George W. Watkins Elementary School

Infobox School
name= George W. Watkins Elementary School


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streetaddress= 6501 New Kent Highway
city= Quinton
state= Virginia
zipcode= 23141
country= USA
url= [http://www.newkentschools.org/sites/gwes/ Official Site]
district= New Kent County School Division
superintendent= Dr. J. Roy Geiger
principal= Russ Macomber
assistant_principal= Patricia Kern
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type= Public
schooltype= elementary school
grades= K–5
language= English
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George W. Watkins Elementary School is an elementary school located in Quinton, Virginia, and is one of two such schools in New Kent County. As a formerly African American-only high school, it is a National Historic Landmarkcite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=-1946514087&ResourceType=Building
title=New Kent School and George W. Watkins School |accessdate=2008-04-20|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service] and is associated with the Supreme Court case Green v. County School Board of New Kent County. Like the other public schools in New Kent, Watkins is located on Route 249 (New Kent Highway), though it is about seven miles west of the others.

Integration and Green v. New Kent

In the case Green v. County School Board, the Supreme Court ruled that the New Kent County School System's "choice system" was not sufficient for desegregation. Watkins was then converted into a middle school.

Modern Use

The building has served as an elementary school for some time, but was known as "New Kent Elementary School." The recent name change was meant to both honor the contributions of Dr. George W. Watkins and acknowledge the role the school played in the era of desegregation. The school has also recently switched from teaching only grades 3-5 to teaching K-5. This was achieved after significant renovation and expansion, and after the former "New Kent Primary School" (K-2) was renamed "New Kent Elementary School" and began to share the load of K-5 students.

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