Schools

Update: Shakopee School Board Decides Junior High Names

Shakopee School Board members spent the last two weeks seeking input on naming options and chose East and West to differentiate between the two schools.

Shakopee School Board members unanimously chose names for the two junior high schools at Monday's regular meeting – Shakopee Junior High East and Shakopee Junior High West. 

Board members had spent the last two weeks seeking input and reflecting on options which also included West Ridge Junior High School and East Wood Junior High School.

All board members said they'd heard positive feedback on the east and west options, although concern was raised about whether that would be divisive.

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Shakopee Mayor Brad Tabke said on Facebook Monday that he hoped they didn't go with east and west. "We have enough east (versus) west as it is and don't need to emphasize it," he wrote.

He said he liked an earlier stated option of Spencer/Marschall the best. Those are the streets on or close to where the schools will be located.

Find out what's happening in Shakopeewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

All of this comes about as starting next school year, Shakopee will have  for grades 7-9. In accordance with school board policy, current  Principal John-Paul Jacobson and  Principal Chris Endicott organized a naming committee to develop possible names for the junior high schools.

The principals presented the names to the Shakopee School Board on Apr. 9.

In addition to Jacobson and Endicott, the naming committee consisted of administrators, parents, teachers, and students who represented both schools, explained Endicott. The committee took into account the history of the community as part of their process for developing names.

The committee recommended three options to the school board:

  • West Ridge Junior High
  • East Wood Junior High
  • Spencer Junior High
  • Marschall Junior High
  • River Bend Junior High
  • Prairie Ridge Junior High

In a , 19 of 37 votes were cast for the East and West names, while 8 voted for West Ridge and East Wood. Ten voters said they preferred neither option. 

In a presentation in early April to the school board:

The school board decided that directional names were the most helpful for students and families and consistent with the opinions they were hearing from people in the community. Many of the board members liked the simplified names of Shakopee Junior High East and Shakopee Junior High West in addition to West Ridge Junior High and East Wood Junior High. The board decided to take a couple of weeks to connect with more members of the community to see if there was a majority opinion on one of the two naming options being considered at this point. (Emphasis added)


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