Madison Southside Elementary’s list of new names has narrowed

Community leaders are getting closer to narrowing down the number of potential names for Southside Elementary School.

The school, formerly known as Frank Ellis, has been using the temporary name Southside since students moved into a new building on East Badger Road last year. The naming process was paused for a year as the Madison Metropolitan School District searched for a new superintendent.

The school district received 175 name suggestions from the community, a record number for renaming processaccording to Greg Jones, who chairs the 11-member committee responsible for renaming the school.

Last week, the renaming committee removed the proposed names Schooly McSchoolface, Schooly McSchoolerson and Big Chungus Elementary because the proposals did not meet the district’s naming criteria.

School board policy requires district schools to be named in honor of a deceased prominent national or local figure. Schools may also be named after a local significance, a geographic feature, or a “widely respected” civic virtue.

Laurie Mann Carey received the most nominations. Madison South Side leader Mann Carey, who died in 2020, founded the after-school program Mission 4.0. The program offered tutoring to black students at Western High School. She also helped create the Mann Scholars program, which provides scholarships and mentoring to Madison students of color.

Mann Carey’s daughter, Ciera Carey, described her in the proposal as “the mother to the entire south side.”

Another proposal includes Shirley Abrahamson, who Gov. Tony Evers and state Supreme Court Justice Anne Walsh Bradley put forward in letters to the school district.

Abrahamson, who died in 2020, was the first woman to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the first woman to lead the court as chief justice. Evers said she served longer than any judge in Wisconsin history. in a letter to the naming committee.

“She had a significant presence in Madison and the South Side as a proud resident and as a parent of an MMSD student,” Evers wrote. “I highly recommend her candidacy.”

Other proposals recommended naming the school after Milton McPike, a longtime East High administrator, and Ada Deer, the first Native American woman from Wisconsin to run for U.S. Congress.

Committee members evaluate each of the remaining proposals to further narrow the list of recommendations.

The committee will then recommend up to four potential board member names to the school board to choose from. The board will take a final vote on the school’s new name.

Andrea Kreft, a former administrator who retired from the district in 2023, is currently serving as interim principal at Southside Elementary School.

The previous director and deputy director were removed from their positions last month after the county launched an investigation into their leadership. Staff and families argued the two leaders created a “toxic” work and learning environment, but other school staff and students defended administrators at recent school board meetings.

Kayla Huynh education reporter for the Cap Times. Kayla writes about schools serving young children and teens in the Madison region. Send story ideas and tips to Kayla at [email protected] or call (608) 252-6472.

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