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The City School District of Albany Board of Education unanimously voted on Dec. 15 to change the name of Philip J. Schuyler Achievement Academy to Roots Academy at West Hill.

“Our students and our community have spoken, and we now have a name that truly represents us,” said Superintendent Kaweeda G. Adams.

Roots Academy at West Hill was selected in a survey of Schuyler current and former students and families, school and district staff and members of the West Hill community. It was the top vote-getter of three possible names considered (the other two were Peter Pryor School of Social Justice and C. Mary Williams Citizenship Academy).

The change came after months of work by a committee composed of Schuyler students and staff and representatives of community groups – the Young Abolitionists Leadership Institute of the Underground Railroad Education Center and Black Child Development Institute among them. The city historian also served on the committee.

The school’s namesake, Philip J. Schuyler, was a Revolutionary War general, former U.S. senator and a slaveholder. The school serves primarily African-American students, and their school’s new name will take effect July 1.

The name needed to align with the district’s school renaming policy, reflect the school’s mission and vision and consider the community the school serves, according to the district policy on school renaming.

Franz Gopaulsingh – now an Albany High School junior – was a member of the Young Abolitionist Leadership Group that served on the committee and came up with the idea for Roots Academy. In proposing the name, he suggested that the name expresses that the school:

• Provides a strong educational foundation that will be the springboard to success in all students endeavor to do when they leave the academy;
• Recognizes that the trunk of a tree won’t grow strong enough to support the branches if the roots are not healthy, nurtured and well-developed; and
• Human beings are complex. They are not one attribute, which is what gets promoted in the naming of statues and buildings.

“The process of renaming our school really empowered our students and gave our community a choice and voice. The result is a name that shows our school is rooted in our history, rooted in our culture and rooted in our community,” said Principal Kendra Chaires-Francis.