Hillwood High off the table as name for new Bellevue high school. So what are some options?

Bellevue High. Bellevue Hill. Bellewood. Hope High. Dolly Parton High.

These are all potential names for the new high school that will move Hillwood High School to a new Bellevue location in 2023.

One name that isn't an option? Hillwood.

The $100 million replacement facility for the current school will sit on 274 acres of land at 8001 Highway 70 S. The site was formerly home to Hope Church and sits outside the Hillwood community.

Per the Metro Nashville Board of Education's school naming policy, the new school can be named after the community it is in, the road the school is on if it is a well-known street or a person, living or dead, that has had a significant impact on Nashville public schools or the city — but the threshold for approval there is high.

School board member Abigail Tylor, who represents the district, has been leading the process to name the new school and hopes the process will be concluded by Thanksgiving.

Tylor previously launched an open-ended survey that allowed community members to submit potential names. She received 102 unique submissions.

The top 10 were: Bellevue, Bellevue Hill, Bellewood, DeMoss, Hillview, Hope, Hope Park, Diane Nash, James Lawson and John Lewis High.

Previously: Nashville Mayor John Cooper and Metro Council break ground at new Hillwood High School

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Now, after two public meetings, Tylor plans to survey students at middle schools that feed into Hillwood before launching a final survey with a few options for the public to vote on.

Clif Mitchell, campus and community marketing director for the current Hillwood High School and a native of the area, is advocating for Bellevue or Bellevue Hill.

"Historywise, we cannot ignore the fact that from 1931 to 1980, Bellevue had a vibrant high school community. I experienced it myself. If you didn't get there early for ball games, you didn't get a seat," Mitchell said during a community meeting Thursday night.

The Bellevue High Alumni Association also supports one of those choices.

Bellevue was once home to Bellevue High, home of first the Owls, then the Mighty Owls. Its colors were blue and white.

Mitchell believes that Bellevue will embrace the new school in a way that Hillwood, which he calls a "private school community," hasn't.

"From 1980 until today, the Bellevue community continued to be our No. 1 community of enrollment here at Hillwood High School," Mitchell said. "If you look at it, that's 90 years of community loyalty to the public education high school on this side of town. That's to be honored."

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Merriam Brooks said she hopes a new name will be inclusive of all the students who attend, not just the community that immediately surrounds the school.

There are many students who attend Hillwood through Metro Nashville Public Schools' choice program, Brooks said.

"We have a great opportunity here to name a school that is inclusive of all the student body that is going to be gathered at this new school including those students who come because it's an option," she said. "It's important to me that we take it seriously."

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Tylor asked the individuals who attended a public meeting at the school Thursday night to leave name suggestions in a basket by the back door on their way out.

Among them were Bellevue High and even Dolly Parton High, one of the favorites so far.

Tylor will work with the school naming committee to make an official recommendation later this month, and then an official recommendation to the entire school board.

She hopes the board will be able to vote on a name at its Nov. 23 meeting.

Hillwood High Principal Stephen Sheaffer hopes they'll make a decision soon.

He has construction decisions to make and needs to know the name and even the colors and mascot of the new school.

As for colors and mascot, that is up to the principal, but Sheaffer said he'll likely poll current students through a similar process.

Many of the slips of paper with name suggestions Thursday included mascot suggestions as well.

The most common among them? Owls.

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Meghan Mangrum covers education for the USA TODAY Network — Tennessee. Contact her at mmangrum@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter @memangrum.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Hillwood High off the table as name for new Bellevue high school