Elkhart Community Schools reveal name, colors and mascot of new high School

“I think it’s a testament to the teachers we have, the parents we have, the great community we have because those kids are a product of all of that,” said Jeff Miller, a naming committee member.

During the Elkhart Community Schools Board of School Trustees meeting Tuesday evening, district officials released the name, colors and mascot of the new high school.

The district announced the new high school will be named Elkhart High School, will have royal blue and gold as its colors. Its mascot will be the lions.

ABC 57 News first told you back in October of 2016 that Elkhart Memorial High school would become the only high school in the district housing 10th through 12th graders while Elkhart Central High School would become a middle school and house 6th through 8th graders and 9th graders.

The naming committee narrowed down the list of 800 submissions to just 5 in each category. On May 25, students were given the opportunity to vote for their favorite name, mascot and school colors. Their options are listed below:

Name options	Mascot options	Color options
Elkhart Alliance High School	Elks	Black, Silver
Elkhart Community High School	Express	Black, White, Royal Blue
Elkhart High School	Jaguars	Red, Navy Blue, Gold
Elkhart United High School	Lions	Red, White, Navy Blue
Heartland High School	Thundering Herd	Royal Blue, Gold

“The target date for [all of this] is, what we’ve been told, is the 2020/2021 school year and that school year is when everything is supposed to take effect,” said Jeff Miller, a naming committee member, former Elkhart Central student, and13-year Elkhart schools employee Jeff Miller who says Tuesday was a major deal for him.

“It means a lot to me personally, it means a lot to 50 thousand people in this city and this is a historical event that’s going to have ramifications for a long time,” said Miller.

There’s still more to come with the overall plan announced in April of 2016. Changes could still be coming to three elementary schools and two middle schools with this merger under the $33 million proposal. Stick with ABC 57 News for the latest on those developments.