This Wed., March 2, the Prince William County School Board will be voting on what to name the new elementary school opening Fall 2011 on Linton Hall Road. The naming committee came up with the lame name of “Piney Branch Elementary School” — Ronald Reagan didn’t even make the top 18 suggestions of the committee despite it having strong supporters (it received the most suggestions from the public.) I first suggested that name early last October and encouraged people to submit it to the naming committee by the Dec. 1 deadline. Following is the message that I sent to the naming committee:
Since the new elementary school on Linton Hall Road here in Prince William County is set to open in 2011, the year when celebrations are being planned for the centennial of President Ronald Reagan’s birth, I think that it is only fitting that the school be named “Ronald Reagan Elementary School.” On Oct. 7, U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) sent a letter to Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell calling on state officials to “take appropriate measures” to mark the occasion of President Reagan’s birth. In 2008, the Virginia General Assembly voted to designate Feb. 6th as Ronald Reagan Day in Virginia with only one member out of all 140 delegates and senators voting against it. It is clear that such a honor would have bipartisan support and the legacy of Reagan’s presidency could serve as an inspiration to the students at this school.
At the PWC GOP Committee meeting tonight, School Board member Don Richardson spoke and indicated that the Board would be voting on naming the school after Reagan on Wed. He urged everyone to email the entire school board and ask that they support naming the school after President Reagan. Please take the time to drop an email to the board, their email addresses follow, and let’s win this one for the Gipper!
MJOHNS@pwcs.edu; GLATTIN@pwcs.edu; BCOVINGTON@pwcs.edu; LBELL@pwcs.edu; MOTAIGBE@pwcs.edu; DRAMIREZ@pwcs.edu; DRICHARDSON@pwcs.edu; GTRENUM@pwcs.edu
Filed under: Education, Prince William County Politics, Ronald Reagan
From Alyson Satterwhite:
“Also of note, the PWC School Board will be naming the new Elementary School on Linton Hall Road at the School Board meeting on Wednesday, March 2. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of former President Ronald Reagan, there is a citizen effort to name the school after this remarkable President. There were 64 suggested names gathered from citizen submissions. Of those citizen submissions, Ronald Reagan Elementary received more nominations than any other recommendation. When the School Naming Committee had their first vote, they discarded Ronald Reagan Elementary because they did not want to have a “political name.” Please note that one of the final names they were voting on was in honor of Senator Charles Colgan. The proposed new name submitted to the School Board is “Piney Branch Elementary School.” This would be named after a stream nearby and a former elementary school, built in 1886, once located about one mile south of the present school building. Please contact your School Board members if this is an issue that you would like to comment on. Thank you!”
Chuck Colgan isn’t too political, but Ronald Reagan is??? And Chuck isn’t dead yet! So instead let’s pick another rather meaningless name because we don’t have the courage to honor the courageous.
They could be known as the Red Devils. That is the mascot of Eureka College.
Call them “The Gippers.”
I think we should discard the School Naming Committee.
Gipper Elementary School would be cool. And Colgan has done so much for PWC…………he doesnt have to be deceased to have the school named after him. What was courageous about Ronald Reagan, unless you are talking about his courageness in the movies he was in
I just find it unseemly to name anything after the living.