Questions & Answers about the Rename Ramsey Campaign
Q: Why are you trying to rename Ramsey Middle School?
Our Middle School has been named after Alexander Ramsey for 85 years. When we opened in 1931, Minneapolis was still a young city and many schools, counties and other entities were being named after Alexander Ramsey, our first governor and more. A vast majority of schools in Minneapolis at that time were named after politicians, local and national. While Ramsey played an integral part in establishing our state, he lived during an era when settlement was done at the expense of the indigenous people on this land and racism against blacks and native people was commonplace. Our students learn the history of Minnesota in 6th grade and every year many of them question why our school would be named after a political figure who broke numerous treaties, called for the “extermination” of indigenous people and offered a $200 reward for their scalps. Our students engage in dialogue around the complexities of history and how the individuals we study can be both products of their era and responsible for their own actions. Many students leave these explorations of our local history with a deeper understanding of Minnesota’s layered stories, describing that Alexander Ramsey’s “development” came at the unfair expense of whole race of people.
Students at this age become very tuned in to a sense of justice and are beginning to carve out their morals and values. They seek heroes to emulate and many do not find inspiration in our current namesake. Values and priorities have changed. Our students have changed. Now the Minneapolis Public Schools’ population is 60% students of color. Every morning, we may welcome our students at our front doors and into our classrooms though the name on our shirts, above our doors and on their transcripts reminds them of stories of genocides, the Dakota hanging and an era when women, blacks and native people did not have equal rights.
When Ramsey began as a new Middle School five years ago, we talked about renaming the school then but it was too much to take on with all of new programming. Each year the students say that we should rename and we started the process with Principal Marietta back in the summer of 2014. When he was promoted to associate superintendent and we went through two more principal changes, the initiative was put on hold. This year our students came to our first Open House ready to start the campaign, passing out “Rename Ramsey” stickers they made at home to incoming students and staff. We knew that it was time to use their energy and passion to help this cause become a reality. ILT and Site Council voted unanimously to start the exploration last fall and since announcing our efforts to rename Ramsey, former teachers and students from a variety of eras have come out in support of the change. We believe that Alexander Ramsey had his time and are ready to find a new name to represent our exceptional school.
For student voices on renaming Ramsey go here: RenameRMS Instagram
Q: Have we been using class time to have name change conversations? Yes. There have been class sessions where all RMS students (and even incoming 5th grade students from feeder schools) have had opportunities to learn, dialogue and write about their opinions on our school name. Every year in 6th grade our students learn about Minnesota Studies in Social Studies classes as part of their state standards. This year as part of students’ research project, we had guest speakers from the Ramsey House, Minnesota Historical Society and the Dakota tribe meet with our students for roundtable discussions and interviews. The past two directors of the Ramsey House in St. Paul led discussion with all sixth graders. In addition, we had discussions led by Professor Darlene St. Clair, the director of Multicultural Center at St. Cloud State University.
All students in 6th/8th grade Social Studies and 7th grade ELA classes were asked to put forth a nomination for a name for our school over a two-day process. They could either suggest a new name or make an argument for keeping Alexander Ramsey. These nomination forms are here: Name Nomination Form. Additionally, we had one full week of Advisory lessons where we delivered each new name video and a criteria that Advisories discussed each day. That criteria form is here: Name Finalist Criteria
Students interested in leading this campaign meet every Monday during lunch to plan, dialogue and discuss strategy. Our Dare 2 Be Real Anti-Racist student leadership group also meets for an hour bi-weekly to learn how to be anti-racist allies and move this campaign forward.
Q: Who is handling the fundraising? How much will the renaming cost? AchieveMpls and MPS Finance Dept’s are our fiscal agents. They have an account set up just for the Rename Ramsey donations. The MPS Finance Dept also has an account for Rename Ramsey for grants we receive. The cost for the renaming is a base level of $4,000 to make the renaming possible but we are hoping to earn more money to buy a higher quality sign and spirit wear for all of our students. The costs spreadsheet is here: Rename Costs. We currently have four grants we have applied for (one we didn’t get, one we did and two we are waiting to hear back from still). Three fundraising events underway and are soliciting donations via our website Rename RMS Website.
