Glendale Unified may ponder name change for College View School
Glendale school officials will soon begin gauging if there is any interest to change the name of College View School to better reflect its mission as crews prepare to demolish the school and build a new one in its place, starting next month.
Glendale Unified held a ground-breaking ceremony for the new school this week, two days after College View’s PTA president — Amy Keating Rogers — approached the school board to request that district officials look into renaming the school.
College View serves about 80 severely-disabled students, including Rogers’ son.
In her appeal to the board, she said the school’s name often leads it to be mistaken as a college-preparatory school.
“Just, as a parent of a child going to College View, knowing that my child is not going to attend college, and we just have a view of a college, it’s kind of a bummer of a name,” she said.
Glendale Unified Supt. Dick Sheehan said district officials will survey parents and College View employees to find out their interest in changing the name.
Then a committee may be formed to come up with possible name options.
“I think the school needs to be representative of what we do,” said College View Principal Jay Schwartz said. “I don’t know if there’s a perfect name. I don’t have a thought as to what it should be.”
College View School opened at its current site in 1977 across the street from Glendale Community College to serve students with special needs. Back then, it was called Glendale Development Center for the Handicapped before its name changed to College View School in 1984, according to district archives.
Prior to opening its doors at 1700 E. Mountain St., the school began operating in 1970 adjacent to Columbus Elementary and was called Home School.
Next month, crews will demolish the campus on Mountain Street and spend up to two years constructing a new two-story school equipped with an indoor pool, therapy gym, multipurpose room and classrooms.
The $24.3 million project was among the first that district officials approved following passage of the $270-million Measure S bond in April 2011.
School board member Mary Boger expressed her interest in joining the committee to review the possible name change, saying that she sees Glendale schools as each having their own personality and supports giving each campus “as much leeway as possible,” she said.
“Anyone can respect having a school name that reflects the uniqueness of their children,” she said.
For Rogers, she said she does not know whether the name should focus on an inspirational theme, a prominent figure in the special-education community or something else altogether.
For now, she is intent on gathering input from fellow parents and educators and collaborating on new ideas.
“With the school changing... why not have a different name?” she asked.
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Follow Kelly Corrigan on Twitter: @kellymcorrigan.
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