Like many communities, universities, and K-12 schools across the country, Charlottesville City Schools is aware that our schools’ names send a message to our students, staff, and community and should therefore reflect our values.
A quick recap of the school naming process: In Fall 2020, as Charlottesville City Schools continued public conversations around bringing racial equity into our division, then-Superintendent Dr. Rosa Atkins convened a School Naming Committee to evaluate whether our school names aligned with our division values.
Through a process of community input that informed this committee’s recommendations, the outcomes so far have been:
Learn more details about these decisions below.
As part of the plans for modernizing Buford Middle School, the School Board voted in June 2023 to change the school’s name to Charlottesville Middle School, effective August 2025, when students are planned to begin using the new building on the school campus.
The decision was time-sensitive since some items that include the renovated school’s name have long planning or order-fulfillment timelines. For instance, a committee is currently being formed to make decisions about signage and other environmental graphics.
“This recommendation follows the current trend to move away from school names that honor individuals,” noted Dr. Gurley. “In addition, it indicates that we are essentially building a new school serving grades 6-8. The recommended name is fitting since this middle school will become the place that welcomes all Charlottesville sixth-graders from their neighborhood elementary schools.”
Learn more about the modernization of the middle school.
March 29, 2023
Charlottesville School Board will vote on affirming a name change for Burnley-Moran and Johnson, but will pause on voting on specific name recommendations to allow the staff and the school communities time to explore other names that are better reflective of the schools’ purpose and place.
Dear Burnley-Moran and Johnson communities–
Thanks for your ongoing involvement as we continue the process of evaluating new names for your schools. As you know, based on community feedback, the Naming of Schools Facilities Committee recommended changing the names of the schools and identified two name recommendations (Blue Mountain for Burnley-Moran; Cherry Avenue for Johnson).
At their April 13 School Board meeting, the Board plans to vote on affirming the idea of changing these two schools’ names, but they and Dr. Gurley would like to pause on the actual selection of the two new names.
The hope is that with further time for reflection, we will find names that more fully align with the guiding principles of purpose and place.
It may not be possible to find names for Burnley-Moran and Johnson that combine both purpose and place, but we would like to slow down the name selection process to give us the best chance of finding lastingly meaningful and fitting names for our schools.
Next Steps
Thanks for your patience and ongoing support!
March 2, 2023
In January, after a review process by the Naming of Facilities Committee, the School Board voted to rename Venable Elementary as Trailblazers Elementary, and Clark Elementary as Summit Elementary.
February 3, 2023
More Information about Methods of Receiving Feedback
Burnley-Moran Feedback
Johnson Feedback
The Naming of Facilities Committee Meeting
January 6, 2023
Why not just keep the old names but pick a new namesake?
What criteria has the committee used to select name options?
Are there criteria for names the committee will avoid?
Community member Phil Varner has compiled historical resources and information on our schools’ namesakes and the original process for naming our schools. You can find a brief introduction to the namesakes and a 56-page research compilation.