Our current front sign looks like this:
Q: How did you choose the final 5 names?
We had a two-month window when we asked students, families and community members to put forward name nominations for our school. Name Nomination Form We sent out nominations forms to area churches, neighborhoods, feeder schools and other partnering organizations and received hundreds of submissions for our Jan 17th deadline. Then, we used a criteria Name Finalist Criteria to narrow down the names to a top 15 based on how they matched our Ramsey Mission Statement, the frequency of the nominated name and the priorities given by the students (local connection & inspiring). On January 27th, a panel of educators, staff, historians, students, parents and community members gathered to spend six hours researching, vetting and ranking the top 15 names. Five finalist names emerged from this process as our finalist names.
Q: Who are you partnering with?
These organizations, individuals, businesses are supporting and/or consulting for our campaign:
MPS Indian Ed
Phillips Indian Education
All Nations Program, SHS
George and the Dragon
Pepitos
Achieve Mpls
Michael Thomas, Chief of Schools
Dare 2 Be Real, WMEP
Governor Mark Dayton
Minnesota Historical Society
Ramsey House
Darlene St Clair
KMOJ Radio
Project Success
Division of Indian Work
Q: How are we gathering data?
We are taking the data from our website survey here and breaking it down by demographic group (parents, community members, incoming parents, MPS staff and students) to present to Site Council, Superintendent Ed Graff and the School Board. Additionally, we have data from two student surveys done in classes last fall and then again last week and one staff survey that asked “Should we rename Ramsey Middle School?”. We also have surveys from 6th grade Minnesota Studies classes around the importance of a school name and the priorities for new name ideas as well as similar survey data from feeder schools Lyndale and Burroughs. Throughout all of these surveys, keeping Ramsey Middle School has always been a choice. Below is an example of our most recent ballot when we presented new name ideas to students and staff. All this data will be presented to our Site Council.
Q: What does the data show so far?
This is a sample of some of our survey data. We will try to post more data around the surveys that asked what students want in a name (inspiration, local connection, someone to emulate), the importance of a name (does the name of a school matter?) For now, here is some information, organized by month surveyed.
NOVEMBER 2016:
ILT
STUDENT SURVEY:
STAFF SURVEY
STUDENT SURVEY
Q: Why not spend the money on something else?
We believe renaming Ramsey directly affects student achievement, empowers and gives voice to our students and provides the opportunity to participate in a meaningful dialogue about who and what inspires us. There are many priorities at Ramsey Middle School and making sure that welcoming each and every student is very high on the list. We cannot accept the fact that some students feel our school name represents a narrative that called them “unintelligent” and sought out their destruction. Renaming Ramsey will and does demonstrate a dedication to allyship and looking towards a future where we will not accept hate. The cost is nominal in the grand scheme of things and will have a lasting impact for decades to come.
Q: How will you choose the final names?
Our Site Council will review data from surveys and events as well as consider permissions from families of the names that are people (Justice Alan Page, Prince Rogers Nelson, Martha Ripley and Dorothy Vaughan). We have teams of staff as well as help from the Minnesota Historical Society working to gain permission to use these names. Site Council will have a meeting on March 7th where we will discuss to making an amendment asking that 1-3 of the top names be put forward to the Superintendent and School Board.
