Detroit School Changes Name To Honor Barack Obama

(the Patch) A struggling Detroit school, one of the oldest charter schools in Michigan, is opening the new school year next month with an updated approach to teaching new program, and a new name that honors former President Barack Obama.

Timbuktu Academy, which has been open since 1997, will become Barack Obama Leadership Academy.

The name change comes after an update to the school designed to promote leadership and improve the school's environment. And Bernard Parker, Timbuktu's CEO, says there was no better person to rename the school after than the country's 44th president.

"The school always was about trying to produce leaders of the future," Parker said. School officials "just felt that we needed to change our name since we're going to be doing another curriculum."

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