Timeline and Process

  • Launch Process and Public Outreach 

    • August 2018:
      • Outreach about Naming Process to staff and families in the Coolidge Corner School community, members of the Town Naming Committee, the Select Board, the Ad Hoc Task Force on School Names, the petitioners who created Warrant Article 20 to rename the school, and Devotion School alumni to get additional input on the process before it is finalized.  
    • September 1 - December 10, 2018:
      • Public Outreach about Naming Process.
      • Coolidge Corner School community works together to identify the characteristics that embody the school’s core values of "Work Hard, Be Kind, Help Others" and what they are looking for in a school name.
      • Creation and Organization of the Nominations Committee.

    Team Development Phase

    • December 5, 2018: Presentation by the Petitioners 2:30-3:45
      • In this presentation, the Petitioners will share with students the impetus behind the renaming, explain why this is important for the Town of Brookline, describe how the process has unfolded thus far, and explain the vision the Petitioners have looking forward. 
    • December 12, 2018; Team Building and Group Decision Making Processes
      • With the work that the group will do from January through April, it is essential to spend time building a team and providing clarity around group decision making processes. This work with be led by Jen Buller and Saeed Ola.
    • December 19, 2018; Hidden Brookline Walking Tour
      • With the insights and knowledge gained by meeting with the Petitioners on December 5, Student Nominating Committee members need an opportunity to understand the history of slavery in Brookline. It is this history along with the current renaming process, that students must hold as they are working to select the group of finalists to move forward to the School Committee.
    • January 9, 2019; Difficult Conversations
      • Our Senior Director for Equity and a group of our BHS MSAN Scholars will lead the Student Nominating Committee in a workshop on how to have difficult conversations. This will include role playing how to respond when responding to questions or comments they receive from fellow students or from members of the public.
    • January 16, 2019; Launch
      • This is powerful and deeply important work. Before students begin reviewing applications, we want to provide the opportunity to hear from a respected community leader about the importance of the student nominating committee's work,and hear thoughts from the speaker about this leadership opportunity for students.

    Reviewing and Narrowing of Name Submissions Phase
    • Weeks of January 21st - February 11th
      • The student nominations committee will review name submissions and come to 10 - 15 names by consensus
      • Once 10 - 15 names are chosen by the committee Jen, Saeed, Steve, and Kalise will research the viability for each name
    • Weeks of February 25th - March 4th
      • The student nominations committee will create researched “one pagers” for each of the 10 - 15 semi-finalists
      • Students will work in pairs to research and create the “one pager” for 1-2 semi finalist names
    Semi-Finalist Phase
    • Weeks of March 11th - April 1st
      • All applicants to the process will be re-engaged and invited to participate 
      • The student nominations committee will present their “one pagers” to this larger group and share their process of reaching the 10 - 15 semi-finalist names
      • Mini-committees of 4-5 students will be created to research and develop a presentation for each semi-finalist
      • Semi-finalist names will be shared with Annika Sarin-Dreyfus so she can create printed media for each name for the Renaming Night
    • April 10th
      • Practice for Renaming Night
      • Teachers will be invited to come to the multipurpose to view printed media and interface with the mini committees about each of the semi-finalists
      • Students on the mini-committees will use this time to practice for the larger community night 
    • April 11th
      • Renaming Night
      • The Brookline community at large will be invited to a celebration of our naming journey which will take place from 6:00 - 8:00p in the multipurpose room at Coolidge Corner School
      • This open event will be set up for families and community members to drop in, interact with each of the mini-committees to learn more about each of the semi-finalist and view the printed media created about each semi-finalist
      • Feedback from attendees of the event will be collected in the form of “voting” for preferred names

    Finalist Selection Phase
    • April 24th
      • The student nominations committee will reconvene, process feedback from the April 11th Renaming Night and come to consensus on 3-5 names to move forward to the School Committee