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Rochester's new middle school will soon have an official name-- and it will be one of these five finalists.

The Rochester School Board was busy at its meeting Tuesday tackling such subjects as the district's Safe and Open Schools Plan among other difficult topics. But they also unveiled the five finalists for the name of the new middle school.

The new school, which was approved when the district's building referendum passed in 2019, is currently under construction at 5501 65th Street in northwest Rochester.  In mid-August, the building celebrated its beam-signing ceremony (you can check the video out below) and construction is scheduled to be completed during the fall of 2022.

And we now know what the new school will be called, as well. According to KTTC, the school board announced the following five possible names for the school:

Susan B. AnthonyMartin Luther King Jr., Unity, Dakota, and Woksape (which means wisdom in the Lakota language.) All five names were submitted by RPS students, and are what they believe to best represent the community of Rochester.

The fact that students nominated all five possible names marks a much different process than the School Board used to name its most recent elementary school (now called Overland Elementary.) Earlier this winter, the Board voted to NOT name the school after Henry Plummer (a noted Mayo Clinic doctor) even though that name was the most popular choice in at-large voting conducted by the district.

Soon, you'll be able to vote for your favorite on the RPS website, with voting running through September 16th. The winning name is set to be announced at the School Board meeting on September 21st (though whether the Board will actually vote to approve the winning name is anybody's guess!)

Rochester has been home to several new building projects-- including schools-- over the past few years, all of which have changed our city's skyline. Keep scrolling to see just how MUCH Rochester has changed!

Listen to Curt St. John mornings from 6 to 10 on Quick Country 96.5
and afternoons from 2 to 6 on 103.9 The Doc

Wow! Check out how Rochester has changed throughout the years in these Google photos.

As we are soaring down Hwy 52, it is hard to imagine what life was like in our town before the Target store was built where it is today. Or the house that you live in now, at one point in town, that wasn't there. In fact, Rochester has grown so fast throughout the years, most of our houses weren't even around 50 years ago! Don't believe me? Look through these photos to get a glimpse of what Rochester was like years ago.

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