Members of the Greer Elementary School community are being asked to share their views about the name of their school through an online survey that became active today. The survey, which can be accessed at https://survey.k12insight.com/r/gbYIeq, asks participants which naming categories should have priority and also asks for name recommendations for the school. Those can include Mary Carr Greer.
The survey, which will close at 9 a.m. on Monday, May 9, is part of a school naming review being conducted by a volunteer community advisory committee in accordance with a division-wide policy. The policy requires all schools in the division that are named for an individual to undergo a community review to ensure those school names reflect the division’s four values of equity, excellence, family and community, and wellness.
The advisory committee will be sharing the survey results prior to a public meeting on Monday, May 16, at 6:30 p.m. At that meeting, which will be conducted virtually over the Zoom video conferencing platform, community members can offer comments and share their thoughts about the history of the school and the survey results. Members of the community who would like to speak at the meeting should register by emailing SchoolNamingReview@k12albemarle.org no later than 9 a.m. on the 16th.
Susie Lee, the advisory committee chair, said: “This is an opportunity to hear from those who are served by Greer Elementary, who live near it, or have a relationship with it. We will have the best outcome when those voices guide the name review by making themselves heard, and we are very eager to engage those community members while we go through this process.”
The committee includes the school’s principal, Steve Saunders, and Lee, a guidance counselor at the school. Three committee members are from the Greer faculty, three are parents, and three live in the school community but do not have students attending Greer.
Six naming reviews have been completed by volunteer community advisory committees thus far, with the school board voting to change the name of four schools and to retain the name of two others. Summaries of all completed reviews and those in progress are accessible from the school division’s School Names Under Review web page.
Following the public meeting on May 16, the community advisory committee will narrow the list of names under consideration to five for further community input. If Greer is among these five, the committee will conduct research into the life of Mary Carr Greer, a prominent local educator.
Updates regarding the Greer Elementary School Naming Review are accessible on the school division’s School Naming Review website, along with current information on all school naming reviews. Community members with questions or suggestions about the Greer naming review can email the advisory committee at SchoolNamingReview@k12albemarle.org.
Born in 1883, Mary Carr Greer was a prominent local educator. She attended the Union Ridge Grade 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.
Any member of the public who would like to watch the May 16 public meeting without making public comment can access the livestream at http://streaming.k12albemarle.org/ACPS/schoolnamingreview.htm.
CONTACT: Helen Dunn, Legislative and Public Affairs Officer
PHONE: 434-249-8379