Board decides ‘School R’ to be called Spring Park Elementary
FLEMING ISLAND – At last week’s board meeting, Clay County School District board members selected Spring Park Elementary School as the name for the new elementary school near County Road …
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Board decides ‘School R’ to be called Spring Park Elementary
FLEMING ISLAND – At last week’s board meeting, Clay County School District board members selected Spring Park Elementary School as the name for the new elementary school near County Road 315.
A 15-person naming committee presented the board with three names: the Spring Park Minnows, the Magnolia Mills Owls and the Black Creek Trails Ramblers. Board member Ashley Gilhousen motioned to go with a combination, Spring Park Owls, which was approved unanimously.
“We’ll keep [Black Creek Trails] on the back burner for when we build a school over there,” Gilhousen said.
The district wants the K-6 school to open by the 2023-2024 school year. The school, near Green Cove Springs, will have the capacity for more than 850 students and alleviate capacity issues at nearby R.M. Patterson and Charles E. Bennett elementaries. The school has been referred to as “School R.”
The committee consisted of school district officials, principals, teachers, members of School Advisory Councils and community members who met numerous times, according to district documents. Board member Mary Bolla said new schools built can use the other names. She said Spring Park is one of the main parks for children in the area and is identifiable.
“I would have assumed many of them have been there,” Bolla said.
Bolla said the school was equally located near Magnolia Mills, Spring Park and Black Creek. Each name carries weight, she added.
“We could go with all three of these,” she said. “It’s at the backdoor of Magnolia. It’s near Black Creek and it’s near Spring Park.”
Board member Janice Kerekes said she wanted more options but thanked the naming committee for a hard task. She emphasized the school’s name had to be related to Green Cove Springs. Board member Tina Bullock liked the Black Creek Trails name, but that area is more associated with Middleburg, she said.
Board member Beth Clark, who was elected in 2020, said naming and overseeing the construction of a new school is special. Clark added she was surprised the district didn’t have owls as an elementary school mascot yet.
Bolla and other board members joked they were appreciative that Rosemary Hill wasn’t a choice due to the landfill of the same name. “We now have a new school, no longer ‘School R,’” Bolla said after the vote.
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