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Berkeley elementary school renamed after city's first Black public school educator

By KTVU Staff
Published  December 28, 2020 1:08pm PST
Education
KTVU FOX 2

Berkeley school renamed Ruth Acty Elementary

Berkeley's first Black public school teacher is getting the recognition she deserves, having a school renamed in her honor.

BERKELEY, Calif. - A Berkeley elementary school has been renamed after a unanimous vote by the school board. 

The school board voted in early December to rename Jefferson Elementary School after Ruth Acty, the first Black teacher in the Berkeley Unified School District. 

Acty taught in Berkeley public schools for 50 years and was an integral part of efforts to integrate school staff in the early 1940s. 

The new Ruth Acty Elementary School came after the board's "Black Lives Matter Resolution" in June that officially recognized Thomas Jefferson owned slaves.