Ribbon cutting held for newly-renamed Topsail Annandale Elementary School

PENDER COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Topsail Annandale Elementary School on Thursday, June 8.

When it was built in 1955, it was a school for Black students called Annandale Elementary. The name was changed to Topsail Elementary in 1969, but a push was made to change the name back to preserve Black history.

The school board voted in August of 2022 to change the name to Topsail Annandale Elementary.

“Today reinstating the name of Annandale School into the Topsail Annandale School is like restoring a major, major part of the history of all of the students, and all the graduates and all the family of this region. And at the same time, you may not really realize but it really, really brings back the heart and soul of all the African-Americans of this region because that’s history. And we are restoring history today,” said Ambassador Mattie R. Sharpless.

Guests invited to the ribbon cutting included staff from Annandale Elementary, Pender County Board of Education members, Superintendent Dr. Brad Breedlove and TAES Principal Melissa Wilson.

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