Our Middle School has been named after Alexander Ramsey for 85 years. When we opened in 1931, Minneapolis was still a young city and many schools, counties and other entities were being named after Alexander Ramsey, our first governor and more. A vast majority of schools in Minneapolis at that time were named after politicians, local and national. While Ramsey played an integral part in establishing our state, he lived during an era when settlement was done at the expense of the indigenous people on this land and racism against blacks and native people was commonplace. Our students learn the history of Minnesota in 6th grade and every year many of them question why our school would be named after a political figure who broke numerous treaties, called for the “extermination” of indigenous people and offered a $200 reward for their scalps. Our students engage in dialogue around the complexities of history and how the individuals we study can be both products of their era and responsible for their own actions. Many students leave these explorations of our local history with a deeper understanding of Minnesota’s layered stories, describing that Alexander Ramsey’s “development” came at the unfair expense of whole race of people.
Students at this age become very tuned in to a sense of justice and are beginning to carve out their morals and values. They seek heroes to emulate and many do not find inspiration in our current namesake. Values and priorities have changed. Our students have changed. Now the Minneapolis Public Schools’ population is 60% students of color. Every morning, we may welcome our students at our front doors and into our classrooms though the name on our shirts, above our doors and on their transcripts reminds them of stories of genocides, the Dakota hanging and an era when women, blacks and native people did not have equal rights.
When Ramsey began as a new Middle School five years ago, we talked about renaming the school then but it was too much to take on with all of new programming. Each year the students say that we should rename and we started the process with Principal Marietta back in the summer of 2014. When he was promoted to associate superintendent and we went through two more principal changes, the initiative was put on hold. This year our students came to our first Open House ready to start the campaign, passing out “Rename Ramsey” stickers they made at home to incoming students and staff. We knew that it was time to use their energy and passion to help this cause become a reality. ILT and Site Council voted unanimously to start the exploration last fall and since announcing our efforts to rename Ramsey, former teachers and students from a variety of eras have come out in support of the change. We believe that Alexander Ramsey had his time and are ready to find a new name to represent our exceptional school.
For student voices on renaming Ramsey go here: RenameRMS Instagram
Q: Have we been using class time to have name change conversations? Yes. There have been class sessions where all RMS students (and even incoming 5th grade students from feeder schools) have had opportunities to learn, dialogue and write about their opinions on our school name. Every year in 6th grade our students learn about Minnesota Studies in Social Studies classes as part of their state standards. This year as part of students’ research project, we had guest speakers from the Ramsey House, Minnesota Historical Society and the Dakota tribe meet with our students for roundtable discussions and interviews. The past two directors of the Ramsey House in St. Paul led discussion with all sixth graders. In addition, we had discussions led by Professor Darlene St. Clair, the director of Multicultural Center at St. Cloud State University.
All students in 6th/8th grade Social Studies and 7th grade ELA classes were asked to put forth a nomination for a name for our school over a two-day process. They could either suggest a new name or make an argument for keeping Alexander Ramsey. These nomination forms are here: Name Nomination Form. Additionally, we had one full week of Advisory lessons where we delivered each new name video and a criteria that Advisories discussed each day. That criteria form is here: Name Finalist Criteria
Students interested in leading this campaign meet every Monday during lunch to plan, dialogue and discuss strategy. Our Dare 2 Be Real Anti-Racist student leadership group also meets for an hour bi-weekly to learn how to be anti-racist allies and move this campaign forward.
Q: Who is handling the fundraising? How much will the renaming cost? AchieveMpls and MPS Finance Dept’s are our fiscal agents. They have an account set up just for the Rename Ramsey donations. The MPS Finance Dept also has an account for Rename Ramsey for grants we receive. The cost for the renaming is a base level of $4,000 to make the renaming possible but we are hoping to earn more money to buy a higher quality sign and spirit wear for all of our students. The costs spreadsheet is here: Rename Costs. We currently have four grants we have applied for (one we didn’t get, one we did and two we are waiting to hear back from still). Three fundraising events underway and are soliciting donations via our website Rename RMS Website.
Our current front sign looks like this:
Q: How did you choose the final 5 names?
