# Who was your school named after? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 6, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690 "2010-11-06T08:59:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/81 "2010-11-10T19:03:39Z")
My elementary school was named for two places it \*wished \*it was; Hollywood and The Riviera. Apparently whomever developed the area found its hills and ocean views reminiscent of the Mediterranean and even though it’s thirty-five miles south of Hollywood he thought he’d appropriate that name as well. I can only assume my middle school was named after Sir Isaac Newton. Not sure if we had an especially high amount of gravity or what. High school was named for the section of the city it served (good ol’ Wrong Side of the Tracks High). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/82 "2010-11-10T19:16:31Z")
Marcus Whitman Junior High, named after Oregon doctor and missionary Marcus Whitman. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/83 "2010-11-10T20:25:49Z")
Loyola High School, named after good ol’ St. Ignatius. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/84 "2010-11-10T20:27:25Z")
High School: Clayton, the city Middle School: Wydown, the street Grade School: Ralph M. Captain. I have no idea who he was, nor does the internet. All of the other grade schools in town were named after their streets. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/85 "2010-11-10T20:41:56Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Elwood P. Cubberley](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellwood_Patterson_Cubberley)High School-Palo Alto, Ca Which later merged with my high school, Henry M. Gunn (a school superintendent). My elementary school was named after educator [Lucille Nixon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucille_Nixon). This was annoying, because people kept assuming it was named after _Richard_ Nixon, but fun, because we always called it Lucy Nixon and used [Lucy Van Pelt](http://www.fastcharacters.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/famous-cartoon-character-lucy.jpg) as our symbol. My junior high school was named after [Lewis M. Terman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Terman), inventor of the Stanford-Binet IQ test. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/86 "2010-11-10T20:47:54Z")
K-6: [Joyce Kilmer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer), the most insipid poet to ever rise to fame. 7th: A former principal of that school, I think. 8th: I haven’t a goddamn clue, but given that I can’t think of a famous person with that name, probably an old principal or district superintendent or similar. 9-12th: \ West. Creativity was not a factor in naming the high schools. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/87 "2010-11-11T01:34:55Z")
I graduated from Sunset High School; it is located on the West side of Dallas. At the time it was built, it was located on THE west side of Dallas. I never even thought about the origin of the name although I suppose it is possible there was a Mr. / Mrs. / Ms Sunset of some note. My college was Texas Technological College; it was just named what it was. (It is now a University and all-----with the somewhat strange name of Texas Tech University.) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/88 "2010-11-11T02:59:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > K-3, I went to a school called Hicks Montessori, and don’t know who it was named after (and it looks like it’s closed now, so it’ll be harder to find out now). Could it have been _a_ [Montessori](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method) school? There are lots of them around but named indirectly after the originator of the method, Maria Montessori. My elementary school was named after the street it was on, Orangewood. That in turn might have been someone’s name but I’d bet it was some developer’s nomenclature. My first high school was Washington. I assume George. My second high school was La Habra. After the town it was in. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/89 "2010-11-11T04:37:57Z")
My high school, in Great Falls, MT, was named after a famous western artist who lived in the town, [Charles M Russell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Marion_Russell). We were the “Rustlers” and our logo was the [bison skull](http://www.utulsa.edu/~/media/Images/university-relations/News%20photos/bison_skull_web.ashx?w=200&h=286&as=1) that he used as a signature on his work. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/90 "2010-11-11T10:08:13Z")
> [@Sami41](#): > > Who were your schools named after? Junior High, Joseph [LeConte](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_LeConte). High School: not who, what. Hollywood. Hollywood High. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/91 "2010-11-11T13:14:18Z")
First through eighth grade, I attended Saint Anthony of Padua School in Baltimore. My high school, Loyola, was named for Saint Ignatius Loyola. The university I graduated from was named for Benjamin Franklin. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/92 "2010-11-11T16:18:33Z")
It’s a cool story, bro… my Jr High and High Schools were named after [a Wampanoag Indian chief](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacomet) who burned our town to the ground in the King Philip’s Wars of the 1670s. His name was Metacomet, but our school used his English name, King Philip. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/93 "2010-11-11T16:25:05Z")
I went to George C. Tilyou Junior High in Brooklyn. He [popularized Coney Island for the middle class.](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/coney/peopleevents/pande04.html) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/94 "2010-11-11T16:34:14Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > My high school, Loyola, was named for Saint Ignatius Loyola. _high-five_ ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/95 "2010-11-12T12:26:21Z")
My middle school was Apollo, built in 1970 named after the space program. The H.S. was named after a major milk producer in the area, McArthur. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/96 "2010-11-13T21:52:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Could it have been a Montessori school? There are lots of them around but named indirectly after the originator of the method, Maria Montessori. Yeah, I figured out that much (though there’s considerable variation in what’s considered the Montessori method), but I don’t know who Hicks was. ---
**Author:** ![darnold714](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@darnold714](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darnold714)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/97 "2012-06-20T15:10:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > K-3, I went to a school called Hicks Montessori, and don’t know who it was named after (and it looks like it’s closed now, so it’ll be harder to find out now). > > 4-5, I went to a school called Gordon, named after the farmer who had owned the land a century or so previously (there are various other things named after him in the vicinity, too). > > 6th grade, I went to the imaginatively-named “Cleveland School of Science”. > > 7th-8th, I was at a school named after Civil Rights activist [Whitney Young](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Young). > > 9th grade was a Catholic school, named after [St. Edward the Confessor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor) > > 10th-12th was also Catholic, [St. Benedict](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Nursia) > > Undergrad was [Thomas of Villanova](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_of_Villanova) > > And grad school is just named after the state. Coincidentally enough, My answers match yours for K - 5. I attended Hicks and Gordon as well. 7th - 8th Grade I attended [Patrick Henry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Henry) Intermediate named after the first governor of Virginia who popularized the phrase “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”. 9th, 11th & 12th Grade I attended John Hay High School named after [John Hay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hay), Civil War Veteran and the Secretary of State under Presidents McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. He is interred at Lake View Cemetery less than 2 miles away. His in-laws, the Stone family, were major benefactors of Western Reserve College (now part of Case Western Reserve University) which is right across the street from the high school. 10th Grade I attended the Garrett A. Morgan Cleveland School of Science (same School of Science – that year was the first year with a name). [Garrett A. Morgan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garrett_Morgan) was an inventor that lived most of his adult life in Cleveland. He invented the traffic light and the gas mask. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/98 "2012-06-20T16:22:08Z")
Elementary school: Jesus. (At least indirectly, as it was Southside Christian.) University: IUPUI, the “P” stands for Purdue, which was named after [John Purdue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Purdue). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/99 "2012-06-20T17:21:36Z")
Jeremiah Central and Zedekiah West. Or perhaps just the locations in the city. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690/100 "2012-06-20T18:23:03Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > K-6: [Joyce Kilmer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Kilmer), the most insipid poet to ever rise to fame. But the parodies that people have written using _Trees_ are so enjoyable! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-your-school-named-after/559690.md?page=6)