Groundbreaking Marks A New Step Forward Towards A New School
An artist's rendering of the rotunda of the proposed new Oxon Hill High School. Courtesy of PGCPS.
December 14, 2011 • By Marcel Adams, Joy Barnes and Meron Begashaw - Searchlight Staff Writers
Filed under News, Top Stories
On December 8th a groundbreaking ceremony was hosted at Oxon Hill High school, marking the official beginning of the school construction schedule for the new $82.2 million school building.
The Class 2014 will allegedly be the first to graduate from the new building. The new school will include state-of-the art science labs, an auditorium capable of seating over eight hundred people, about 65 classrooms, a media enter, a multipurpose room, a health and wellness center, a reading resource room, and guidance and administrative offices.
The U.S. Green Building Council LEED-certified environmentally friendly atmosphere will include the use of a light control systems, the storage and collection of recyclables, low water consuming plumbing fixtures, and the use of recyclable materials throughout the building.
Construction will take place in four phases.
- Phase 1: Completion of football stadium (November 2012)
- Phase 2: New building (August 2013)
- Phase 3: Demolish existing building, new parking lot (April 2014)
- Phase 4: Other athletic fields (August 2014)
This project has been highly anticipated and fought for by school board member Edward Burroughs (Dist. 8),Oxon Hill High Principal Dr. Jean Paul-Cadet, Maryland State Board of Education School Architect Supervisor Gloria Mikolajczyk, County Councilman Obie Patterson (D-Dist. 8), PTSA President Tonya Lawson, and County Superintendent Dr. William Hite Jr, all of whom attended and spoke at the groundbreaking.
Attendees at this event included many officials, the school mascot “Clippey”, parents, as well as a high turnout of students. Both the marching band and Stellar Award-winning choir performed in the ceremony.
One such student was Student Government Association President and senior Brianna Savage who was excited about the school although she herself will not personally “reap the benefits” since the new school is slated to open August 2014.
However, with all this excitement some students were sad to hear that the new school will only be built for 1,200 students while the current student enrollment is 1,600 students.
“In the case that size becomes a major issue, an extra wing may be added if given tangible capital by the state,” said Director of Capital Programs Carmen N. Jackson-Brown.
“The school is designed to grow either vertically, by adding classrooms to the ones at the end of a hallway, or by adding another wing to the school.” Jackson Brown said. “If such funds cannot be allocated students will be taken to adjacent schools such as Crossland, Friendly, and Potomac High School.”
However, certain sections of the school will be built to hold a larger capacity. These sections are additions to the standard classrooms that are within the building. These standard classrooms include forty-nine normal classrooms, two English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classrooms,and fourteen special education classrooms. All of these classrooms are built with new state-of-the-art equipment to help better enhance the educational experience, said Rupert McCave, a Capital Improvement Program Officer
The sections of the building that can hold a larger capacity of students include the cafeteria, auditorium, and the Media Center. All of which have a capacity to hold 7,200 students combined said David R. Whaples, the Design Architect of WMCRP Architects.
The building is expected to be finished by August 2013.
“I am not very confident that it’s gonna be finished in time.” said Maria Mendoza, sophomore.
“I am happy about it,” said Jessica Davis, sophomore. “My only fear is future generations after us will not properly take care of it.”
Visit the Capital Programs page at http://www1.pgcps.org/cip/ for periodic updates on the project as well as a live view once construction starts.
Staff Writer Vidal Adams III contributed to this report.
Loading ...
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!