New Elementary School: Naming Update

We’d like to thank our Urbandale students, staff, families and community members for participating in the second and final survey for the selection of a name for the first new elementary school that will open fall 2021-22. The survey was open from October 24 – November 7. The results were shared with our Naming Committee during the final Committee meeting on November 13. To follow are the highlights of those results as well as next steps in the process. 

Final Naming Survey & Naming Committee Highlights

• A total of 2,222 responses were included in the consideration set (note: 115 responses were removed due to not meeting the criteria, duplicate entries, or incomplete entries).
• The name that received the highest number of responses was Millard A. Olmsted Elementary with 1,157 (52.1%); thus, Olmsted Elementary will be the name of the new school included in the recommendation from Superintendent Bass to the School Board.
• As Jensen Elementary will eventually lose its namesake when the building closes, the Naming Committee chose to honor the Jensen name in the new school by naming the commons/cafeteria and courtyard area for Isabell Jensen.
• We will also honor the two survey name finalists in the new school by displaying artwork and a tribute in honor of Justin S. Martin and Peggy A. Whitson. 
• To learn more specifics about these highlights, please review this presentation that was discussed during our final Naming Committee meeting on November 13. 

Next Steps
Superintendent Bass will bring the recommendation of the Naming Committee to the School Board for consideration during the Board Meeting on December 9, 2019. If/when the School Board approves the recommendation, we will make an official announcement about the name of the new school. 

Thank you to everyone who has taken time to participate in this process for naming our first new elementary school.