By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer
The legacy of Woodstock Elementary will soon come to a close and a new chapter in the Pulaski County School District’s history will begin.
Woodstock Elementary, which opened its doors over 100 years ago, will close for the last time in 2010, to be replaced by what has recently been christened Northern Elementary School.
Members of the Pulaski County School Board unanimously approved the name Northern Elementary School as the name for the new school during the school board meeting held Tuesday night.
Woodstock Elementary School Principal Julie Cottrell came to the board asking their approval, explaining she believed a fresh name would be a good move, since there will be more new students than those who currently attend Woodstock Elementary.
Cottrell said that as plans were being made for the school and she attended meetings with the architects, she had been asked several times if she was sure they wanted to call the new school Woodstock Elementary.
She said though they had initially planned to leave the name the same, the more she thought about the name change, the more she thought it could be a good idea.
The principal noted in reality the school will no longer be located in the Woodstock community and there will be more new students than students from the current Woodstock Elementary.
“I realize our (Woodstock) family will be there, but we’re getting a new family too,” said Cottrell, who believes having the new name will make the transition easier for students from other schools.
“It will be better if the school is neutral,” said Cottrell.
Cottrell requested the colors for the school be maroon and white, just like Northern Middle School and Pulaski County High School, and their mascot be the maroons, just like the two schools for the older students.
Superintendent Tim Eaton noted that a few years ago both middle schools changed their colors and mascot to match the high schools, and Southern Elementary changed their colors as well, so as students come up through elementary, middle and high school, they have the same colors and mascot.
“It’s been a trend,” said Eaton.
Eaton noted that when he and other representatives of the school district had a couple meetings with staff and parents very early in the process of the plans for the new school, they did speak of leaving the name of the school the same.
“If you and the staff embrace (the name change), how can we not embrace it?” said Eaton.
“The staff understands, even if they are sad,” Cottrell said.
New board member Samantha Ping Stevens wondered if the principal had received mainly a positive response from others who had heard of the possible change.
“Yes, I have,” said Cottrell, noting they were supposed to have a PTA meeting and talk about it before the board meeting, but because of snow, it got canceled. “I haven’t had any phone calls (though).”
“They are sad, but they understand,” added Cottrell.
Meanwhile, new board member Olivia Minton said she remembers going through the transition to a new school when Ferguson closed and the students went to Southern Elementary School when she was teaching.
“It’s going to be exciting for you,” said Minton. “I went through it.”
The history of Woodstock Elementary, which looks to come to a close sometime next year, began over 100 years ago in a one room school. The original one room school building was built in 1900. In 1920, one more room was added on to provide for the growing community of Woodstock.
The current school, which is located at 13215 Ky. 39, was built in 1957 with additions such as the gymnasium and four class rooms added on throughout the years. It is currently the oldest school in the county and has about 150 students.
The new elementary school will be located 2/10 of a mile south of Ky. 635 on Ky. 39 and will be able to accommodate 450 students. The school is set to be open in late 2010.
Along with students from Woodstock Elementary, it would also take in some students from Pulaski County Elementary School to help with their crowding issue.
