The Boston School Committee voted unanimously on April 10 to change the name of the merged BCLA/McCormack 7-12 school on Columbia Point to the Ruth Batson Academy in honor of the Roxbury woman who fought for equitable education in Boston through the 1960s and 1970s.

Principal Ondrea Johnston said the school community, which began its merger in 2021, settled on the name Ruth Batson Academy in June 2023.

“At first we were trying to pick a piece of the BCLA school and the McCormack School and put them together but finally we decided we needed to put that aside and come up with a completely new identity, and they said we needed a whole new name as opposed to trying to put two school names together,” Johnston said at a March 27 meeting.

“Because of our vision of developing students that are community leaders…we thought it was fitting to name the school after Ruth Batson in celebration of her advocacy for equitable education for all,” she said.

A middle school bearing the name of John W. McCormack, a longtime congressman from Dorchester and Speaker of the US House from 1962 to 1971, stood on Columbia Point for many years until the 2021 merger brought in Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA) from Hyde Park to form a 7-12 high school.

“I think we had such a powerful presentation from School Leader Johnston…for the thorough process they went through and the amazing decision they made in choosing to name BCLA/McCormack after Ruth Batson, who was just such a deep community member and did so much for our schools as a tireless advocate,” said Supt. Mary Skipper prior to the April 10 vote. “It is an honor for us to put this forward.”

Batson, a BPS alumna from the Edward Everett Elementary and Girls Latin High in Dorchester, was the first woman of color to pursue a seat on the elected Boston School Committee. She was an advocate locally and nationally for equity in schools, and helped to found the METCO program. She died in 2003.

Congressman McCormack died in 1980.