Reply to New Name for JEB Stuart HS

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Reply to "New Name for JEB Stuart HS - 9/16 Community Vote "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]When was the last time a high school was named after a person in FCPS?  Robinson?  Marshall?

All the high schools that have been named since I have lived here have been named for the area:  Westfield, South County, etc.

The recent namings of elementary schools have included minorities: Coates, Powell.

[b]Seems to me that generic Stuart is logical[/b]--but, if not chosen, then geography is the way to go.  [/quote]

Asking seriously and without snark: Why does "generic Stuart" seem logical to some posters and I think some SB members too? I'd be interested to know if there is any real argument for it, other than the cost savings of not altering signs or maybe stationery?

The issue with plain Stuart is that it's such a glaringly obvious fig leaf of an option; taking away the JEB won't make the Stuart magically mean some other "Stuart." It's not the name of the area around the school; it's not a name of some other positive historical figure who is a Stuart worthy of having a Virginia school named for him or her (and Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, doesn't exactly resonate as a Virginia educational figure....).

Calling the school "Stuart" seems like it would only create an inevitable replay of this whole renaming debate sometime in the future, because everyone will know the Stuart referenced is the Confederate officer. I was actually surprised to see it was being considered as a real option because it basically is leaving the name the same. JEB or no JEB, the school would still be named for "that" Stuart and everyone would know it. It's a disingenuous option.[/quote]

Langley
McLean
Herndon

[b]These are names--but the schools are named generically.  What is wrong with that?  The kids and alums know the school as Stuart.  Keep it that way. [/b] Other than that, the policy for the last high schools named in FCPS has been geographic.  So, if they pick another name, geography is the way to go.

However, it would be a LOT cheaper to go with Stuart.  Simple, cheaper, and less confusing.
[/quote]

Yes, those towns are all named after people but as a PP notes, no one connects the [i]high schools [/i]with the people for whom the towns are named. They connect the schools with the towns where they are located, not with the historical people. There is no "Stuartville" in which Stuart HS is located.

Calling Stuart simply "Stuart HS" is not going to do anything at all to diminish its association with the person for whom it was named.  Are you saying that somehow Stuart becomes generic if you strip off the initials? It's a false comparison to say that Langley, Herndon and McLean are "generic" and Stuart would be equally "generic." The other three schools are quite specifically, not generically, named, for the towns. Stuart would remain specific too, referring to the same person for whom the school was first named.

Of course it's simple, cheaper and less confusing to keep the name. But don't pretend that calling the school just plain Stuart will end the debate over the name change. Or that because "kids and alums" know the school as Stuart, that's a reason to keep the name (minus the offending initials). [/quote]

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