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Committee Releases Possible Names for "West City" Elementary

Posted February 3, 2015

A 15-person committee met a number of times since November 2014 to produce a list of final recommended names for the new "West City" elementary school, scheduled to open for the 2016-2017 school year. The recommendations were submitted for discussion to the Washington County Board of Education at its February 3 business meeting. The “West City” Elementary Naming Committee put forth the following names for consideration. These are not in any particular voting order, as the committee’s preference was not to rank the names.  However, the hierarchy of the names represents an order that it is consistent with the majority of committee members’ views during the discussions:

  • Hager’s Crossing Elementary - Though identically named for the housing community that surrounds the school site, the committee believed that this name is historically significant, noting that the land upon which the school sits has a direct connection to Jonathan Hager, the founder of Hagerstown.
  • Jonathan Hager Elementary - As the founder of Hagerstown, the committee believed that a school named for Jonathan Hager was historically appropriate and significant. To date, no public school in Washington County has been directly named for Hager.
  • Founder’s Elementary - Similar to the reasoning for naming the school after Jonathan Hager, Founder’s Elementary was chosen as an option that would not only pay tribute to Hager’s accomplishments, but would also recognize the historical significance of every Washington County community’s founding.
  • Crossroads Elementary - Washington County is home to many notable crossroads, and is often referred to as the “crossroads of the Civil War.” Beyond the Civil War history, the commerce crossroads of Interstates 81 and 70, the many historical crossroads that link Washington County with Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the crossroads at Interstate 81 and Route 40, which mark the location of the land where the school will sit, all represent historical significance to the county and to the school site.   
  • Springhouse Elementary - Paying tribute to Washington County’s agricultural history, and as an effort to recognize the contributions of landowners on and near this site over many decades, the committee suggests this name because of the springhouse that still stands near the school site. Though no historical records revealed anything notable about the site, it is a fact that the springhouse was used by generations of farmers