Two Nashville-area schools have changed their names, and both are in District 10-AA.
The high school at David Lipscomb is now Lipscomb Academy. East Literature Magnet School has changed to East Nashville Magnet School.
"We are trying to set a new tone here at Lipscomb Academy," said Mike Roller, Lipscomb's athletics director. "We have a wonderful tradition here, but we thought the new name reflects the new direction Lipscomb is going."
Plans have been announced to invest $125 million into the facilities at Lipscomb Academy and Lipscomb University by 2016, the 125th anniversary of the institution.
Included are upgrades to the track and football fieldhouse, a new soccer fieldhouse and improvements to the gym.
"The new facilities will benefit the athletic department in a big way," Roller said. "It's an exciting time here at Lipscomb."
Lipscomb coach Glen McCadams said he wasn't too surprised by the name change.
"We knew it was being discussed, so we figured it could go either way," McCadams said. "Name adjustments have been talked about before; sometimes they happen, sometimes they don't. It's just school business."
Because of the name change, alterations to the logos and names around the athletic facilities will have to be made.
"It'll take a little time to change over to Lipscomb Academy," McCadams said. "We've been David Lipscomb for a long time, so there are a lot of 'DLs' around the building, on jerseys, on shirts and caps. It's just going to take a while to adjust to that."
The transition for East Nashville might be a little easier, new football coach Brian Waite said.
"Most of our jerseys only say 'East' on them anyway," Waite said. "It's our turn to get new jerseys next year, but we should be able to make it through this year just fine."
Since the school first opened in 1993, East Literature has been a magnet school with a focus on literature. But in the past few years, principal Stephen Ball said the literature influence has been "fizzling."
"When I came in (2009), part of my charge from (director of schools) Dr. (Jesse) Register was to either reinvent the literature theme or to do something else," Ball said. "My experience was with paideia schools, and that's what I started talking about with all of the teachers once I came in."
Paideia schools focus more on critical thinking and teaching kids how to behave. A literature school put extra emphasis on books and works of literature.
Before the school became a magnet school in 1993, it was East Nashville High School. It opened in 1932 and has stood on the same spot on Gallatin Road since then.
"We have a great alumni group from when the school used to be East, and it'll be nice to tie back in with them," Ball said. "We think this change will connect us back to our history and reflect more accurately what direction this school is going."
