Jefferson Elementary School could be renamed after the first Black teacher at Berkeley Unified
Ruth Acty taught in Berkeley Unified School District for 50 years, and was a key part of efforts to integrate school staff in the early 1940s.
LeConte Elementary School
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LeConte Elementary renamed for Sylvia Mendez, desegregation pioneer
The Berkeley School Board voted unanimously Wednesday to rename the school.
Will Berkeley elementary school be renamed for a civil-rights pioneer?
The School Board could vote as soon as Wednesday to replace LeConte with “Sylvia Mendez” — or something else.
Recent stories
Seven options on shortlist for LeConte Elementary’s new name
Suggestions for LeConte’s new name include civil-rights icons, Berkeley school figures and a Spanish word. You can vote for your favorite on an unofficial Berkeleyside reader poll!
Use of weighted vest at Berkeley school raises questions about parental consent
A parent says his kid was punished with a weighted vest. BUSD says it’s a therapeutic tool. How much permission is needed when schools want to address what they see as kids’ needs?
Berkeley school drops name of ‘outspoken white supremacist’
A descendant of Joseph LeConte’s slaves said she was “sick to her stomach” to see schools named after the conservationist.
Name of Berkeley’s LeConte Elementary School is on the chopping block
Parents and district staffers say conservationist Joseph LeConte, who preached the “evolutionary” benefits of slavery, is not an appropriate namesake for a school.
A cow and a calf join school’s morning assembly
The California Dairy Council’s Mobile Dairy Classroom program visited Berkeley’s LeConte Elementary School last week.
