Schools
Obama Among Final Name Choices For New Elementary School
Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary School is one of the name recommendations for the soon-to-open Alexandria school.
ALEXANDRIA, VA—The West End School Naming Committee has narrowed name choices for the soon-to-open school at 1701 North Beauregard down to four. The committee will recommend Katherine Johnson Elementary School, Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary School, Sonia Sotomayor Elementary School and Day-Ochoa Elementary School to the school board Thursday, Feb. 8.
The choices come from 355 suggestions the committee received in the fall. The committee choose names that would reflect the school’s diversity, inspire elementary school students, have ties to Virginia and represent the school's STEM focus. The names also have to avoid confusion with other Virginia public schools and places.
Day-Ochoa is named after Ferdinand Day, the late Alexandria resident that became the first African-American school board chair in the state, and NASA astronaut Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go to space. Katherine Johnson is a Virginia resident and NASA mathematician featured in "Hidden Figures" for her calculations that sent astronauts into orbit and to the moon. The nationwide choices are Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
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The recommendations will go to the school board Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. in the School Board Meeting Room at 1340 Braddock Place. Residents are encouraged to provide feedback at a public hearing Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m. in the School Board Meeting Room. The school board may recommend additional names and make a final decision on Feb. 22.
The new West End school is slated to open for the 2018-19 school year with a capacity of 650 students. The school district purchased and will convert a former office building and a nearby parking garage, into the school and a play area. The naming committee is made up of 10 Alexandria residents and has been meeting since fall 2017.
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