Re-naming, Re-zoning, and Re-hashing
Calls for action and reaction.
On Tuesday night, the Johnson Elementary PTO met in the cafeteria for an enjoyable hour of conversation about a range of important topics, including college savings plans, the school renaming situation, and the city’s upcoming elementary school rezoning decisions. You can peruse the notes from that meeting—taken live by our intrepid PTO secretary, the furiously-tip-tapping Stacey Gearhart—by clicking the button below.
Fueled by a strong sense of civic duty and also barbecue and mac & cheese from neighborhood-favorite Korner Restaurant, the gathered parents and teachers and administrators discussed many things that we think are worthy of a few minutes of your attention. The outcomes of the renaming and rezoning of our schools will have a direct impact on you and your children in the near-term future, and we are approaching the last steps in both of those processes—and therefore also approaching the last chance to have your voice heard on these issues. The people making these decisions need and want to hear from you so that they can make the best decisions for our community.
Rezoning
Charlottesville’s population continues to grow and shift around the city, making it necessary to draw new attendance zone maps in order to rebalance enrollments across our elementary schools. These changes will go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year, the first year that fifth grade will shift to the elementary schools.
This process is already well underway, but it’s not too late to get informed and offer feedback. The consulting firm tasked with making recommendations has produced a video explaining where they are in the process, and what the different options at which they’ve arrived would mean for each school. Watch it below.
Though the rezoning discussion events have already come and gone, it’s not too late to offer feedback and ask questions about this process. There is a survey that all community members are encouraged to fill out—linked at the button below—and you can also send an email to rezoning@charlottesvilleschools.org. The city very much wants to hear from us on these issues, and our feedback will play an important role in shaping their decisions. The surveys must be completed by the end of the month.
I hope you’ll watch the above video, as it does a good job of laying out the different scenarios. This site gives you the ability to enter your address and see which school you’d be zoned for in each of the different boundary map options. For some streets currently zoned for Johnson, the four options result in three different school outcomes. This stuff matters!
We’ve heard parents raising concerns about kids potentially being moved through three schools in as many years, and we’ve heard teachers raising concerns about the true capacity of our school when preschoolers are replaced by fifth graders. Other important questions—like about kids being “grandfathered in” and permitted to finish at the elementary school they’ve spent years at already—have not yet been decided, and the decision-makers need to hear from you before those decisions are made! The best way to do this is to add comments at the end of the survey, which I will once again link through the button below. Fill it out!
Renaming
Another HOT TOPIC discussed at the meeting on Tuesday night was the ongoing elementary schools renaming project. For something like the latest information on this process for all of our local schools, click here.
In short, frustration abounds about this whole renaming thing. One of the primary concerns raised on Tuesday is that it seems like different rules have been applied to different schools over the past few years—Jackson-Via appears to be on the verge of keeping their name, after all, while Johnson is going to be changed, despite past claims that all the schools would be stripped of their historical namesakes. If keeping Johnson was a possibility all along, would more people have voiced that preference over “Cherry Avenue?” Also, the cost of rebranding is certainly not nothing, and whatever funds are being spent on this process are funds not being spent in the classroom. And given the renaming committee’s rejection of Cherry Avenue in favor of four less-favored options, have all the requests for public input been mere lip-service intended to placate, with the decision made regardless of our input?
The final meeting of the school renaming committee is this coming Tuesday, November 19. The committee will then present their recommendation to the School Board on Thursday, December 5, which will make the final decision. The committee is leaning heavily towards Tall Oaks Elementary School, but the decision is not yet final.
You’ll notice, perhaps, that the acronym for Tall Oaks Elementary School would be TOES. Opinions, um, diverge, shall we say, on the appeal and suitability of TOES as shorthand for our school. Exhibiting tremendous personal restraint, I will not give in to the invitation for extended metaphor, no matter how ripe (and occasionally rank) the oppor-toe-nity, keeping my sole focus on the sensitive issue at…hand.
That said, only a heel would side-step this question entirely, as the long arch of the moral universe bends toe-ward—sorry! Sorry.
It is not too late to tell the renaming committee what you think about Tall Oaks as a replacement name for Johnson Elementary. At the meeting on Tuesday, it was suggested that a quick survey via this newsletter might be useful in sorting out general sentiment about this issue, and that the PTO could then pass on that sentiment to the renaming committee ahead of their final meeting next week. To wit:
The results of this informal poll will be shared with the renaming committee. If you feel strongly about the renaming situation one way or another, I encourage you to email schoolnames@charlottesvilleschools.org with your thoughts. I will also be happy to pass along to the renaming committee any relevant comments about the name made on this post or emailed to ptojohnson@gmail.com before Tuesday. Thanks!
Other Business
Fourth Grade Sneaker Ball
We’re looking for some fourth grade parents to help us plan and decorate and perhaps chaperone the (now) Annual Sneaker Ball, set for Friday, January 31. We’ll have music and dancing and food and other activities, but we need your help to make it an exciting and fun night for the kids. Just send us a message that you’d like to help, and we’ll be in touch as we get closer to the event about what needs doing. Thanks!
Sunshine Committee Monthly Lead
We are still looking for folks to volunteer to take on Sunshine Committee duties for the last four months of the school year, January through April. The PTO will very much help make your idea happen, we just need a point person for each month. Jill McKinley is planning a Baked Potato Bar for this month, and Julie Basic is taking charge of a Hot Chocolate Bar in December. More ideas are welcome, and they don’t have to be bars! Click below to sign up.
Virginia529 College Savings Plans
Virginia529 gave an informative presentation about college savings plans at the Tuesday meeting. The main takeaway is that it’s never too late, nor too early, to start saving for your children’s future education costs, and that you can get started with as little as ten dollars. You can download their presentation below, or click their name above, for more information.
Hi -- the rezoning survey link didn't work for me. Can you please confirm that it is correct? thank you!