Meridian High Picked To Replace George Mason HS In Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The Falls Church City School Board voted Tuesday to change the name of George Mason High School to Meridian High School and Thomas Jefferson Elementary to Oak Street Elementary.

The board members said they supported changing the name to Meridian High School because the city of Falls Church is on the original 1791 meridian delineating the line between Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

The school board also said the word “meridian” recognizes the school’s long history of educating global citizens through the International Baccalaureate Programme.

The board selected Oak Street Elementary because it is the school’s original name, evokes a sense of place and recognizes how trees are essential natural elements of Falls Church.

The new names will be effective July 1.

RELATED: Finalists Picked To Replace George Mason HS, TJ Elementary School

The decision follows a 10-month decision-making process. The first stage of the process was a six-month reconsideration of the schools' names based on the school division's policies on equity and inclusion. The two schools, under their current names, honor Founding Fathers who owned enslaved people.

Last December, the Falls Church City School Board voted unanimously to change both names and designated Superintendent Peter Noonan to form two advisory study committees to recommend five names for each school.

The committees included community members, staff, alumni and students.

On Tuesday, the board unanimously selected Oak Street Elementary. The finalists for the new name of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School were Mattie Gundry Elementary School, Oak Street Elementary School, The Little City Elementary School, Tripps Run Elementary School, and Truth and Justice Elementary School.

The final candidates for the new name of George Mason High School were Tinner Hill High School, Meridian High School, Metropolitan High School, Metro View High School and West End High School.

The board members voted 5-2 to change the name of George Mason High School to Meridian High School. Board members Edwin B. Henderson II and Philip Reitinger voted against changing the name to Meridian High School.

During Tuesday's discussion, Henderson, who supported picking Tinner Hill High School as the new name, said he received an email from a resident who also supported the Tinner Hill name.

The person wrote that Tinner Hill would pay tribute to people who stood up to segregation in Falls Church and the surrounding area, Henderson said. And changing the name to Tinner Hill would be in line with the reason that motivated the decision to change the name of the school away from someone who owned enslaved people.

The Tinner Hill area of Falls Church has been recognized as being the location where the first rural branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the United States.

"The Tinner and Henderson families were instrumental in shaping the Falls Church City we know today, including their efforts to desegregate our schools," the selection committee said in its justification for including Tinner Hill High School as one of the five finalists. "They represent the type of forward-thinking civic involvement we hope our students will emulate. Tinner Hill High School will combine city history and diversity."

Board member Philip Reitinger, who preferred the name West Falls Church High School, said he was opposed to naming the school Tinner Hill because the school is not located in the Tinner Hill area of Falls Church. He also said he thought Meridian sounded too generic.

Elisabeth Snyder, the student representative on the school board, said the top two choices among students and staff at George Mason High School were Meridian and a derivative of West Falls Church.