Work is well underway on the new Yellowknife Education District No. 1 school, which will be located at 51A Avenue, the site of the former J.H. Sissons School.
As part of the work, the board of trustees will select a new name for the educational facility.
“The responsibility for finding a name for a school — for naming all schools — rests with the elected trustees,” said Graham Arts, principal and chair of the naming committee.
A committee of Yellowknife residents and school staff will create a short-list of recommended names from community members and that list will be forwarded to the trustees for review.
The deadline for the short-list of names is the end of November. This will allow the trustees to “consider the recommendations and then make a final determination about the name of the new school,” Arts said.
Unsolicited names being sent by email are being kept on file for consideration, he added.
Arts noted that the new moniker should be something “that is reflective of our community values.”
“Without wanting to take away too much from the committee and their work or their discussions, and to leave them enough room to have full discussions about suggestions, it’s safe to say that our community values are for inclusion for anyone, regardless of their background, and also for a respect for diversity.”
The former school was named in honour of John “Jack” Howard Sissons, who was appointed as the first judge of the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories.