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'Tamarack' Selected as School Name

'Tamarack' Selected as School Name

Name Selection

Oct. 26, 2022

At its Oct. 25 meeting, the School Board approved the selection of “Tamarack Elementary School” as the official name for ES29, the district’s newest elementary school currently under construction in south Hillsboro. The name was one of many nominations proposed as part of a naming process that included community surveys, initial review by the ES29 naming committee, and presentation of the finalists by the Superintendent for School Board consideration and public readings.

Tamarack (tam-uh-rak) is the colloquial, or informal, name for species of larch trees. It is believed to come from the Native American Algonquian for “wood used for snowshoes.” Although the name is more typically used for the North American or eastern larch, Larix laricina, it is also used to describe the western larch, Larix occidentalis, also known as western tamarack, found in the Pacific Northwest. The western tamarack is a tall, deciduous conifer which can grow over 200 feet and can live several hundred years. In the fall, its needles turn to gold and drop, contrasting beautifully with evergreen conifers, such as pines and firs, in the mountains and valleys. In the spring and summer, it is a pale green.

Tamarack was proposed by a community member to tie into and complement the nearby Tamarack Park in the Reed’s Crossing neighborhood. Other finalists presented to the School Board were:

  • Virginia Meek (1820-1900) – a daughter of Nez Perce Chief Kowesota; married to Joseph Meek, and both prominent settlers in the Glencoe area;
  • Millie Trumbull (1866-1940) – an advocate for women and children and labor reform;
  • Chatakuin – a Kalapuyan name for “place of the big trees,” a historic landmark comprising a circle of five oaks.

Another survey was recently conducted with students from neighboring Rosedale and Witch Hazel Elementary Schools to select a school mascot; results are currently being tabulated and reviewed. School color selections also are underway to finalize the branding and design elements for the new building. Tamarack will open to students in fall 2023.

View Tamarack’s construction progress on the school's project page.