City lines up behind Meridian as new name for Mason High Follow Us
Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Wednesday, April 28, 2021
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - A northern Virginia city has renamed schools honoring Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, founding fathers who also owned slaves.
Instead of honoring the nation’s third president, Thomas Jefferson Elementary will now be known as Oak Street Elementary. The school board in Falls Church City also voted Tuesday to rename George Mason High to Meridian High.
The school board said it chose Meridian to represent the school’s international perspective; a meridian is a global line of longitude that runs through both poles. The name also pays homage to the fact that Falls Church City lies on the original 1791 meridian delineating the border between Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Updated on April 28, 2021 at 4:19 pm
Shutterstock
A Northern Virginia city has renamed schools honoring Thomas Jefferson and George Mason, founding fathers who also owned enslaved people.
Instead of honoring the nation s third president, Thomas Jefferson Elementary will now be known as Oak Street Elementary. The school board in Falls Church also voted Tuesday to rename George Mason High to Meridian High. Download our NBC Washington app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.
The school board said it chose Meridian to represent the school s international perspective; a meridian is a global line of longitude that runs through both poles. The name also pays homage to the fact that Falls Church lies on the original 1791 meridian delineating the border between Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Fall Church City schools will rename George Mason High and Thomas Jefferson Elementary. Author: Khalida Volou (WUSA9) Updated: 7:35 AM EDT April 28, 2021
FALLS CHURCH, Va. The Fall Church City School Board will rename George Mason High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary after a 10-month long push from the school community, Falls Chuch school board officials said.
During a school board meeting on Tuesday, members of the board decided to rename George Mason High School to Meridian High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary, to its original name Oak Street Elementary because they honored Founding Fathers who owned enslaved people.
The vote by the school board in Falls Church came despite a community survey that showed broad support for keeping the names of George Mason High and Thomas Jefferson Elementary.
City lines up behind Meridian as new name for Mason High news957.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news957.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 16, 2021 10:00 AM by Nicholas F. Benton
GETTING DEMOLISHED is the former George Mason High School, which will make way for the West End development in the coming years. (Photo: Courtesy Shaun Van Steyn)
Edwin B. Henderson II, a long-time local civil rights activist and founder of Falls Church’s Tinner Hill Foundation, was unanimously voted onto the School Board of the Falls Church City Public Schools by the board Tuesday night. He fills the seat vacated by the resignation of Shawna Russell last month and he will serve through the end of 2021 pending an upcoming November election when that position and three others on the seven-member board will be contested.