Rochester School Board Could Name New Elementary School Today

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - There is a chance the Rochester School Board could decide later today on the name for the new elementary school being built in Northwest Rochester.

Back in October, the school district began accepting suggestions from staff and community members. Over 400 people participated and a group of volunteers who served on the Facilities Task Force and the Elementary and Middle School Design Teams were given the task of selecting five finalists.

Those finalists were then presented to the community and local residents were given a chance to rank them from their most favorite to least favorite. Over 5700 rankings of the names were submitted for consideration and the top two ranked names are Henry Plummer Elementary and Overland Elementary.

The naming criteria issued by the school district outlined three characteristics that would be acceptable. One would be the name of an individual who played a critical role or contributed to society in ways that supported the success and well-being of individuals, another involved names based on geographical or historical relationships, while the third involved names that articulate aspirations of students or the instructional focus of the school district.

If the School Board does not make a decision today, the issue is expected to come up for a vote at its next regular meeting.

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