Following discussion in the May 2024 board meeting, the Chesterfield County School Board has brought forward three new name suggestions for the west area middle school and is seeking public feedback on these options. Complete this form and press submit through Aug. 28 to provide input on these potential names: Freedom Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Lincoln Middle School.
Additional information
School Board Policy 6160 states that the School Board has the authority to name school facilities. The names of most Chesterfield County schools that have opened in the past 20 years have geographic connections but not specific neighborhood names.
The west area middle school is being built on Westerleigh Parkway in the Matoaca District, and it is scheduled to open in August 2025. Students are expected to come primarily from neighborhoods currently zoned for Tomahawk Creek Middle.
Potential names for the new middle school were solicited from the public Feb. 14-28, and nearly 500 suggestions were submitted. Based on the recent practice of involving the impacted school communities in the naming process, PTA leaders at Tomahawk Creek Middle reviewed the submitted names and forwarded three to the School Board for review: Otterdale Middle School, Otterdale Branch Middle School, Otterdale Grove Middle School.
Research into those potential names revealed connections to Otterdale Farm where Col. Woodson Wingfield Hancock built a home in 1834. Enslaved people worked the 560 acres of Otterdale Farm, growing tobacco and other crops until after the Civil War.
The Chesterfield County School Board is now bringing forward three new name suggestions: Freedom Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Lincoln Middle School.