The Chesterfield County School Board is seeking the public’s aid in naming the new middle school coming to the Matoaca District.

West Area Middle School is functioning as a placeholder name until a permanent name is decided. Residents can submit proposals at bit.ly/WAMSname through Feb. 28.

The roughly $100 million school commenced operations last August and is planned to open in August 2025. The three-story facility on Westerleigh Parkway will help relieve overcrowding at Tomahawk Creek Middle School.

According to school board policy, the board has the ability to name schools and school facilities. The guideline also says that schools cannot be named after live individuals.

Under exceptional circumstances, a school can be named for a person who has been dead for at least 10 years. Most Chesterfield schools that opened in the past 20 years were named for their geographic locations.

After the submission deadline passes, the school division and Tomahawk Creek Middle School PTA leaders will pick the final three names and announce them in April.

Public opinions on the remaining choices will be sought leading up to the May 14 meeting, when the school board is anticipated to vote on the new name.

Other school divisions in the region have dealt with recent school namings and renamings, with some of them resulting in controversy.

Last May, the Hanover County School Board voted to name the amalgamated Henry Clay and John M. Gandy Elementary School as Ashland Elementary, despite the board appearing to resolve on retaining the Gandy name in 2018.

In June, Richmond Public Schools authorized four new names for existing schools, replacing titles that represented slave owners and Confederate soldiers.