New South No More-It's Now Monarch

The new south elementary school can no longer be referred to as New South Elementary School. In a meeting on Tuesday night, the Greenville County School Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name the school Monarch Elementary School.

According to board member Crystal Ball O’Connor, who represents the area near the new school, the process was community driven. Residents were able to submit suggestions via the school district’s website and in two public meetings, one of which was conducted recently at Mauldin High School. All told, 85 names were considered.

“It was very exciting to see the community care so much about the naming of their school,” O’Connor said. Ultimately, Monarch was the choice, she said, because, “the name promotes inquiry and is an invitation to explore.”

Another factor in the favor of Monarch was the prominence it has with the Roper Mountain Science Center, where the migration of Monarch Butterflies is studied.

Among those receiving consideration were Five Forks Elementary, Fisher Elementary and Pliny Elementary.

Five Forks, according to O’Connor, was familiar but didn’t invite the kind of inquiry that Monarch did. With respect to geography, O’Connor said the board wanted to avoid naming the school after a subdivision.

Fisher was suggested as a name in honor of current Greenville County Schools Superintendent Dr. Phinnize Fisher. But the board felt that would be premature while Fisher is still in her position.

Pliny, as in the ancient Greek naturalist, was deemed more appropriate for a secondary school.

O’Connor credited Steve Richardson of Furman for assisting in researching the names.

Located on Five Forks Road in Simpsonville, the school is on schedule to be built by the end of the year and open to students for the 2012-13 school year. It is expected to be home to approximately 795 students with room for 1,000. Earlier this year Vaughan Overman, formerly a principal at Taylors Elementary School, was named principal.