Get Schooled

By Jeff

June 3, 2008 8:56 AM | Link to this

My native Bartow has seen this once, and is about to see it again.

The first time, they built a school called Woodland Middle/High School. A couple of years later, they separated the middle school and built its own building in another area of the county. Problem was, the natives wanted the school to be renamed Euharlee Middle School, as the new location was smack dab in the middle of Euharlee. (You can literally see the Covered Bridge from the school.) HOWEVER, the people already at the school wanted to keep the name. So the school is now officially known as Woodland Middle School at Euharlee. In this case, compromise resulted in the WORST possible outcome.

Bartow is about to see it once again, but this time with a school with MUCH more history. In the new case, Cass High is about to be moved to White. Cass High has existed on two campuses thus far in its 60 year history that I know of. Problem here is that many of the transplants want the school to then be known as White High. I HIGHLY doubt this name change will happen, but we’ll see….

By jim d

June 3, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this

I have long advocated allowing corporations to bid for the naming rights not just for the schools but for the athletic facilities as well.

Naming schools in memory of some long dead has been really makes little sense. Naming them in honor of a community or a landmark makes even less.

Why not capitalize on the advertising potential allowing corporations to assist in keeping taxes lower?

By Jeff

June 3, 2008 10:43 AM | Link to this

jim:

PLEASE say you’re being devil’s advocate here… not even YOU could REALLY mean what you just said.

Don’t we have enough of the corporatization already in college and pro sports??? It is bad enough when colleges start with the corporate names (though I don’t mind if you name a building after a PERSON that happens to donate a ton of money to the school, simply because no one will ever really recognize that name - unless it happens to be something like Bill Gates - beyond the plaque on the wall). That does NOT need to be taken any further down!

By Tater

June 3, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this

jim d

I’m going to have to agree with Jeff on this one. I don’t know what the solution is, but naming schools after politicians is not the way to go in my opinion.

How about whatever city (county) the school is in the school would reflect that.

Euharlee Elementary - Middle - High, etc., or use the county name.

Of course we could start a whole new discussion on naming roads after people as well :-))

By Tater

June 3, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

jim d

Should have also clarified that naming schools after corporations is a bad idea as well in my opinion.

By Jeff

June 3, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this

Tater:

What about the Cass situation and others like it where a school originally named for its location is - decades later - moved to a new location? Should it be able to keep its name, or do you have to rename it to fit the new town?

By jim d

June 3, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this

ok so lets just number them in larger counties that have 16-20 high schools. Makes as much sense as naming them for a person that no one has ever heard of or for some long past community that dried up and blew away centuries ago.

By Jeff

June 3, 2008 2:48 PM | Link to this

jimd:

Do you want factories or communities?

Schools in some large cities I know of - NYC in particular- are known for taking just the approach you mention there.

Numbering only sterilizes things - see Nazi Germany, or prisons for that matter.

Personally, I prefer some ‘mess’.

By jim d

June 3, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this

Jeff, dear friend.

Our schools are little more than factories.

By GeoffDawg

June 3, 2008 4:19 PM | Link to this

I have to agree with Jim on this one. Why shouldn’t the already overburdened taxpayer get a break when the revenue could be made up in private contributions? It’s not a stretch to imagine that more, not less, free market exposure is good for students. The single one thing that is most lacking in our public education system today is an utter lack of basic understanding of economics, capitalism, and the tenets of free enterprise.

By jim d

June 3, 2008 4:43 PM | Link to this

Hey Jeff,

Here’s a few names to consider.

Bud High

Miller Middle

Coors Elementary

Or Publix High, Kroger Middle and Quick Trip Elem.I haven’t a problem with any of these.

I could just see the faces though on a few moms in S. Ga. dropping the kids off at a Trojan High, Kotex Middle, or Starship elementary. Know what I mean?

By Josh

June 3, 2008 5:36 PM | Link to this

I’m happy as long as the school is not named after someone still living. These people still have the opportunity to screw up or do something the school does not want to be associated with. The best name for a school would be the neighborhood or street it is located in or on. This helps people hearing the school name to know where it is.

By HS Teacher Too

June 3, 2008 5:37 PM | Link to this

Not too far from my house, Gwinnett County is putting up “Twin Rivers Middle School.” I’m still scratching my head as to where in creation those two rivers are.

So, to answer your question, I think schools’ names ought to at least make SOME sort of sense. Come on, now, “Twin Rivers” just because it sounds idyllic? More stupidity from the county of stupid.

I understand that you run out of “geographic” names when you exhaust “North Gwinnett,” “South Gwinnett,” “Central Gwinnett” (although, to be fair, we don’t have East and West Highs), and I’m okay with things like Brookwood High School (named for the intersection at which it sits: HollyBROOK and DogWOOD Roads), but Twin Rivers?!

