Crofton High School Ground-Breaking Ceremony Held

CROFTON, MD - From County Executive Steve Schuh: County Executive Steve Schuh, Superintendent George Arlotto and other county officials Thursday afternoon broke ground on the new Crofton Area High School.

“Welcome to history. After decades of waiting, Crofton residents finally will have a first-class high school for their community,” said Schuh. “Crofton High School is a perfect example of our initiative to accelerate school construction in Anne Arundel County.”

The Crofton High School project is a $124.5 million, 275,768 square foot incrementally new high school that serve approximately 1700 students when it is completed. The enrollment in its first year is projected to be ten percent lower than the average high school enrollment in the county.

“This new high school is not only our first incrementally new high school in more than 30 years, it is the first real, tangible step in creating smaller, neighborhood schools,” said Schuh.

The ground-breaking ceremony was held a day after the Board of Education approved nearly $61 million in contracts for the project. The school will be Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ first new high school in nearly 40 years when it opens to students in September 2020. It will bring the number of high schools in the county to 14.

“This is an exciting project for all of us because we anticipate it helping us to bring students in the Crofton community who are currently split between two high schools back together,” Superintendent George Arlotto said. “We are looking forward to that day three years from now when we can open the doors and begin a new journey in this building.”

Construction on the 276,000 square-foot facility is scheduled to begin in December. The school will be located off Davidsonville Road in the current Crofton Park.

The last incrementally new high school constructed in the county is Broadneck High School, which was completed in 1982.

Other projects in the six year capital plan and funded in FY 2018 include:

New School/Replacement

• Arnold Elementary (construction) $41 million
• Jessup Elementary (construction) $45.2 million

Modernization/Revitalization

• Manor View Elementary (construction) $34.4 million
• High Point Elementary (construction) $40.5 million
• George Cromwell Elementary (construction) $32.7 million
• Edgewater Elementary (design) $40.2 million
• Tyler Heights Elementary (design) $38.1 million
• Richard Henry Lee (design) $34.6 million

These capital projects were made possible through the JumpStart Anne Arundel capital project financing program. Enacted in 2015, the capital plan embraces a 30-year bond financing option. This reform has allowed Anne Arundel County to expand its capital funding program and make critical school, public safety, road, and quality of life infrastructure improvements from Brooklyn Park to Pasadena to Annapolis to Odenton.

Photo courtesy of The Office of The Anne Arundel County Executive, Steve Schuh