Clayton County school names new school for former First Lady Michelle Obama

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Clayton County’s newest school has been named for the former first lady.

The school, formerly known as Eddie White Elementary School, has been renamed the Michelle Obama STEM Elementary Academy.

The name-change process began in May when the county was in the process of building the new STEM school that be based on the Eddie White campus.

“We are so excited that the former First lady accepted our request to have her name associated with our school,” said Ms. Marcia Payton-Edwards. “We noted in our request that it was fitting that our school be represented by the name Michelle Obama due to the ancestral connection of her great, great, great grandmother, Melvinia Shields McGruder, who was enslaved on a family farm in the Clayton County community of Rex.”

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The new facility, scheduled to welcome students in Aug. 2021 and located about a mile from the existing campus, will provide space for 75 standard classrooms, two technology labs, six STEM labs, one engineering lab and outdoor classrooms with solar panels. The property has a wetland conservation area with an indoor/outdoor classroom space to provide a hands-on environmental learning lab.

“This new campus will truly be worthy of embracing the name of Michelle Obama as it will be a state of the art and one-of-a-kind STEM academy, built to serve students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade,” said Dr. Morcease J. Beasley, CCPS Superintendent/CEO. “Focusing on engineering, agriculture, and environmental science, this school will provide unique and innovative learning and teaching opportunities to inspire those who attend as students and those who work there as staff.”

Cox Media Group