Hilliard’s new sixth-grade school will be called Wales Sixth Grade School, reviving the name of a one-room school established on the Walker Road property in 1840.
The Hilliard Board of Education voted unanimously to approve the name, the district announced in an Oct. 12 press release. The school will occupy the current Brown Elementary building in Brown Township once a new Brown Elementary is built nearby.
"The Board's unanimous vote reflects our shared appreciation for the history of this site and our responsibility to the generations of students who will learn here in the years ahead," Board President Kara Crowley said in the announcement.
The name traces to 1840, when Welsh immigrants settling in Brown Township established a one-room school on the Walker Road property. That original Wales School later served students in grades 3–5 before it was consolidated with the Huggett and McCoy schools in 1931 to form the first Brown Elementary. The original building was demolished that year.
Superintendent David Stewart said in the announcement that the name honors the site's history "while continuing the site's longstanding tradition of educating local students."
The district opened community nominations for the school's name May 7–18 and reviewed submissions through a committee of district leaders and board members. A recommendation was scheduled to go before the board June 8, according to the district's naming page.
The school is part of Phase 1 of the district's Master Facilities Plan, funded by a $142 million bond issue and 6.9-mill operating levy that voters approved in November 2024. Phase 1 also includes three new elementary buildings and district-wide safety improvements.
Stewart said in August 2024, when the levy first went before voters, that the $142 million in construction was "really driven by aging facilities," as WOSU reported. Construction across the district is already underway, with a September 2026 progress update noting active work on secured entrances and other facility projects.
The district’s tentative facilities schedule calls for renovating the current Brown Elementary building beginning in June 2028 and opening the sixth-grade school for the 2029–30 school year. The schedule is subject to change.
