Community Says Goodbye to Herbert Hoover Middle School

Potomac residents said their final goodbyes to on Wednesday evening as the community prepares for the site’s modernization.

The school, which opened in 1965, will undergo modernization during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years. The new middle school is scheduled to open in August 2013.

Principal Billie-Jean Bensen said she is looking forward to the new school and the upgraded features that will come with it like the separation of grade levels by floor, central heating and air conditioning, better placement of the playing fields and a building designed with the students’ safety in mind.

“The [current] building is still in very good shape, but we are looking forward to having a new building that will better suit the students and teachers,” said Bensen, who has been the school’s principal for eight years. “It’s been a long process, but we are excited to move into the new school.”

The school will not only enhance student life, but also add to the community’s appeal, said Hoover PTA President Janette Gilman.

“This is a good thing and the community is excited about the new building, especially with this new school and ,” Gilman said. “This is going to be the same school, but just different bricks and mortar.”

Herbert Hoover will be in the Tilden Holding Center during the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years.