Elementary school coming to Fairwood

A day care center, 30-acre park, office building and assisted-living facility are also planned to be built in area

‘‘The schematic designs are currently being developed and will be presented to the [school] board in May,” White said.

The school, which will be located at the intersection of Church Road and Fairwood Parkway and accommodate a total of 788 students, is expected to open in August 2010, White said.

Approximately $650,000 was included in the county’s fiscal 2008 budget for planning of the elementary school, White said.

The total cost of planning and construction of the school is expected to be $25.5 million.

Fairwood is a planned community just outside the city limits of Bowie that includes more than 1,800 homes set amidst several different neighborhoods, according to Mark Thompson, the vice president of land sales at the Columbia-based General Growth Properties, Inc., the development company behind Fairwood.

The elementary school will sit on a 15-acre site within the boundaries of the community, Thompson said.

Steve Brigham, a Fairwood resident who serves on the community’s Education Task Force, said the most prominent feature of the school will be an ‘‘outdoor learning courtyard” where students can congregate and work on science and art projects.

White said the school’s design also incorporates ‘‘green initiatives.”

‘‘A lot of areas will be lit by natural light and the heating and cooling system will incorporate green efficiencies,” White said.

Students expected to attend the elementary school will come from the Fairwood community and also from the Glenn Dale area, White said.

Some students who will attend the school currently go to Glenn Dale Elementary, Brigham said.

White said exact boundaries to determine which children will attend Fairwood Elementary will be drawn up a year before the school’s opening.

Brigham, whose 4-year-old daughter will be in first grade when Fairwood Elementary opens, said residents have been focused on bringing a school to the community since its inception in 2002. He said members of the community were heavily involved in selecting the Calverton-based architectural firm Grimm and Parker and made suggestions on how the school should be designed during several community meetings with the architect.

‘‘It’s a pretty connected community with unanimous support for a new elementary school,” Brigham said.

The master plan for the community set aside a specific site for the school in proximity to residential dwellings. Brigham said that was an important selling point for many of the community’s current residents.

‘‘A lot of people moved here because there was already that site for a school,” Brigham said.

Because of the school’s proximity to residential areas, Brigham said students who go to Fairwood Elementary will walk to school, bike there or be dropped off by parents. No buses will be necessary, he said.

Carl Bradley, a Fairwood resident who also serves on the community’s Education Task Force, said the increased amount of students and parents walking to the school will spur additional contact among residents.

‘‘People mostly use their cars to get around and there’s not a lot of foot traffic in this area,” said Bradley, whose 3-year-old son will attend the school when it opens. ‘‘I think it’s going to be a big plus to have more people walking.”

Bradley said he expects parents to be greatly involved in the school.

‘‘Most of us have a direct vested interest in the school’s construction and the ongoing operation of the school,” Bradley said. ‘‘It’s local. It’s community-based. So the children are going to be engaged as well as the parents.”

The community already includes the Fairwood Green Retail Village shopping center and in addition to the elementary school, there are plans for a day care center, 30-acre park, office building and assisted-living facility to be built within the boundaries of the community, according to a press release from The Ventures Group, which is handling marketing for the developer.

Thompson said the new elementary school would be a focal point for the community.

‘‘An elementary school in terms of a use within a community is really considered the heart of the community,” Thompson said. ‘‘We’re very excited that Fairwood Elementary will be a part of this community and also be able to serve areas beyond Fairwood.”

E-mail Jonathan Stein at jstein@gazette.net.