Coming Soon: New Elementary School in Clarksburg

Montgomery County Public Schools will open its 203rd school, a new elementary school to serve the Clarksburg cluster, in Aug. of 2014. The new elementary school, located at 12420 Blue Sky Drive in Clarksburg, will address dramatic enrollment growth in the Clarksburg cluster and will help alleviate space deficits at Cedar Grove and Little Bennett elementary schools.

In accordance with Board of Education policy, a Boundary Advisory Committee was created to review options for the new school’s attendance zone. The committee met from March to May and included six representatives from Cedar Grove Elementary School, five representatives from Little Bennett Elementary School, and two PTA cluster coordinators from the Clarksburg cluster. The group evaluated ten options and provided a report to Dr. Starr and MCPS staff in June.

Enrollment in Clarksburg cluster elementary schools has been growing rapidly and both Little Bennett and Cedar Grove are currently well over capacity. Dr. Starr’s recommendation will fully relieve space deficits at Little Bennett and will significantly reduce space deficits at Cedar Grove, although the school will still be over capacity.

The new Clarksburg Cluster Elementary School will accommodate most of the projected enrollment growth in the area around the school, however, another elementary school will be needed in the future to address continued enrollment across the cluster.

“This new elementary school will provide much-needed classroom space in the Clarksburg cluster and will give relief to two of our most crowded schools,” Dr. Starr said. “But as the Clarksburg community continues to grow, we are going to have to build additional elementary schools for the students that are here now and those that are coming in the future.”

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