Coolidge Corner School Closer To New Name: Here Are The Options

BROOKLINE, MA — The Coolidge Corner School, previously known as the Devotion School, is closer to getting a new name. It could be renamed in honor of an abolitionist, a suffragist, a leader of an indigenous people that once walked these lands or a certain former first lady. A group of Coolidge Corner and Brookline High School students reviewed the nominations submitted by community members and have narrowed down the field to 15 semi-finalists. Now they're asking for the public's input again.

Two years ago, after Brookline residents discovered that the namesake for The Devotion School, one of its largest schools owned a slave in the 18th century, Town Meeting voted in favor of renaming the school. The first phase of the process is being led by a group of students who call themselves the Bee-lievers in Change. That nominations group went through more than 250 nominations, 119 of which were unique. The students will recommend up to three names to the School Committee after getting input from the public through two evening sessions and an online form. The first meeting is Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the school.

The names that made the list include 10 women and five men, two leaders of the Wampanoag tribe, four abolitionists, three civil rights activists, a politician, leader, writer, singer and former first lady. Of the 15 names, nine of them have ties to Massachusetts. Three — Sybil Holmes, Roland Hayes and Florida Riffin Ridley — have specific ties to Brookline:

• Sybil Holmes was born in West Bridgewater and moved to Brookline where she became a lawyer. She was a Brookline Town Meeting member and in 1936 became the first woman elected to the MA State Senate.
• Roland Hayes, was a well respected African-American musician who lived in Brookline for nearly 50 years.
• Florida Ruffin Ridley moved to Brookline in 1896 and was a suffragette. She was the second African-American teacher in the state.

Coolidge Corner School Naming Night at 6 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at Coolidge Corner School, Wednesday, April 3. For more info check out this link.

"Renaming an existing school is a rare and unique opportunity, and we are only part of the way through the journey. We hope that you will join us at the Renaming Nights and be inspired by the tremendous work that our students have done over the last several months," said Superintendent Andrew Bott in an email to the community.

You can also weigh in on the Coolidge Corner School Renaming page on the district website at this link between April 3 and April 29.

Check out the one-page summaries for each of the semi-finalists that the students wrote:

Coolidge Corner School Renaming Options by ReporterJenna on Scribd

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