One of the first things visitors to Nava Elementary see is a lighted display case with a picture of Francis Xavier Nava.

The school's namesake was the first Santa Fean killed in the Vietnam War. And for many years since the school was built, Nava and his living relatives have been honored during a Veteran's Day celebration.

While some might not pay much attention to how the school got its name, Principal Anita Cisneros says Nava's picture in the lobby reminds students of their school's history.

Whether Santa Fe's newest public school, planned in the Rancho Viejo subdivision south of town, will be named for a local person of note is up to the Santa Fe school board, which has formed a committee to begin weighing 30 nominations submitted by the public.

One concern for the group, which met for this first time this week, is whether school communities acknowledge their namesakes or even know who they were.

Margo Shirley spent seven years as principal at Ortiz Middle School, which was named after Edward A. Ortiz, a longtime educator and superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools.

When she first arrived at Ortiz, Shirley said, students learned about Edward Ortiz, and his wife even came to speak to students.

Because Ortiz was principal at B.F. Young Junior High School when Shirley was a student and because she worked for him when he was superintendent, she said she was honored to work at the school.

But after a while, focusing on his story and the school's history wasn't always a priority, she said. "As time went on," she said, "I really don't know how many of our students knew who this individual was."

For Laura Castille and her students at César Chávez Elementary, celebrating their namesake is a yearly event.

"We always celebrate César Chávez's birthday," Castille said. "The cafeteria makes a birthday cake. In the classrooms, children do research and do biographies. Usually the fifth-graders do a play about his life."

Castille said the school also includes information about Chávez in pamphlets distributed to parents. "It's important to find ways that parents and children know why our school is named for him," Castille said.

Celebrating a national figure might prove a little easier than, say, a past school board member. Take Armando Larragoite, the school board's president when the district was opening a new school in the 1940s. The school on Agua Fría Street was named after him.

Sixty years later, Principal Ellen Perez admits, not much attention is given to Larragoite or why the school was named after him.

Overall, about half of the schools in the district are named after people. Some schools focus more on their namesakes than others.

The naming committee Wednesday narrowed its list of choices to nine names. Denise Johnston, associate superintendent and co-chairwoman of the committee, said each of the names will now be more closely researched to verify information in the nominations and find out more about the names.

The committee is scheduled to meet again at 4 p.m. this Wednesday at district headquarters.

The new elementary school, which will be built on 14.5 acres about a half mile from the Santa Fe Community College campus, is scheduled to open in August 2010. The first phase is designed to accommodate 624 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Eventually a pre-school or a seventh-to-eighth grade academy might be added to the site.

Contact John Sena at 986-3079 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.



Name search

Names under consideration for a new school scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 in the Rancho Viejo subdivision:

Amy Biehl

Ann Nolan Clark

Concha Ortiz y Pino de Kleven

John V. Conway

Ernest Thompson Seton

Pedro de Peralta

Pedro Ribera Ortega

Rancho Viejo

Sunset