Burtonsville Elementary School is on track for a new building by summer 2026, with the Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously approving plans for the $47.7 million project earlier this month.
The building will replace the current Burtonsville Elementary School, which is near an industrial and commercial area off Old Columbia Pike. It opened in 1952 and was last renovated in 1993. The new school will be located at 14709 Saddle Creek Drive—about two miles away from the current site and closer to neighborhoods, within range for many students to walk to school.
“There is some excitement around going from zero walkers to having 85% of our school being able to walk to school,” Burtonsville Elementary Principal Kimberly Lloyd said at the Dec. 5 board meeting. “I’m super excited about what this has to offer for us with having a school in a neighborhood. I know that this will bring even more parents into our school building and we are looking forward to it.”
Construction of the two-story building is set to begin in late 2024 and will feature an interior courtyard, solar panels, basketball courts, athletic fields and upgraded playgrounds. According to the school district’s current six-year Capital Improvements Project (CIP) budget, the project will cost $47.7 million.
Increasing capacity is one of the main goals behind the plans to replace the school. This school year the elementary school had about 610 students, more than 100 over the school capacity of 508, according to Eleesha Daley, project manager at MCPS. The new build will increase capacity to 796.
Per MCPS’ School Profiles dashboard, the district projects that by the 2028-2029 school year, enrollment at the school will reach 695.
In addition to capacity, the replacement project will increase the area of the school by more than 20,000 square feet. According to school officials, the current Burtonsville Elementary is 71,000 square feet and the new school will be about 95,000 square feet.
Another reason the Board of Education voted in November 2022 to replace and relocate the building rather than add to the existing one was because the current school is situated in an industrial and commercial district, Daley said. The elementary school sits behind the Burtonsville Town Square shopping center as well as restaurants, auto shops and businesses that line Old Columbia Pike.
The replacement school will be located next to the Bentley Park neighborhood, a newer development with single-family and townhomes. According to Daley, the district hopes relocating into a more residential neighborhood will allow more students to walk to school and walk more safely.
The new site will have a separate bus loop and a dedicated parent lane to drop off students. According to Daley, parents and teachers face congestion and back-ups in the drop-off and bus lanes at the current site.
The new school will also include pre-K, Autism and Learning for Independence (LFI) programs, which are currently not available at the school.
The plans for the new school were developed by Arlington-based MTFA Architecture.
Students and staff will be able to stay at the current location while the new school is being built. Daley said that the Department of Facilities Management is “still exploring options” for how the old Burtonsville Elementary will be used once students and staff leave.
