On Thursday, March 12, Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) officials and project designers shared updated plans for replacing Springhill Lake Elementary School (SHLES), an $82 million construction project expected to be completed in 2028.
The new school will replace the current building with a two-story facility on the same ground. It will feature accessibility for students with mobility needs, versatile room usage, playgrounds for different age groups as well as a parking lot for parent and bus drop-off and pick-up, to name a few improvements.
“Our commitment to you, the Springhill Lake community, PGCPS is committed to moving swiftly to deliver a safe, state-of-the-art and sustainable learning environment for our students, teachers and communities,” said Sean Matlock, director of the Office of Alternative Infrastructure, Planning and Development at PGCPS.
The new building is designed by the architectural firm Perkins Eastman, and construction will be led by MCN Build, which is serving as both general contractor and project manager.
The design includes two main entrances. The primary entrance will face Springhill Drive, while a secondary entrance at the rear will be used for parent pick-up and drop-off. Jack Chin, Associate Principal at Perkins Eastman, said this design should help reduce pick-up and drop-off traffic on nearby streets.
The cafeteria will double as a performance space, creating a “cafetorium” that can host assemblies, school performances and community events.
Design changes are coming with the new building. Classrooms will feature flexible furniture and tall ceilings designed to increase natural light. Hallways will be organized into color-coded grade-level “neighborhoods” to help students and visitors navigate the building more easily. Some classrooms will also include movable walls.
“It allows the teachers to collaborate or reach … both of the classes and allows the school to rent the spaces out for community meetings,” said Chin.
According to Martin Boddu from MCN Build, on-site demolition will begin in July. Foundation work and structural framing are expected to start in early 2027, followed by installation of exterior walls and building systems later that year. Interior construction and finishing work will continue into early 2028, with inspections scheduled for June 2028. If construction proceeds as planned, the new school will be turned over to PGCPS on July 15, 2028.
Springhill Lake students will be relocated to the Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) School building during the two school years of construction. DKFI students have been housed in that building since 2014, when they were told it would be their permanent home. However, in January 2024, PGCPS announced plans to move DKFI and to demolish the large white building that faces Greenbelt and Edmonston Roads (see the February 1, 2024 and March 14, 2024 issues). The building was originally the 1938 Greenbelt High School. In May 2024, amid discussion of its future, the building was designated a Prince George’s County Historic Site (see the May 30, 2024 issue), making its demolition unlikely, although it will be decommissioned as a school in 2028, when SHLES moves back to its own site.
Laura Charleston is a University of Maryland student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning with the Greenbelt News Review.
