Hundreds of Howard County students, families, staff, community members and guests attended the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Guilford Park High School, located at 8500 Ridgely’s Run Road, Jessup.
The day began with a run/walk around the 42-acre GPHS campus, followed by a symbolic planting of a flower preserved from prior owners of the land and the ribbon-cutting. Once the ribbon was cut, the doors were opened for the entire community to tour the new learning center.
GPHS is on track to open its doors to approximately 800 freshmen and sophomores on the first day of school on Aug. 23. The 289,161 square foott building encompasses 40 general classrooms (including 10 flexible science classrooms) and three teaching spaces for technology education. GPHS is also home to the largest stadium in the county, with 3,517 seats.
The LEED Silver building features roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels, underground cisterns to gather rainwater and reduce the rate of run-off, micro-bioretention areas to filter impurities from stormwater before it enters the local waterways, and LED lighting fixtures.
Superintendent Michael Martirano noted that the opening of Guilford Park High School is a culmination of years of effort by many community leaders and notably Howard County taxpayers to fund the construction.