy, Cleveland Community School, Newark Academy of Mathematics (formerly Sussex Avenue School) and Quest Global Village School (formerly Quitman Street School).

"These are the six schools that have demonstrated to date that they've done the proper community engagement, they vetted the names and they sought the feedback necessary to demonstrate that there's excitement about these six names," said Assistant Superintendent Peter Turnamian.

He said the other two renew schools, and Newton Street, "haven't yet met that bar, which is why we haven't put them up for consideration."

School name changes must be put up to vote and has been done five or six times over the last several years, according to the board's counsel.

Board member DeNiqua Matias said she was most concerned that the forming of the new names didn't involved stakeholders. She and Lewis pointed to community meetings at 13th Avenue/MLK as being poorly attended, contrary to information presented about each renew school's planning process Tuesday night.

"…Maybe in this instance, we as a board would be best to err on the side of caution and make sure this is something the community actually wants," she said. "We know that they've had community meetings and they've had attendance, but 80 people out of a school of 1,000 or 1,200 is not a lot. And we do not want to impose anything on anybody that they do not want."

Some residents made claims of ulterior motives behind the proposed name changes, saying that, under new names, the renew schools would no longer be linked to failing test scores from the past. The schools affected by state have been described as consistently under-performing with declining enrollment.

"We're opposed to this shell game in the West Ward," said resident Willie Rowe, citing the reorganization of Vailsburg Middle School, Ivy Hill Elementary and Mt. Vernon School Annex in 2007. "We know it's a way to get a fresh start for the school and we're (going to be) holding people accountable…"

Anderson's Chief of Staff Charlotte Hitchcock maintained Tuesday night the name changes arose from community involvement and were not a requirement imposed by central office.

"This was not driven by the superintendent's office or 2 Cedar Street," she said. "We did not dictate to any school...any of these name changes."

The nine-member schools advisory board will vote on this matter, and others, at next Tuesday's meeting at 6 p.m. at Speedway School.

[Editor's note: This issue has since been tabled and was not voted on during the Aug. 28 advisory board meeting.]