The Howard County (Maryland) district has completed construction of its 13th high school—Guilford Park High School in Jessup.
The Howard County Times reports that the $129 million facility will begin classes on Aug. 28 with about 750 students—freshmen and sophomores only. When it adds 11th and 12th grades in the next two years, it will house 1,650 students. It is the county’s first new high school since 2005.
The Guilford Park student body will be composed of students who would have otherwise attended Hammond, Long Reach or Howard high schools. The school's 42-acre campus is the largest in the county, and its artificial turf stadium, seating 3,517, is also the largest in the county.
The building features 40 classrooms, including 10 flexible science classrooms and three technology education teaching spaces. For classrooms without windows, solar tubes provide natural illumination through ceiling panels, which look and function like traditional overhead lights.
Guilford Park includes several environmental efficiency features. Power from roof-mounted solar panels should provide 18% of the school's electricity; underground cisterns will reduce runoff and reuse rainwater to irrigate sports fields; native plants will be installed to nullify the need for irrigation; rainwater will leave the site at the same rate as it entered; micro-bioretention areas will filter stormwater bound for waterways; and paint with low levels of volatile organic compounds will contribute to better indoor air quality.
