Get our CREC e-Newsletter:
CREC to Rename School in Memory of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene
(Avon, CT) CREC is taking steps to ensure that love will always win.
In an effort to recognize the caring and compassionate nature of Newtown victim Ana Grace Marquez-Greene, CREC will rename the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Elementary School. The school, which is located in a temporary facility in Avon, will now be called the CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts Elementary School.
Signage will reflect the name change, and an official naming ceremony will take place when the school moves into a permanent facility.
“We are deeply proud to name the Arts Academy after Ana Grace,” said CREC Executive Director Bruce Douglas. “By doing so, we honor her life and her inextinguishable spirit. The legacy of Ana Grace, and her classmates and teachers, will be forever present in our students and our community.”
As a tribute to Ana Grace’s kind and generous spirit, CREC will also incorporate into this year’s school curriculum the motto and philosophy of Love Wins, a campaign created by Ana Grace’s family. The goal is to promote love, connection, and community for every child and family.
Ana Marquez Greene is the daughter of Nelba Marquez-Greene and Jimmy Greene, alumni of the CREC Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Her parents are both also former CREC teachers.
“We are overwhelmed with joy to have a magnet school named after our caramel princess,” said the Greene family. “Its hallways are filled with the art and laughter of children from diverse backgrounds. The staff is dedicated to the wellness and development of every student. We are so incredibly thankful to our alma mater for honoring our daughter’s memory in this way.”
Ana Grace and the other 25 Newtown victims made a profound impact on CREC. Last fall, the agency dedicated a stone bench in their honor and planted tulips in their memory at CREC’s central offices in Hartford. The bench, the tulips, and now the renamed school will help the CREC community remember Ana Grace and her classmates and teachers every day.
