NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Four public schools in Newport News will have new names.
The Newport News School Board unanimously approved the new names at a meeting on Tuesday night.
Superintendent Dr. George Parker, III presented the proposed names to the school board:
- Epes Elementary will be renamed Stoney Run Elementary
- Lee Hall Elementary will be renamed Katherine Johnson Elementary
- Nelson Elementary will be renamed Knollwood Meadows Elementary
- Dozier Middle will be renamed Ella Fitzgerald Middle
The proposed names were among the top nominations submitted by the community to the school district's Diversity and Inclusion Task Force.
Stoney Run and Knollwood Meadows are both the names of communities where the schools are located in.
Katherine Johnson was a civil rights icon famously known as the renowned "human-computer" for NASA. She worked at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton for more than 30 years. She passed away in Newport News, at the age of 101.
Ella Fitzgerald, sometimes known as the First Lady of Song, was an influential jazz singer born in Newport News. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards include a Lifetime Achievement Award, and sold over 40 million albums.
Last year, the school board 5-1 for renaming the schools. The old names are tied with locations and people associated with slavery, the Civil War, and the segregated Jim Crow era.