Short list of names offered for former Kingston elementary school named for Sir John A. Macdonald

The Kingston elementary school formerly called Sir John A. Macdonald will soon have a new name.

The Limestone District School Board began the renaming process last fall removing Macdonald’s name based on his ties to residential schools.

“Sir John A’s legacy was not inclusive of our community. We have Indigenous community member students, staff and we want everyone to feel welcome at the school,” said principal Anna Pacheco.

That’s what prompted the name change and now they’re down to the final four names.

Those names can be seen almost everywhere around the school. The four options are Butternut Creek. Forestview, Maple and Mapleview.

“A lot of people just think, ‘Oh, pick a name, bam,’ but no, there’s so much more time and effort needed,” said renaming committee member Axl Fritz and student at the currently nameless school.

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Fritz along with two other students were on the renaming committee — a committee that went through numerous surveys and feedback from the school as well as the public.

“Probably Mapleview is my favourite because I like maple there’s maple in our Canadian flag. Mapleview is because you can see the maple trees and stuff like that and it just adds a bit of length to maple,” said Fritz.

Summer Philpot, another student on the renaming committee, says all the names are related to the immediate area around the school.

“Like Butternut Creek, it’s a creek near us, and Maple, there’s maple trees, and forest, there’s a lot of trees, and Mapleview there’s a view from the third floor,” said Philpot

“I prefer Forestview — but I know that it’s not the most popular among the four names. Why? Because from our school we have a nice view of the forest from our third floor,” said Aaron Donovan, another student member of the renaming committee.

All three students say the process has been a positive learning experience for the entire school.

Steven Gillispie says they’ve worked to make all the children feel included in the hunt for a new name for the school.

“It’s been great. We’ve been able to connect the curriculum to different aspects of the renaming process. We got to do data collection and graphing — we got to incorporate it in our writing, we got to learn about the maple trees and visit Butternut Creek and really connected to the learning process,” said Gillespie.

A final report will go to board trustees at the end of April. By the end of May a new name could be chosen.