School names are very important to a community. I think a person's name on a school gives the building character. For instance, you think Henry Sibley High School is a mouthful .... try Loy Norrix High School. Loy Norrix was a long-time superintendent of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools and when a second high school was built and named, they honored him. We were the "Knights." But his name -- Loy Norrix -- is a tongue twister! Even so, I don't think it was forgotten by anyone who came across it.

So, for the school in Savage -- I think it should have some character. The name Marion W. Savage Elementary School is already taken; but Dan Patch Elementary School is not. Or, what about naming the school for some of the original landowers or farms in the area? An old Glendale Township map shows Spring Brook Stock Farm and Oak Grove Stock Farm were in the area. Land in the area was owned by families with the last names of: Murphy, Hanrehan, Leonard, Madden, Regan, Boetyer, McKenny, and McColl.

Also, the Credit River flows in the area, but seeing as the township is just down the road, that might be confusing. People who are not from the area still get confused in trying to find Prior Lake High School, because it's not in Prior Lake, it's in Savage. I also think naming it South Savage Elementary is too generic and has no character. Character comes from the people who made Savage home, so I would hope the names suggested for the school would come from those important folks.