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César Chávez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto has a new name. Ravenswood City School District has renamed it Ravenswood Middle School.
The discussion to change the name began days after a New York Times investigation detailed allegations of sexual abuse against the late labor activist in March.
At its June 18 meeting, the school board unanimously agreed to the new name.
The district adopted Chávez’s name in 2019 when RCSD consolidated César Chávez Academy and Ravenswood Middle School onto one campus at 2450 Ralmar Ave. Due to the community’s concerns over the erasure of the activist’s legacy, the district decided to combine both schools names.
The most recent effort to rebrand the school involved months of community input, surveys, public meetings and student advisory sessions. Out of 170 survey responses, students represented the largest group, making up 62% of participants.
Ravenswood Middle School led by a wide margin, receiving 59 submissions. Other suggestions, which garnered only two to six entries included: no change; Lions, the school mascot; Dolores Huerta Middle School; East Palo Alto Middle School; and Apollonia Grey Uhilamoelangi, after the late community leader known as Mama Dee.
“Ravenswood” was a near-unanimous choice among adult respondents, according to a district presentation.
Survey results showed that the majority of community members wanted the school’s name to reflect state, national or global figures, cultural and historical respect, and serve as an inspiration for students.
During the board meeting, member Jenny Varghese Bloom said that when she asked her neighbor about what the school should be renamed, the neighbor said, “You should name it Ravenswood because you’re going to put Ravenswood on the map. Ravenswood needs to get out there.”
The cultural significance of the name Ravenswood goes back to 1849, when the area of East Palo Alto was known as Ravenswood, founded and named by Elijah Woods, according to a 1998 Los Angeles Times article. While Ravenswood serves as the city’s original name, it went through multiple monikers over the years, including Cooley’s Landing in 1868, Runnymede in 1916 and finally East Palo Alto in 1925.
District staff said that the name “Ravenswood” honors the legacy of East Palo Alto “without tying the school’s identity to a single individual whose legacy is now contested.”
Superintendent Gina Sudaria said district staff will be working through the logistics of changing the name throughout the month of July. Sudaria said the team hopes to make modifications as soon as possible and have them in place by the first day of school on Aug. 12.
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