Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterMCPS To Study Adding A New Elementary School In Rockville
Oct 27, 2010 12:48 - 0 Comments
College Gardens Elementary School is the current location of the Chinese Immersion Program
Today Montgomery County Public Schools announced a recommendation to construct a new elementary school on West Edmonston Drive, at the site of the former Hungerford Park Elementary School. The new school would provide relief to the four elementary schools in the Richard Montgomery cluster—Beall, College Gardens, Ritchie Park and Twinbrook—all of which are above capacity.
Superintendent of Schools, Jerry D. Weast, will recommend the study as part of the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) for Fiscal Year 2012, which will be released on Thursday, October 28. If approved, the study will determine the scope and cost of building the new school.
Part of the recommendation involves moving the district-wide Chinese Immersion Program from College Gardens to the new elementary school when it is built. The program’s 150 students would remain at College Gardens until the new school is built without any significant changes to the program.
In the announcement, Dr. Weast explained:
Rockville is seen by many as a great place for families to live and send their child to school. However, this creates a need for more classroom space now and in the future. We must work to address these needs as soon as possible.
MCPS also acknowledges:
In addition to a new elementary school, the magnitude of space deficits in the Richard Montgomery Cluster may require one or more classroom additions at Beall, Ritchie Park, and/or Twinbrook elementary schools. With the completion of all of the capacity studies, a comprehensive plan to address the capacity needs of the Richard Montgomery cluster elementary schools will be developed as part of the FY 2013–2018 CIP, to be released in fall 2011.
The CIP also recommends studying the cost and scope of an addition at the cluster’s only middle school, Julius West, which is expected to be 300 students over capacity by 2016.
Every two years, the county approves a six-year Capital Improvements Program, which includes school facilities and infrastructure projects. In alternate years, such as FY 2012, only CIP amendments are considered. As we reported in our story on school overcrowding, funds to build an addition at Ritchie Park Elementary are being considered as an amendment to the FY2010 CIP. Beall and Twinbrook are both in the middle of feasibility studies to determine if additions will be added.
Dr. Weast’s full CIP amendment recommendations will be discussed by the Board of Education at a work session on November 4th. Public hearings on the CIP will be held on Wednesday, November 10th and Thursday, November 11th. The Richard Montgomery Cluster has been encouraging concerned parents to attend the public hearings. After the hearings, the Board of Education is expected to vote on the CIP recommendations on November 18th. Then the Board’s recommendations are forwarded to County Executive Isiah Leggett for consideration as part of the County’s Capital Budget which will be released in January 2011.
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