Or, if we really want honesty in naming, we can call it “48 Trailers Within a Year Middle School!”

By Tater

June 3, 2008 6:02 PM | Link to this

Jeff, sorry for the late reply. I don’t know..

I just believe that having Kroger Middle School is not appropriate. Believe me, the school district will very easily spend the corporate money and your property taxes will not be reduced at all, period.

By Abe

June 3, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this

Re: Twin Rivers.

One River is the flood of taxpayer money funding the gov’t school.

The Second River is the flood of graduates who have a tough time reading their diploma.

By Hubert Mohammed Obama

June 3, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this

Title Max Middle School located in Vinings. Hosea L. Williams, Jr. High School located in Alpharetta (next door to Mark Elgart’s neighborhood). Dollar General Primary School off of West Wesley. John Trotter Jr. High School (Grades 7-9 only in Kathy Cox’s neighborhood). What about the Kathy Cox Middle School Social Studies Testes? That’s nuts. We can go too far.

By HS Teacher Too

June 3, 2008 6:58 PM | Link to this

Abe, Thank you!!! I will have to relay that wisdom to my friends and neighbors who have wondered the same thing I was wondering. Now it makes sooooo much sense!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

By Andre

June 3, 2008 7:10 PM | Link to this

Schools should be name after the community, street, or famous educators or somebody that’s done good in life and is no longer living.

By DaveD

June 3, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this

Just DO NOT name ANYTHING after Bush 1…or Bush 2…or Reagan… IF you do.. it’s nickname will be “Bubble-Boy” HS!

By D'Anna

June 3, 2008 8:26 PM | Link to this

I agree with Jim; coporate biding is a great idea for schools of technolgy, math and science. I also believe that non-profits and government should get in on the act in the areas of social sciences and language arts. Until we start seeing schools as a continuation of the real world and making partnerships out of our connections, we’ll never have our kids prepared. Therefore, its not just about the name, it’s about making the connection.

By Cheryl McTasire

June 3, 2008 8:32 PM | Link to this

Give them names that will inspire students to learn. And we all know students learn best by fear. “Detention-Till-Death High,” or “We-Will-Crush-The-Bones-of-Failures Elementary.” It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the sooner the punks face that, the better.

By zoe

June 3, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this

I don’t care what you name the school as long as it isn’t the same name as another school in the state! There are schools named Sequoyah in at least three counties that I know of.

By SW

June 3, 2008 9:58 PM | Link to this

The school I work at moved to a new location this year and we kept the same name, because of the history of the school. There had been a school on the same grounds for close to 100 years and we were named after the community where we were located. While we are no longer technically in that community anymore, the name was too much a part of the school to change.

BTW, I would hate to work at a sponsor named school…unless we get a chunk of the profits.

By Echo

June 3, 2008 11:29 PM | Link to this

There was actually a West Gwinnett HS about 50 years ago. It lasted one year.

By Racebaiter

June 4, 2008 12:18 AM | Link to this

I don’t know, but let’s make sure the mascot is politically incorrect. Political correctness needs to die.

“The Drunk Irishmen” “The Pink Fairies” “The Leftwing Loons” (I see a bird as the mascot here) “The Homeless Beggars”

By Racebaiter

June 4, 2008 12:21 AM | Link to this

Since it’s in Atlanta, the blacks will make sure it’s named after a black guy. Hell, they couldn’t even respect Hartsfield. Had to change it to Hartsfield-Jackson just to make sure a black guy’s in there somewhere. It’s always about race for blacks and DaveD. “Race above common sense.”

By jim d

June 4, 2008 4:37 AM | Link to this

Actually HS teach too.

Twin Rivers?

Look just a bit to the north of that piece of realestate.

By Steve

June 4, 2008 5:39 AM | Link to this

Why not let the government name the school? They have truly messed up everything else in education, the environment, the economy, etc. It would take them years to do something and by then no one would care anymore. Let’s get serious and name them after NASCAR - Dick Trickle High School. Or maybe after something in space - Syzygy Elementary. Maybe after something in medicine - Chlamydia or Spirochete Middle. I believe this can best be explained not by Occam’s (Ockham’s) Razor or the Sword of Damocles but by Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity”.

By WhatWillLauraDo?

June 11, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this

Laura,

Want a name for Southside? What about “The School where teachers get brutally assaulted with few reprecussions for APS because Laura Diamond won’t do a follow up story”?

In fairness, she’s probably been asked to sit on the story from those up above. Since this is the education blog, let me show you just how far the editorial board will go to squash any questioning of the discipline scandals at APS.

Jay Bookman just posted about lies and deception on his blog. But instead of addressing his own enabling of lies and deception by being completely silent on the APS discipline scandals, the post were removed by the AJC.

So Laura, since Bookman won’t step up to the plate, can you explain why there has been ZERO follow up?