Rochester Public Schools says 'Bye Bye Bye' to the RPS Online name

Jordan Shearer, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·3 min read

Apr. 10—ROCHESTER — During an otherwise formal meeting of the Rochester School Board on Tuesday, the familiar sound of a 90s-era synthesizer started building in the room, seemingly out of nowhere.

But by the time everyone realized they were about to hear the famous words "Bye Bye Bye" belt out of the speaker, Superintendent Kent Pekel thought twice about his idea of becoming an impromptu DJ.

"Sorry," Pekel said, killing the music that had started playing from his laptop. "I won't do it."

Although there's hardly ever a bad time to jam out to the beloved boy band, Pekel's jukebox selection didn't come out of nowhere. Rather, the school board was on the verge of approving the new name for the district's online school. RPS Online will soon become MNSync Online.

And — well — the jokes became too hard to resist.

"The millennial in me laughed when I saw that," School Board member Jess Garcia said after the name was officially announced.

In spite of its punnable nature, the online school's Principal Brandon Macrafic explained there was a lot of logic to the selection. To start with, he said it emphasizes the synchronous nature of the online school and sets it apart from other online schools that may not have that feature.

"It's a good brand; it's distinctive," School Board member Justin Cook said. "I hope actually it's not something that creates allusions to pop stars, but leans into the synchronous offering and how that's a distinctive feature of our unique capabilities in Rochester."

The new name, born out of an eight-person steering committee, which established a list of preliminary school names and descriptors for consideration, also gives the school a broader appeal to potential students outside the immediate Rochester area.

The committee consisted of an elementary and secondary teacher, an Education Support Professional (ESP), the school PTA president and secretary, two students on the student council, and a member from the RPS Communications department. The committee gathered stakeholder feedback from the school community on the preliminary names, including rankings and opinions, both positive and constructive. By March 2024, a consensus was reached on a final school name recommendation, and MNSync Online was the favorite.

Now in its third year of operation, the school's former name was RPS Online. In spite of the name change, the district will maintain its mascot of being "the Chargers."

"We know better now about who we are and what we aim to provide to our students and families," Macrafic said. "We believe that process of achieving our goal of becoming the best online learning community in the state begins with a new name."

Sadly, the school district decided to lean into the association with the boy band only so far during the meeting. Had the district delayed the announcement just a few weeks longer, the superintendent-turned-DJ could have queued up another hit song to accompany the situation.

"It's gonna be maaay."