Parents petition to change 'embarrassing' school name

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 Photo: Getty Images

It's no secret that high school can be a pretty brutal place for some kids - right when they're already navigating the challenges of puberty and all its associated joys (read: horrors).

Imagine then, that your high school was called Innovation Park Middle School - your uniform bearing the letters IPMS. 

Oh, and the school colours were red, white and black. 

That's the reality facing a group of students enrolled at the awkwardly-named, new middle school in Florida - and parents aren't happy.

Image/Change.org

 [Students] don't want to go to a school and wear a red shirt with the letters IPMS across the shirt for athletics, for academic competitions,"  mum, Christal Feldman, who is advocating for the name to be changed, told WKMG-TV"They just don't want to be ridiculed or be made fun of from other students from other schools."

Fellow parent, Kelly Clavejo acknowledged that while the name wasn't going to be "permanently damaging to kids long term," she did, however, query, "why fuel the fire? I think there could just be a better choice."

A change.org petition seeking a name change for the new school has already garnered 300 signatures.

"As concerned parents and Lake Nona/Moss Park community members, we are excited and want to be proud of our new Middle School," the petition reads. "However, we feel the abbreviation of the proposed name - IPMS (Innovation Park Middle School) is a potential disgrace and embarrassment to the students, faculty and school board of Orange County.  We respectfully request that you reconsider another name such as Innovation Way Middle School or something similar that will avoid IPMS on shirts, bumper stickers, logos, etc."

Not everyone is convinced, however, that the name needs to be changed. A survey on the WKMG news report, indicates that 61 per cent of respondents felt it simply "wasn't a big deal".

An update on the petition indicates that the Orange County Public Schools board has agreed to revisit the name during their April meeting.

The school will open in August 2017.