Three Fort Mill schools have new names and mascots. One should sound familiar to many
Red Foxes, Cubs and Dolphins will join the growing list of Fort Mill school mascots.
The Fort Mill School District unveiled names of three new facilities on Tuesday night. The connected elementary and middle schools under construction on Gold Hill Road will be Flint Hill Middle School and Flint Hill Elementary School. A new early childhood learning center will become the George Fish Early Childhood Center.
All three names came after the Fort Mill History Museum presented information on the areas surrounding the schools to the district, which then sent out suggestions for public feedback.
Each of the new names has deep roots in Fort Mill education.
The George Fish School was Fort Mill’s segregation-era school for Black students. It was on Steele Street in the Paradise community. Students attended from 1926 to 1968.
The school is gone but its memory endures for alumni.
A new historical marker and public gatherings the past two years celebrated the bygone school. It was named for former Springs Cotton Mills superintendent George Fish, who was integral in getting the school built.
“A couple of years ago we honored this school, and the community’s anchor was George Fish School,” said Assistant Superintendent Grey Young, who presented the new school names Tuesday night.
A $204 million bond referendum passed by district voters this year includes money for a new early childhood education center not far from the former school. It will be near the Fort Mill YMCA at the Complex, between Springfield Parkway and Paradise.
Along with the name, the early childhood education center that will provide pre-kindergarten instruction also borrows the Dolphin mascot from the prior George Fish. It will have the same blue and gold colors, incorporated at the original George Fish due to hand-me-down items like band uniforms the school once received from Fort Mill High School.
Flint Hill honored with school names
The Flint Hill connection goes back even further than George Fish.
Flint Hill Baptist Church dates back to the 18th century. In 1915, a small schoolhouse went up beside the church. It’s still there, and used for small gatherings. There’s also a Flint Hill fire station that’s been there more than 50 years.
Flint Hill resonated with survey responders, Young said. “This was the overwhelming choice for both the elementary and the middle school,” he said.
Red Foxes, the middle school mascot, were introduced to the area in the late 1600s, according to history museum information. The middle school will have red, black and white as its colors. It’s the first middle school in the district with red and black.
“We have a lot of blue,” Young said of the six schools now.
Flint Hill Elementary will have a warmer shade of red, and silver. Its mascot will be the Cub, something that grows into a Red Fox.
The new elementary school is funded by impact fees in the district. The middle school approved as part of the March bond referendum should open in 2026. Planning is ongoing for the early childhood center.
This story was originally published May 22, 2024 at 11:54 AM.
