HUNTINGTON BEACH : Suggestions Sought for Name of School

The Huntington Beach City School District is seeking suggestions for what to name an elementary school that will be built.

Supt. Duane Dishno said he will accept residents’ ideas for the new school name at least through the end of May. The Board of Trustees is expected in June to name the new school, to be built in the heart of the massive Holly-Seacliff development.

All of the district’s schools are named after former district officials or prominent community members. Including surplus sites, the schools bear the names of former teachers, board members, a superintendent and a bus driver, among others.

The new elementary school, however, need not continue that practice, board members told Dishno this week. “There are no guidelines whatsoever,” Dishno said. “Nothing is unacceptable.”

Dishno will forward all name suggestions to the school board.

The new elementary school will open in September, 1994, and ultimately will accommodate up to 600 students. It will be located at Garfield Avenue and Saddleback Lane, east of Edwards Street.

The school is being built with fees paid to the district by Seacliff Partners, a home-building branch of the Huntington Beach Co., which is the major developer of the Holly-Seacliff project. The development covers 780 acres and will include 4,410 new homes.

Construction on the school is expected to begin next year.

The Huntington Beach City School District has not opened a new school since it opened two sites in 1976. That year, it opened S.A. Moffett Elementary School, named after the superintendent at the time, and the Jack Clapp special education center, named after a former school board member.

Suggestions for the school name may be sent to Supt. Duane Dishno, Huntington Beach City School District, P.O. Box 71, Huntington Beach, Calif. 92648.