Montgomery County Board of Education members unanimously approved plans for a new Burtonsville Elementary School that is expected to open within two years.
“I am super excited. This makes me feel like we are headed in the right place,” said Principal Kimberly Lloyd during Tuesday’s BOE meeting.
Currently, the school is about 120 students over capacity, she said.
“We are so excited. It’s been a long time coming,” said Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight. “It’s been a journey. I think, if nothing else, we’ve been able to reestablish trust within that community by going out and really talking about what their interest was and what we needed to do.”
The planned school will be surrounded on two sides by Saddle Creek Drive, and hills and woods on the other two sides of the almost-11-acre property. The property is green space owned by Montgomery County Public Schools.
The current school is 71,000 square feet. The new one will be 95,000 square feet. Because the current school is located in a commercial district, no students walk to and from school. With the new location, Lloyd expects about 85% of the students to be walkers.
The school now is home to 610 students. The new school can accommodate 796 students.
According to Meagan Jancy of MTFA Architecture, the school will be two stories and have a center courtyard. There will be solar panels on the roof. 113 parking spaces are planned.
Construction is expected to start in late 2024 and be completed by the summer of 2026.
