Licking Heights unveils new names of elementary, intermediate schools

Special to Pataskala Standard
·2 min read

The Licking Heights Local Schools Board of Education has officially approved new school names for South Elementary, West Elementary, Central Intermediate, the new elementary school, and Central Preschool. This is the result of a yearlong district rebranding process, which started in August 2023.

The district worked with Columbus-based agency Cult Marketing, who also worked with Olentangy Schools for their district rebranding in 2019. Heights’ renaming project included over 50 different personal interviews with teachers, support staff, current students, alumni, lifelong district residents, families new to the district, administrators, booster organizations, and more.

The district’s goal was to balance a more progressive and symbolic approach to school naming with honoring Heights history and paying homage to students, staff and community members who came before.

"We appreciate every second of our community’s time that went into our renaming process. The feedback of our interviewees has directly informed our names," said Superintendent Kevin Miller. "It was of utmost importance that we incorporated the voice of our community into this process. We wanted our new names to accurately encompass the views and desires of those we represent."

Renaming the schools from their current directional names was a goal for the Board of Education during the 2023-2024 school year. Board members voted to start the process with Cult Marketing during the summer of 2023.

"We call ourselves Licking Heights, and it is a name in which we have always taken pride. Heights means something to us — we stand above the rest as an exemplary school district, striving for the highest level of achievement and opportunity for our students," said Board of Education President Tiffany Blumhorst. "This idea and mindset of excellence largely informed our decisions for new school names."

Following are the new names approved April 16 by the Board of Education:

  • Central Preschool will become Pathfinders Preschool

  • South Elementary will become Broad Peak Elementary

  • West Elementary will become Everest Elementary

  • New school will be named Lima Ridge Elementary

  • Central Intermediate will be Summit Station Intermediate

Licking Heights Middle School and Licking Heights High School will keep the same names.

The district will still be known as Licking Heights, and the athletic mascot will remain the Hornet.

The new school names will become official on July 1. In the meantime, the district will begin informally referring to schools with the new names to acclimate students, staff and community members to the change.

Information submitted by Licking Heights Local Schools.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking Heights unveils new names of elementary, intermediate schools