She Unrolled a Red Carpet at a Board Meeting. The School’s Name Was Hers.

The newest school in Aubrey, Texas, had been known as Elementary School No. 5. It now has a much better name: Marilyn Hampton Elementary School, after a woman who spent 39 years as a custodian in the district.¹²

The Aubrey Independent School District Board of Trustees voted to give the campus her name, according to CBS Newspath.²

A red carpet she didn’t see coming

Hampton was invited to the board meeting under the impression she would be speaking about a different school matter.² Instead, Superintendent Shannon Saylor asked her to unroll a small red carpet. Printed on it was the new school’s name.²

The surprise came at a Wednesday board meeting, which the International Business Times dates to October 21.³ The district also gave her a T-shirt bearing the name of the school, which is also her name.¹²

“Whoever thought a janitor would have a school named after them,” Hampton said, as reported by CBS Newspath.²

Thirty-nine years of more than mopping

Hampton started working for Aubrey ISD on April 18, 1983, and retired as a custodian in 2022.³ District leaders said she helped students with their schoolwork, provided supplies, worked athletic events and encouraged children who were going through difficult circumstances.²

She explained her approach simply, in comments reported by WFAA: “When I could help a kid and turn their smile up instead of down, that’s what I wanted to do.”²

Saylor summed her up in even fewer words. “She is truly Aubrey ISD,” the superintendent said, as reported by WFAA.¹

Retirement, it should be noted, did not take. Hampton, now 76, still works with infants and toddlers at the district’s Early Bird Learning Center.²³

When the school opens

Marilyn Hampton Elementary is still under construction. It is being built off FM 2931 near Owens Middle School and is expected to open in August 2027.³