money Why overcomplicate? Community wanted to 'keep it simple' and name the new Neenah middle school, well, Neenah Middle School
NEENAH - There were surveys, hundreds of ideas and a community vote to determine the name for the new middle school in Neenah. In the end, simplicity won.
The new grades 5-8 school that will be housed in the old high school will be called Neenah Middle School starting fall of 2023.
The board of education approved the name at its Feb. 1 meeting, according to a news release from the Neenah Joint School District. In the community vote held last month, the name won a small majority, with a little less than 52% of the 1,900 votes cast.
"Our community came together with a lot of creative ideas for the name of our new middle school, but in the end, I think people wanted to keep it simple," Superintendent Mary Pfeiffer said in the release.
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From the nearly 200 name ideas suggested, Neenah Middle School and four others made the final ballot. Rocket Middle School finished second with 20% of the vote. Shattuck Academy received almost 11%, Riverside Middle School had around 10% and Memorial Middle School had almost 8%.
The new middle school is part of a community referendum that was approved in April 2020 and includes building a new high school. Moving fifth-graders to the middle school level will create additional space in elementary schools.
Renovations will be made to the existing high school starting in late May, in preparation for it to become the new middle school, the release said. They will continue through the next two summers.
New middle school staffing assignments should be determined by the end of the 2021-22 school year, the release said.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Neenah Joint School District to open Neenah Middle School in fall 2023
