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Some School Names Need Explaining

I recently visited Olympic Heights High School near Boca Raton and was struck by its unusual name, which doesn’t appear to have any link to local features or history.
According to assistant principal Frank Dannunzio, the school opened in 1991, when the nearby Mission Bay Aquatic Center was training athletes for the 1992 Olympics. Other school names that beg an explanation:
Crosspointe Elementary, Boynton Beach: The school crosses the Delray Beach/Boynton Beach line.
Discovery Key Elementary, suburban Lake Worth: Leaders wanted to emphasize science as “the key to discovery.”
Freedom Shores Elementary, Boynton Beach: Honors those lost on Sept. 11, 2001.
Orchard View Elementary, Delray Beach: Built on the edge of Bloods Hammock Grove; students had a clear view of orange trees.
Spectrum Junior/Senior High, Stuart: Previously Stuart Training School. In a 1989 naming contest, students of what was Martin County’s all-black high school during segregation picked the name Spectrum as a synonym for “all-inclusive.”
Starlight Cove Elementary, Lantana: When asked the proposed location for the school, principal Susan Saint John told the naming committee she’d seen it only once; it was a small lot “under a clear, starlight-filled sky.” She also said she believed in wishing on stars.
Timber Trace Elementary School, Palm Beach Gardens: The site was filled with trees and leaders envisioned a pathway, or trace, between them as a “pathway to learning.”
Windmill Point Elementary, Port St. Lucie: GDC, developers of the original Port St. Lucie neighborhood, created a nearby community they called Windmill Point, for reasons unknown to the district.
Thanks to all the school districts and principals!

Posted in Eliot Kleinberg December 5, 2007 at 12:53 pm.

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