Time to name 3 new schools in York County’s Clover School district. Have your say.
It’s time to name the next York County high school, color it and give it a mascot.
Two public surveys go live today within the Clover School District for the public to give feedback on three planned schools. The second district high school, a third middle school and eighth elementary school all need names, mascots and colors.
“We’re tired of calling them middle school three, elementary school eight and high school two,” District Superintendent Sheila Quinn said at Monday night’s board meeting. “We’re ready to really put a name on those.”
Quinn said the high school decision is important with a wide range of impacts, but it isn’t alone.
“We’re actually creating what I’m calling a playbook of all the big decisions that go into play, because it’s very rare — at least in South Carolina — to open three schools in the same year,” Quinn said.
That horizon year is 2026.
The district has a policy for naming schools.
One route is to pick a name based on location. Community, street and geographic areas fit. Think Clover middle or high schools, Oakridge elementary or middle schools.
Another option is natural setting. Crowders Creek Elementary School is right beside Crowders Creek on Lake Wylie.
Another route is less common, where schools or facilities can be named for a person. That namesake person can’t be alive. Kinard Elementary School is named for former, long-time superintendent Thomas Guy Kinard.
The policy isn’t always set in stone. Larne Elementary School, for instance, is named for Clover’s sister town in Northern Ireland.
Based on any of those categories, the district has plenty of options.
High school location
In 2010, the Clover district spent more than $6.8 million to acquire the 172-acre site north of Daimler Boulevard now eyed for the second district high school.
The high school location is in unincorporated York County. It’s in a somewhat nebulous area where children attend Clover schools but take their mail at York addresses. But there are 10 other public (including charter) high schools in York County and Clover already has a notable rivalry with one named York, so that location name likely wouldn’t be a popular one.
The high school site also is in an area that has come to be known in recent decades as Lake Wylie. Since the development of River Hills Plantation in the 1970s and transition of waterfront properties due to Duke Power leases to purchase parcels, massive growth has taken place. Lake Wylie got its own post office. There’s a Lake Wylie Chamber of Commerce and many other community spots that use the name.
The U.S. Census Bureau lists Lake Wylie as a census designated place. Or, an unincorporated area that’s “locally recognized and identified by name” with enough of a presence to keep statistical tabs on it. Yet the current boundaries of the more than 13,000-resident Lake Wylie census designated place actually run east of Hands Mill Highway.
The school could well end up inside that Lake Wylie listing before long.
Historically, the area where the new school will go is part of the Bethel Township. The name Bethel dates back centuries and still adorns churches, fire stations and other sites in the area. It appeared on every federal census count at least from 1870 to 1950. In 1870, Bethel had about as many people as Fort Mill at a time when Rock Hill and Clover didn’t yet appear on federal census documents.
There also are smaller scale geographical features in the area that include names like Allison Creek, Bigger’s Ferry, Concord, Flatrock, Liberty Hill Road and Mason’s Ford.
Other high school name options
Natural setting and names of past contributors to the area, not to mention the “other” category of options, are almost limitless.
The school district has a long-standing reputation as being among the best in South Carolina. Its own history is filled with past superintendents, educators, coaches and others who contributed. Then there are historical figures outside school settings who played a role in the area.
Some names mentioned Monday night at a school board presentation on the upcoming process hearken to past segregation-era schools for Black students, such as the McKnight School and Roosevelt High School. Another was American Revolution era patriot Col. William “Billy” Hill, and another Reconstruction era minister and civil rights leader Elias Hill.
Also mentioned were brothers Walker Gill and Robert H. Wylie, both integral in the formation of Lake Wylie for power generation.
What happens now?
The school district will distribute its survey starting Tuesday to its various stakeholder groups. Some community members will be invited to participate in focus groups. The survey will cover all three schools with open-ended questions for feedback on school names, mascots and colors.
The survey will run through the end of the month.
Focus groups will meet through the end of the year to evaluate public input. By mid-February 2024 a superintendent recommendation is expected, with the full school board expected to vote on a final decision later that month.
The public can take a look at the surveys and more information on the district website under the construction and then school naming tabs.
Board members talked Monday night about getting input from long-time, lifelong residents and current students alike. The district wants a wide range of input.
“Creating that identity, that’s one of those things that gets everybody excited,” said district public information officer Bryan Dillon.
Dillon mentioned names, mascots and color schemes for existing high schools in York County. Quinn thought a similar list for middle schools might be helpful too.
“A lot of times you’ll get into not wanting to duplicate or replicate any of those,” Dillon said of neighboring high schools. “This is just kind of a baseline bit of information.”
Part of the district-wide public input effort involves many students and families not yet knowing whether they’ll attend the new schools. New attendance lines haven’t yet been drawn. It’s just one of the critical steps toward what will be an eventful process culminating in three new schools.
“It’s going to be quite an undertaking in 2026,” Quinn said.
This story was originally published October 10, 2023 at 8:55 AM.
