A feasibility study on expanding the WJ campus was presented to staff on Oct. 15, and while there is no current recommendation for an expansion, the superintendent has requested further analysis–including a roundtable discussion–on how WJ will accommodate an expanding student body.
There are three proposals for an addition, all of which include 38 additional teaching spaces featuring seminar, resource and departmental rooms as well as new tech, art and science laboratories.
Due primarily to the massive growth and development in the region, WJ’s student population is projected to approach 3,000 students in the coming years.
“No one saw that we would ever have a need for 3,200 students in this high school,” Debbie Szyfer, senior facilities planner at MCPS, said.
Since WJ’s campus is surrounded on all sides by major roads, space to expand is limited. It is difficult to accommodate everyone’s requests into one final design–whether it is Principal Jennifer Baker’s desire for a bigger gym, Administrator Regina Rodriguez’s dream of a larger personal closet, science teacher Joan McDermott’s expectation for more lockers, or students’ desire for more parking spaces.
Senior Madison Moss, who drives to school daily, fears the repercussions of fewer parking spaces.
“It’s just going to be more competitive to get a parking permit,” Moss said. “At [Winston Churchill High School], people pay [other students] who live close to the school to park at their house during the day. I don’t think WJ kids will do that, but I think people will be fighting over [parking permits] way more.”
For those expecting a repeat of 2007’s infamous portable city, fear not.
“I think we could do this addition without adding portables,” Paul Falkenbury, the architect behind the future renovation, said.
But while the addition may not warrant the addition of portables, a quickly growing student population may.
“I’m not completely confident that we won’t need portables after next year. I know we’ve already talked about that,” Baker said.
Szyfer echoed Baker’s sentiment.
“We may not be using portables because of the construction that’s happening, but we are very likely going to have to use portables on site just to accommodate people until we have a solution for an addition or some other plan,” Szyfer said.
At this moment, however, any expansion is still an “if.” The next community meeting on the expansion is scheduled for Nov. 17.
