By Donald Gilpin

The Princeton Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) was expected to choose a permanent name for the middle school at its June 15 Board meeting, which took place last night after press time.

The 10-month name-choosing process involved extensive research and discussions by students, community forums, and polls of middle school students, staff, and community members.

A petition to change the name from John Witherspoon, a slave owner and opponent of abolition, was presented to the BOE last August, at which time the name Princeton Unified Middle School was selected as a temporary name.

The leading choice for the school’s new name was Princeton Middle School, which was the most popular among students in student polls, and the second most popular for the middle school staff, which favored Princeton Community Middle School.

Other names on the short list included Princeton United Middle School, the Princeton Middle School, and Walnut Lane Middle School.

At the June 15 meeting the BOE was also expected to direct building administrators to honor the individuals whose names were in consideration for the renaming by using their names for hallways and other public spaces in the middle school building. Among the names likely to be honored were educator and former enslaved person Betsey Stockton and contemporary community historian Shirley Satterfield, as well as Paul Robeson, Michelle Obama, Albert Einstein, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Also as part of the renaming, an exhibition in the middle school Learning Commons that shows the history of education in Princeton has been proposed, to be created with the assistance of Satterfield and the Historical Society of Princeton. It was also anticipated that the BOE would allocate funds to renovate a small wall in front of the school with the new name inscribed.

The renaming effort became a significant educational project under the leadership of Jason Burr, the middle school principal. Ninth grade history students advocated for local and national figures as candidates for naming, and eighth grade civics students created short documentaries in support of candidates. Community forums celebrated the students’ work and considered the complicated legacy of John Witherspoon and the history of segregation in the Princeton schools and in the wider community.