Elk Grove’s newest elementary school has a name. Here’s who it honors
Elk Grove’s newest school now has a name.
The new school, which will be located at 8140 Spoonwood Ave. near the intersection of Bruceville Road and Poppy Ridge Road, will be named David W. Gordon Elementary School, the Board of Education unanimously approved Tuesday.
Gordon is the Sacramento County Office of Education’s superintendent and previously served as EGUSD’s superintendent from 1995 to 2004, according to the board’s presentation. He also served as the California Department of Education’s deputy state superintendent.
Gordon announced his planned June 2027 retirement last year after more than two decades leading the Sacramento County Office of Education, telling The Sacramento Bee, “It’s just time. I’ve had a full and very gratifying work life.”
“I just really think that Mr. Gordon deserves a school named after him, after his contributions in our district as well as the state of California,” said trustee Jennifer Ballerini, who represents the area where the school will be located.
Board president Beth Albiani called Gordon an “amazing leader” and praised his contributions to the district, including launching an in-house cafeteria system to feed students.
The other option was Poppy Ridge Elementary School, honoring the California state flower and the Poppy Ridge Dairy, which was located in the area in the early 1900s. Board members expressed interest in the history of the name, and trustee Delia Baulwin also mentioned the cultural significance of poppies to Native and Indigenous communities, which she said symbolize medicine and healing.
“I do believe that it would be very fitting to see more of our schools represent a part of that history so that it would encourage more of that understanding and learning about our community right here and the Indigenous peoples,” Baulwin said.
While she supported naming the school after Gordon, Baulwin said she hoped the mascot of the new school could be a poppy, and Albiani said she wanted the name to remain on the list for future schools.
The names were submitted by a citizens advisory committee whose members are selected by the board, according to the presentation. The district’s policy is to name elementary schools to reflect the district’s cultural diversity or after people or places prominent in the history of the area or who have made contributions to education in the district.
A longtime figure in California education, Gordon has spent his career in the field since his early 20s and serves on several boards, including Advancement Via Individual Determination, or AVID, and the Sierra Health Foundation, and is a gubernatorial appointee to the California State Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.
Gordon has led the Sacramento County Office of Education since 2004, overseeing an agency that directly educates more than 30,000 children and adults each year and provides support services to more than 250,000 students across 13 districts, according to previous Bee reporting.
In announcing his retirement, Gordon emphasized collaboration as a guiding principle of his career, telling The Bee: “It’s all about collaboration. It’s about teamwork.” He said the extended timeline before stepping down was intended to give the board ample time to identify his successor.
A groundbreaking took place Wednesday, and site administration and a site mascot have not yet been chosen, Kristen Coates, deputy superintendent for business services and facilities administration, said.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 10:56 AM.
