The Kensington middle school slated to open in August might be named after the town, a waterbody, a famous abolitionist or a former Montgomery County Public Schools superintendent.
Or none of the above.
On Tuesday, the county’s Board of Education released its list of four proposed names—Kensington, Silver Creek, Harriet Tubman and Dr. Paul L. Vance. A committee of parents in the community that will be served by the school will rank these options, but the residents can also recommend up to two additional names.
Which proposed name do you like the best for the B-CC cluster's new middle school in Kensington? https://t.co/W9d5r8vy35
— Bethesda Beat (@BethesdaBeat) February 15, 2017
The school board assembled its set of suggestions during a closed session Tuesday. School board member Judith Docca said she nominated Vance for consideration. Vance, the county’s first African-American school superintendent, led MCPS for eight years in the 1990s and died in 2015.
Docca said she’d also support naming the school after Tubman, the Maryland resident famous for leading enslaved people to freedom along the Underground Railroad.
“I wanted the people names,” she said.
Silver Creek is a stream that runs through Kensington.
School board member Jeanette Dixon encouraged community members to seize the opportunity to research the people and places on the list.
“Hopefully they will recommend to us a name that will stand the test of time,” she said.
After the committee of residents shares its preferences, the school board will take a final vote to designate the school name. Docca said the process typically takes about a month.
