The North Stormont Public School and Roxmore Public School will be amalgamated under the new name Avonmore Elementary School. Courtesy Photo
AVONMORE – The amalgamation of the North Stormont Public School and Roxmore Public School will see a name change to Avonmore Elementary School.
The name change comes into effect on Sept. 1.
A look at the state of schools in the Upper Canada School Board was part of a study called, the Pupil Accommodation Review of 2017.
One of the conclusions of the review was that the North Stormont Public School would be closed, and the school’s students would become part of the Roxmore Public School student body.
The closure is expected to take place in September 2022.
To help with the transition and amalgamation, the school board decided to come up with a new name for the amalgamated school.
A transition committee including representation from both school communities was created and worked over the past year to plan for the successful transition of students, staff, and families; “ensuring the creation of a shared vision and culture inclusive of all,” according to a school board update.
The school board ensured that the transition committee, called the School Naming Committee, included a healthy representation from parents, school staff and the board.
The School Naming Committee was created as a sub-committee of the established Roxmore/North Stormont Transition Committee. The School Naming Committee included: Three parents from North Stormont Public School, including the school council chairperson. Three parents from Roxmore Public School, including the school council chairperson. A community representative, and two staff members from each school, as well as administrative staff from each school.
The local Trustee and the families of the schools’ superintendent, attended in a supportive role.
The committee set out to determine a new name for the school by first creating the criteria that would be used to determine potential new names.
This criterion was then aligned with a scoring system for reviewing names submitted for consideration by the School Naming Committee.
Anyone who was interested in finding a new name was asked to submit suggested names for consideration by the School Naming Committee. Information on how to do so was shared via school newsletters, social media posts and hard copy posters in local post offices.
In addition to public input, the School Naming Committee also brainstormed and submitted names for consideration.
The committee then evaluated all name submissions according to the established criteria and scoring tool and came to a consensus on the top three name options.
The top three options were provided to each family and all staff in the two school communities. Each family and staff member had the opportunity to submit their preferred name choice.
The name Avonmore Elementary School received 82 votes, and Fairview Elementary School, and Mapleview Elementary School received respectively 35 and 37 votes.
Joseph Morin is the Editor of the Eastern Ontario AgriNews, and the Record. He is, despite years of practice, determined to eventually play the guitar properly. He has served the Eastern Ontario community as a news editor, and journalist for the past 25 years with the Iroquois Chieftain, Kemptville Advance, West Carleton Review, and Ottawa Carleton Review in Manotick. He has never met a book he did not like.
