Provided by Monique Braxton Media
In June 2020, the family of Carroll and Celestine Braxton, along with former students of Mrs. Braxton, friends and hundreds in the region, encouraged the Prince William County School Board to rename Stonewall Middle to Unity Braxton Middle School. Education Week reports it’s the first school to be named for Blacks since the death of George Floyd.
Carroll Braxton is a Montford Point Marine, one of the country’s first Black Marines, and Celestine was a teacher hired to integrate the schools. One week after the renaming to Unity Braxton, Governor Northam said the Confederate names should come down as they represented a broken and racist past.
The official program for the renaming of the middle school honoring the Braxtons will take place next Tuesday, May 10, 2022, at 6:30 p.m. Unity Braxton is located at 10100 Lomond Drive in Manassas.During the renaming program, Principal Mike Nicely will host the JROTC Marine Corps Color Guard from Gar-Field High, the Unity Braxton Choir, and the school’s Step Team when they perform. Elected officials and school board members will speak. Junior Honor Society students will serve as ambassadors in guided tours of the exhibits, including Braxton Avenue and the newly designed gym.Unity Braxton is an International Baccalaureate Middle School with 1,150 students in grades 6 through 8. Thirty-five nationalities are represented among the students.
