LYNN — As the school year starts in the next few weeks, some of the city’s youngest will learn at a new school dedicated to one of the city’s stalwart figures.
More than 100 pre-K students are set to enter classrooms at Virginia Barton Early Childhood Center on Bessom Street when classes commence.
“We hope to live up to the impact that she had,” the school’s Principal Mary Kinahan said. “I think that Lynn is really proud of the new name.”
This school year marks the first for the school, which was previously called Little Lynners Elementary and had locations at the Lynn YMCA and the Lynn Boys and Girls Club, according to Kinahan.
The school’s namesake, Virginia Barton, died in 2010 at age 82. She was one of the community’s most fervent public servants and activists, working for Lynn Economic Opportunity and Lynn Public Schools, as well as presiding over the North Shore NAACP, co-chairing Citizens Against Racism, and acting as a board member on the Greater Lynn Racial Harmony Committee.
Patricia Barton, one of Barton’s eight children, described her mother as someone who cared deeply for people, not only for her children and family members but for all those in the community whom she came into contact with.
“My mother was a very nurturing person,” Patricia said. “She just looked out for everybody.”
Patricia is a former Lynn Public Schools teacher and retired principal of Pickering Middle School.
She said her mother would be proud that a school, especially one for pre-K students, would bear her name and be a place where the community’s youngest have their beginnings.
“My mother had lots of different sayings,” Patricia said. “The one that sticks out in my mind the most is ‘Children first, always.’ I just know my mother would be extremely thrilled about this honor.”
Kinahan said a sign bearing Virginia Barton’s name will be installed this fall, but even before that, Patricia said her mother would be proud to know that her legacy of nurturing the community’s youngest will live on for years to come.
“She is beaming,” Patricia said. “She’ll never be gone. She’s always with us.”