We had a two-month window when we asked students, families and community members to put forward name nominations for our school. Name Nomination Form We sent out nominations forms to area churches, neighborhoods, feeder schools and other partnering organizations and received hundreds of submissions for our Jan 17th deadline. Then, we used a criteria Name Finalist Criteria to narrow down the names to a top 15 based on how they matched our Ramsey Mission Statement, the frequency of the nominated name and the priorities given by the students (local connection & inspiring). On January 27th, a panel of educators, staff, historians, students, parents and community members gathered to spend six hours researching, vetting and ranking the top 15 names. Five finalist names emerged from this process as our finalist names.
Q: Who are you partnering with?
These organizations, individuals, businesses are supporting and/or consulting for our campaign:
MPS Indian Ed
Phillips Indian Education
All Nations Program, SHS
George and the Dragon
Pepitos
Achieve Mpls
Michael Thomas, Chief of Schools
Dare 2 Be Real, WMEP
Governor Mark Dayton
Minnesota Historical Society
Ramsey House
Darlene St Clair
KMOJ Radio
Project Success
Division of Indian Work
Q: How are we gathering data?
We are taking the data from our website survey here and breaking it down by demographic group (parents, community members, incoming parents, MPS staff and students) to present to Site Council, Superintendent Ed Graff and the School Board. Additionally, we have data from two student surveys done in classes last fall and then again last week and one staff survey that asked “Should we rename Ramsey Middle School?”. We also have surveys from 6th grade Minnesota Studies classes around the importance of a school name and the priorities for new name ideas as well as similar survey data from feeder schools Lyndale and Burroughs. Throughout all of these surveys, keeping Ramsey Middle School has always been a choice. Below is an example of our most recent ballot when we presented new name ideas to students and staff. All this data will be presented to our Site Council.
Q: What does the data show so far?
This is a sample of some of our survey data. We will try to post more data around the surveys that asked what students want in a name (inspiration, local connection, someone to emulate), the importance of a name (does the name of a school matter?) For now, here is some information, organized by month surveyed.
NOVEMBER 2016:
ILT
- 100% ILT members vote to explore renaming
STUDENT SURVEY:
- 75% students favor renaming
- 15% Undecided
- 10% Against
- 100% Site Council members vote to continue to explore renaming
- 88% favor renaming
- 10% undecided
- 2% against
STAFF SURVEY
- 95% staff want to rename ramsey
STUDENT SURVEY
- 76% students prefer Vaughan over Ramsey
- 74% Bde Ota over Ramsey
- 86% Page over Ramsey
- 83% Prince over Ramsey
- 81% Ripley over Ramsey
- 5% students prefer Alexander Ramsey over ALL new names
- 0% prefer Ramsey over all new names,
- 98% prefer Dorothy Vaughan over Ramsey,
- 93% Bde over Ramsey
- 96% Page over Ramsey
- 89% prince over Ramsey
- 93% Ripley over Ramsey
- Lyndale and Burroughs students favored Prince and Justice Alan Page
- 85% RMS community favor renaming
- 9% against renaming
- 5% Other/Undecided
Q: Why not spend the money on something else?
We believe renaming Ramsey directly affects student achievement, empowers and gives voice to our students and provides the opportunity to participate in a meaningful dialogue about who and what inspires us. There are many priorities at Ramsey Middle School and making sure that welcoming each and every student is very high on the list. We cannot accept the fact that some students feel our school name represents a narrative that called them “unintelligent” and sought out their destruction. Renaming Ramsey will and does demonstrate a dedication to allyship and looking towards a future where we will not accept hate. The cost is nominal in the grand scheme of things and will have a lasting impact for decades to come.
Q: How will you choose the final names?
Our Site Council will review data from surveys and events as well as consider permissions from families of the names that are people (Justice Alan Page, Prince Rogers Nelson, Martha Ripley and Dorothy Vaughan). We have teams of staff as well as help from the Minnesota Historical Society working to gain permission to use these names. Site Council will have a meeting on March 7th where we will discuss to making an amendment asking that 1-3 of the top names be put forward to the Superintendent and School Board.