Parents happy to send kids to new elementary, regardless of its name
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

ALBERT

The name Wharton Elementary School is generating less of a response among Hopper Elementary parents as the fact their children will be among the first students to attend class in the district's most modern building.

"I absolutely like the idea that my daughter is going to be going to the new school," Sonia Albert said. "Most of the

campuses in the district are getting older and there's so much new technology that those campuses weren't built to handle. I think it will be a better learning environment."

As for the name

Wharton Elementary, Albert had mixed emotions.

"I guess they could have been a little more creative with the name," she said. "But then we do live in Wharton and should be proud of the community." She did, however, approve of the idea of naming one wing of the building for Hopper and the other for Dawson.

Picking up her child Monday, Renee Franco said she preferred the

name selected as opposed to Sugar Mill Elementary as originally proposed by the district's administration.

FRANCO

"I hadn't heard about the new name being picked," she said. "But I like it better than 'Sugar Mill.' It just sounds a little disturbing to me."

She added she liked the idea students in the lower grades were going to be spending most of their classroom career in the new school.

As currently proposed, the pre-K through first grade students will attend the Sivells campus, grades two through five will be at the new campus with grades 6-7-8 attending the junior high school.

Esperanza Lopez was picking up her son and said she really wasn't overly concerned with the name of the school as much as she was excited about the possibilities of it being a more modern educational facility.

"I like that my son is going to be going to a new school that's designed for today," she said.

Sandra Laitkep was also more excited about her son learning in a more modern environment, but did say she felt the district could have been more creative in the naming. She didn't offer any suggestions.

While not having

school age children of his own, Ronald E. Kucera

LAITKEP

was picking up a grandson Monday and said he thought the new campus should be referred to as an "intermediate school" based on the grades that would be attending.

Maria Gonzalez offered the opinion that it was all good, from the name to being new.

"It's a good thing for the children and a good thing for the future of the community," she said.

GONZALEZ