WOODBRIDGE — A new elementary school in Woodbridge will be named for a long-serving member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
Currently known as “Parkway Elementary School,” the new campus near Chinn Park Regional Library will be permanently named John D. Jenkins Elementary School.
Jenkins, 79, passed away February 6 after complications from knee surgery in October 2018. First elected to the Prince William County Board of Supervisors in 1982, Jenkins held the job as Neabsco District Supervisor and was the Board’s longest-serving incumbent.
A memorial service and funeral will be held for him at the Hylton Memorial Chapel, at 14640 Potomac Mills Road in Dale City at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 13.
Sources tell Potomac Local that multiple members of the School Board support the idea. It began holding meetings about the naming of the new school on January 24, where the public was invited to give naming suggestions to the School Board.
The Board is expected to approve the new name at its next meeting on Wednesday, February 20.
Jenkins’ name was one of more than 10 names on the list of names the school’s naming committee had been considering prior to his death. Other suggested names include “Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary School,” “Bethel Elementary School” named after the old Bethel Church that once stood nearby, and the name of a current sitting Prince William County School Board member — Occoquan District representative Lilly Jessie.
The majority of the suggestions, however, are for Ashely Guindon, the 28-year-old Prince William County Police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty, during her first full day on the job on Feb. 27, 2016.
The $32 million school is slated to open this fall. It will house more than 900 students. The school is located just outside the Neabsco District in the Occoquan District but will welcome students who live in Neabsco (Dale City).
“What better to name school?” asked Prince William County School Board Chairman At-large Babur Lateef. “There’s a lot of county buildings they could name, but why not a school in one of the most heavily trafficked areas of the county?”
Photo credit: Prince William County Government
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