Shortened versions of a name: "Easy to remember and easy to spell," also reflects simple and short, "to the point," and easy to say. But we also need to consider what the shortened version of our complete name might be. If we don't supply one, our public will! A shortened version, whether it's an acronym, initials or one word of the name needs to be crisp, like SOTA, and free of any negative spin. Both our complete name and our shortened version need to "roll of the tongue." A name with a ring is easily remembered. One application: As much as I love the idea of using the concept of discovery in our name, using "school" and "discovery" together might be an awkward alliteration? And .. DS or SOD could easily reflect negative connotations - darn! If our name starts with Rochester, we need to be careful that our initials don't sound - or look - too much like RCSD. Also, consider if using "Rochester" or "Monroe" creates an acronym or initials that are strikingly similar to others already prominent. Other thoughts and musings: In the spirit of brainstorming, we've uncovered some powerful words - - some emotion laden, some that could come across as pretentious or condescending, and some that could be used to belittle attending students. To convey our "vision" and "message" in a way that is solid and specific, we need to avoid reflecting too contemporary a spin. Also, catchy is good, but we don't want to sound cute. Keeping with the city schools' association with the names of distinguished people could be a good idea. Using a name like School of Experiential Education (which has a flow and an easy acronym with a message - SEE ), or Community School, or Regional School could be attached to ANY historical name - John Dewey, Susan B. Anthony, etc. or contemporary - Cala, Obama.... I strongly agree with comments in emails below: - careful not to choose a name that makes the school sound too different - ... it needs to have a name that is strong and simple - school will serve K-12 (most teens & preteens don't want to attend a school with "child" in the title) - check out the initials .. for an unfortunate word Nancy Stanton MUuter In a message dated 4/8/2009 11:26:16 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, jwerner3@xxxxxxxxxxx writes: Good thoughts. Just another thought on naming...I think we should be careful not to choose a name that makes the school sound too different. In order for the general public or skeptics to consider embracing the school it needs to have a name that is strong and simple. I think if there is too much focus on the freedom students will have some may perceive that as a weakness or loss of control. I just think we should be careful to not turn people off before they are ever turned on. Jenny Murphy ____________________________________ Date: Wed, 8 Apr 2009 10:28:59 -0400 Subject: [regional_school] Re: Naming of our School From: snimeh@xxxxxxxxx To: regional_school@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Two more suggestions: 1. Remember the school will serve K-12. The name should not sound just like an elementary school, which would be off-putting to city teen-agers. Eighteen year olds need to be able to say the name with pride. 2. In the same vein, we should check out the initials of our choices. Many choices did so, but not all. Sometimes the initials make an unfortunate word. Sharon Nimeh ____________________________________ Rediscover Hotmail®: Get e-mail storage that grows with you. _Check it out._ (http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Storage1_042009) = **************Worried about job security? Check out the 5 safest jobs in a recession. (http://jobs.aol.com/gallery/growing-job-industries?ncid=emlcntuscare00000003)