Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Matthew Haas, announced last night that the next school to conduct a naming review will be Mary Carr Greer Elementary School. The school, named for Mary Carr Greer, a local educator, annually has an enrollment of approximately 400 students.
Mary Carr Greer attended the Union Ridge Graded School, a primary school that would later become the Albemarle Training School. Greer taught school locally for several years before attending Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute in Petersburg, Virginia, now known as Virginia State University. She then joined the faculty at Albemarle Training School and, in 1931, became its third principal.
Susie Lee, a guidance counselor at Greer, has been named the chair of the community advisory committee that will review the school’s name and make a recommendation to Dr. Haas on whether the name should be retained or the school should have a new name. The advisory committee will also include Steve Saunders, the school’s principal; at least three teachers and/or staff; at least three parents of Greer students; and two residents of the school community who do not presently have children enrolled in the school. Saunders will also involve students in the review process.
Committee membership will include participation in all committee meetings, of which there will be three or four, and two public meetings. Those interested in serving on the advisory committee are asked to email SchoolNamingReview@k12albemarle.org by 5 p.m. on Monday, April 11, with the following information: why they would like to serve, their affiliation with the school, and their contact information. Committee members will be announced by Friday, April 15, and the committee is expected to hold their organizational meeting the following week.
As required by school board policy, the Greer naming advisory committee will conduct up to two online surveys to gather suggestions for the school’s name, including keeping the current name. Those surveys will be the subject of as many as two public forums, in which community members can discuss survey results. Following these public engagement sessions, the committee will make a recommendation to Dr. Haas.
Greer will be the seventh school in the division to have its name reviewed. In all, there were 13 schools in the division named for individuals when the naming review policy went into effect in October 2018. In that policy, the school board directed that all 13 have their name evaluated by a community advisory committee to ensure that schools are named for individuals whose professional and community service records represent the school division’s values of excellence, equity, family and community, and wellness. Information on the naming review policy, process, and all of the current and completed reviews can be found on the division’s School Naming Review website.
CONTACT: Helen Dunn, Legislative and Public Affairs Officer
PHONE: 434-249-8379