School Naming Update: Ruth Acty Elementary School
December 1, 2020
Dear Community,
We are fortunate that we have so many inspiring school names to choose from, as it turns out we have to “press pause” on our earlier announcement about moving forward with the name “Muwekma Ohlone” for our school, and we will instead be moving forward with another wonderful name, “Ruth Acty Elementary School.”
Here is a brief summary of the change in the recommendation, as well as an update on the date of the Board meeting for renaming.
Board Meeting December 9
The Board has changed its December meeting schedule, due to a technicality as to when new Board members can take their seats, so the Board renaming presentation and vote has been moved from December 2nd to December 9. The full naming recommendation write-up will be published along with the Board Agenda by the end of this week, and will be shared with our school community.
Why not Muwekma Ohlone?
Further consultation with tribal representatives over the past week revealed that there are some differences of opinion on the use of the name 'Muwekma' and/or ‘Ohlone,’ and more time and process is needed to think this through. Superintendent Brent Stephens has also asked that the District “press pause” in order to engage in a more comprehensive review and discussion of how indigenous history and presence is represented in our District curriculum, so that renaming of a school or other facility with an indigenous name is accompanied by a district-wide, ongoing commitment to thoughtful engagement with the people whose name would be made a part of our schools. This could be part of the Washington renaming process, or could be revisited at another appropriate time in the near future.
Celebrating Ruth Acty on Acton Street!
Meanwhile, our school is fortunate to have many great names to choose from, including one name in particular with very high support across students, staff and families, and that is to celebrate Ruth Acty, the trail-blazing educator who was the first teacher of color in the Berkeley Public Schools.
You may wish to share the story of Ruth Acty again with your students - the slideshow about her now has a few updates about her history, and you may also want to read these articles provided by the Berkeley Historical Society for additional insights about her.
The board document, to be published by the end of this week, will in addition to telling the story of Ruth Acty, also make note of the ways that her story has powerful intersections with many of the other names and stories that were uplifted during the renaming discussions for our school. For example, her experience of teaching in the 1940’s while working in the shipyards during World War II, as well as a book she co-wrote called "Looking Back at Berkeley: A Pictorial History of a Diverse City" connect to the stories of Yoshiko Uchida and Betty Reid Soskin, who were also determined to tell the story of the war years in Berkeley from the perspective of Japanese-American and Black experiences.
Ruth Acty’s nearly 50 year career also spanned the period of school integration when Sylvia Mendez, Ruby Bridges and Kamala Harris were all part of the story. She continued to teach in the 1970’s, when Maya Angelou came to Berkeley, and she shared Angelou’s passion for the spoken word. Her perseverance despite roadblocks is echoed in Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s determination to forge ahead!
The Naming Advisory Committee is very happy to recommend that the school on Acton Street be given the name Ruth Acty Elementary, in honor of a trail-blazing woman of color, a dedicated educator who is an inspiring local hero.