Several Burtonsville Elementary School students say they are looking forward to new classrooms and technology and a “really cool” playground when they begin attending the school’s new home that’s set to open for the 2026-2027 school year.
“This new school means more, more space to learn, grow and explore,” Burtonsville Elementary student Dylan Etienne said during a Monday morning groundbreaking ceremony for the new school hosted by Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) and attended by students, parents and district and local officials.
The groundbreaking for the project, which will move the school site from 15516 Old Columbia Pike to 14709 Saddle Creek Drive and is set to be completed in August 2026, follows years of advocacy for a new school by the Burtonsville Elementary community.
“This groundbreaking is more than the commencement of a construction project,” Burtonsville Elementary Principal Kimberly Lloyd said during the ceremony at the new building site. “This is a realization of a vision that has been at least a decade in the making.”
In 2023, the Montgomery County school board approved plans for the two-story building, which includes solar panels, basketball courts, athletic fields, upgraded playgrounds and an interior courtyard. Increasing capacity is one of the main goals behind the plans to replace the school.
The building will measure roughly 100,000 square feet and will have room for almost 800 students. Enrollment at Burtonsville Elementary during the 2023-2024 school year was about 600 students in a 71,000-square-foot building with a capacity of about 500, according to MCPS officials.
The project is expected to cost $57.8 million, according to the school board’s requested amendments to the district’s fiscal year 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Program (CIP).
Lloyd was joined by MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor and school board President Julie Yang and County Council member Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5), along with other school board members, council members and state representatives.
The location of the new building in a residential neighborhood means 85% of students will be able to walk to school, Lloyd said. No students walk to the current school building, according to Lloyd.
Lloyd said that when MCPS began the process for planning and construction of a new building 10 years ago, she was pessimistic that the project would come to fruition. In the past, Lloyd said, the process for the new Burtonsville school began but was delayed.
Mink, who represents the Burtonsville area, noted during the ceremony the project had been moved in and out of the district’s CIP several times, but advocacy from the Burtonsville Parent Teacher Association (PTA) helped make the project a reality.
“This was a true collaborative effort,” Burtonsville PTA President Ben Lewis said during the ceremony. “This is what community activism and partnering looks like with all the stakeholders.”
In addition to an interior courtyard and upgraded playgrounds, the new school building will have a larger cafeteria, a bus loop and a gym and media center that can be utilized by the community. The current school doesn’t have a bus entrance, often causing congestion and other challenges at the beginning and end of the school day, Lewis said.
Lewis told Bethesda Today after the ceremony that he was looking forward to those aspects of the building that will enhance the students’ experiences and eliminate functional challenges, like a small cafeteria causing the school to begin lunches early in the morning and late into the afternoon, within the school.
“We felt like the current school was really hindering learning,” Lewis told Bethesda Today. “So, this really is a kind of a prime example of the county’s commitment to East County and Burtonsville specifically.”
Lloyd said the groundbreaking was bittersweet because she plans to retire before the new building opens, but the project underscored the importance of the community’s collective efforts for its students.
“As we break ground today, we are not just constructing a building, we are laying the foundation for generations of learners to come,” Lloyd said.
