Wheaton and Edison High Look at Both Options for Modernization

It was supposed to be too tight of a fit: two schools on space-limited, 28.2 acre campus with no holding school to help speed construction along. But even the consultants were surprised about how many potential building schemes for and High Schools modernization project have been created, discussed and either discarded or pushed onto the next round.

Teachers, administrators and other committee members gathered in a meeting room in Edison High School Tuesday afternoon for the final work session and second to last meeting on feasibility studies for both a one building and two building solution.

The Board of Education changed course in March after receiving Superintendent Jerry Weast's recommendation that the modernization process' end should be one building with reduced administrative staff at Edison. After a meeting in which both students and teachers from each school testified, the Board , without prejudice towards either.

The Department of Facilities Management will have to present the Board with two possible building schemes: one with the two schools in one building and one with two buildings. 

Both principals of Wheaton and Edison say the Board's decision has cleared the air and allowed both schools to feel like it is their decision, 

"The climate is just different, in positive ways." said Principal Carlos Hamlin of Edison "This process allows for the community and students to ask questions."

Hamlin, who has worked in the area for most of his educational career, added that he was in favor of two schools when it comes time to make a decision.

"This community deserves two world-class facilities that support their respective missions."

Kevin Lowndes, principal of Wheaton High School, said much the same last week, adding that the work sessions had been akin to a "healing process" between the two schools.

Consultants from Grimm and Parker showed updated renderings of each scheme being considered. At the meeting, two options deemed for further study at the previous work session were taken off the table: a two building option which reused the 2001 addition to Wheaton High School for the part of the new Edison, but created program accessibility problems, and a one building option that had limited parking and that committee members felt didn't differentiate the two schools enough.

The two remaining schemes (A2 and B2 - see photos) would have been the all-but-final submissions to the Board, except for some late-breaking information from Parks and Planning: the softball field might be in play.

The softball field currently in the northeast corner of the Wheaton-Edison campus is owned by Parks and Planning, and as a result, could not be moved or built on by MCPS. 

But the facilities department said they had gotten some "positive feedback" from with Parks and Planning that building on the existing field, in exchange for rebuilding it in a different part of the campus, was a option, according to project manager Dennis Cross. 

This opens up two possibilities: a one-building scheme where Wheaton and Edison are connected in the northeast corner and a two-building scheme where Wheaton and Edison stay in their respective positions in the campus, but are pushed out further into the corners, preventing the schools from being rebuilt in multiple phases.

The softball-field related schemes weren't sketched out in the level of detail as the other schemes Tuesday afternoon, as Cross said they'd just spoken to Parks on Monday, but a more detailed sketch will be available at the next public meeting on June 7 at 7 p.m. in the Wheaton High School media center.