Alexandria City Public Schools officials are asking the public to weigh in on a second round of voting for news names for the school formerly known as Matthew Maury Elementary School and T.C. Williams High School.
The official poll will close Feb. 19. In March, the School Board will present and consider the final three name choices for each school. The school board will vote on the new names in April, and implement them as of July 1.
Matthew Maury Elementary School was named after a Virginia resident who was considered the founder of oceanography — who was also a Confederate Navy member. Maury tried to establish a Confederate colony in Mexico after the South lost the war.
The finalist choices for a new name for the Elementary School are (click on each name for more information):
Sarah Kemp Brady Elementary School
Naomi Brooks Elementary School
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Elementary School
Katherine Johnson Elementary School
Jean Reid Elementary SchoolRosemont Park Elementary School
Russell Road Elementary School
Harriet Tubman Elementary School
The finalist choices for the former T.C. Williams High School are:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg High School
Arnold J. Thurmond High School
T.C. Williams was named for former ACPS superintendent Thomas Chambliss Williams, who opposed desegregation. The Identity Project webpage describes him as "a staunch segregationist whose views could not have been more inconsistent with the vibrant, diverse and inclusive place we know today."
