The name game

Recently, Orange County School officials began playing the name game, seeking input for the renaming of existing and future schools. While many supported the renaming of the schools, the comments from those that opposed the changes ranged from the constructive to the obscure.
When the new eastern Orange County middle school opens in the fall of 2011, the current Locust Grove Middle School will convert to an upper elementary school, housing third through fifth grade, and the current Locust Grove Elementary School will become a lower elementary school, housing students in kindergarten through second grade. This means possible name changes to more accurately reflect each school’s composition.
According to Orange County Public School Superintendent Dr. Robert Grimesey, the new middle school will be named Locust Grove Middle School, allowing for all of the current stationary and other items to make the transition. 
As for the two elementary schools, it was suggested that the third through fifth grade school become Locust Grove Elementary School and the kindergarten through second grade school become Locust Grove Primary School. For continuity, Grimesey suggested amending Unionville Elementary School to become Unionville Primary School, since Unionville and Lightfoot Elementary Schools have the very set-up proposed for the newly-constituted schools in Locust Grove.
The survey, which was available online and at the three schools up for changes, was due back Oct. 16. School officials received 648 responses, 203 of which were from Lightfoot Elementary and Unionville Elementary Schools. Out of those, 144 supported changing Unionville Elementary School to Unionville Primary School and 59 were concerned with the change.  Out of the total 648 responses, 445 were from the Locust Grove Elementary and Middle Schools. Four hundred supported the proposal while 45 were concerned with it.
The comments, which mainly came in from those that opposed the proposals, ranged from “Be more creative” to “We need a high school.“ Many comments from Lightfoot and Unionville Elementary Schools stated that Unionville Elementary Schools’ name has been around a long time, why should it be changed now? Many also looked at the abbreviations: UES vs. UPS, and pointed to the brown trucks delivering packages. Comments from the Locust Grove Elementary and Middle Schools suggested only renaming the new middle school or renaming the 3-5 school as Locust Grove Upper Elementary. One person also suggested renaming the three Locust Grove schools to reflect fallen heroes from within the county to “remind students that freedom is not free.“
Other creative suggestions included renaming the building to Constitution Primary, Ellwood Elementary, Locust Grove Lower Elementary, Locust Grove Elementary School Building A, Locust Grove Elementary School Building I and Locust Grove Elementary School North Building. Suggestions for the Locust Grove Elementary 3-5 building included renaming the school to Robert E. Lee Elementary, James Madison Elementary School, Constitution Elementary School, Grant Elementary School, Locust Grove Upper Elementary, Locust Grove Elementary School Building B, Locust Grove Elementary School South Building or Locust Grove Elementary School Building 2. Suggestions for the new middle school included Flat Run Middle School, East Orange Middle School, James Madison Middle School, Stonewall Jackson Middle School and Wilderness Middle School.
Several comments also reflected concerns over the cost associated with changing the names of the schools. According to Grimesey, any cost associated with renaming the schools will be minimal.
“Stationery and signs will be the most expensive,“ he said. “These are not the kind of things that would cause major changes in the budget.“
According to Grimesey, Unionville Elementary School currently has no sign out front and is in need of one anyway. Also, keeping the middle school as Locust Grove Middle School will allow for the stationery, mascot and other items to move with the school.
The results of the survey were presented to the Orange County School Board at a work session Oct. 27 with the board expected to take official action at their Nov. 4 meeting.