Yellow Springs High School/McKinney Middle School as it appeared in late September 2021. (Drone photo by Bryan Cady)
School board considers new middle school name
- Published: September 25, 2025
At the most recent school board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11, Superintendent Terri Holden announced plans to recommend that the district change the official name of McKinney Middle School next month.
The proposed new name — Yellow Springs Middle and High School — would reflect what Holden called the “unified nature” of the East Enon Road campus, which currently houses students in grades 7–12 and, following the completion of campus upgrades underway, will house grades 5–12. The schools carry a single state identification number with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
“The official, formal name with ODEW is Yellow Springs High School/McKinney Middle School,” Holden told the board. “There is one single unique identifier — it’s called the IRN number; the middle school doesn’t have its own.”
Holden noted that the McKinney name dates back to 1988, when the district named the modular middle school wing — known as the “shoebox” — for former superintendent Ed McKinney. At the time, she said, the goal was to give the middle grades a distinct identity after the closure of Morgan Middle School. The “shoebox” was demolished earlier this year, and will be replaced by a wing for students in grades 5–8.
As the district moves forward with its ongoing facilities overhaul, Holden said she believes the time is right to consolidate the building’s name and clarify upcoming signage.
“It eliminates the clunkiness of the current name,” she said, adding that monument signs planned as part of the facilities project will need consistent labeling.
Holden emphasized that McKinney’s legacy would not disappear with a name change. If the board approves the change, she said, the district will designate the grades 5–8 academic wing of the rebuilt campus in his honor.
“I’m going to ask the board to consider that in October,” Holden said, and noted in an accompanying document that now feels like the “appropriate time for a name change that reflects the composition of the building and prioritizes the unique and one-of-a-kind sense of place that is Yellow Springs.”
The next meeting of the school board will be held Thursday, Oct. 9.
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Ed McKinney was a terrific Superintendent and even better human being; kudos to the District for committing to continue to honor his legacy.