New Schools in KingsContrivance: Relief for the Southeast

In 2012, redistricting on the Elementary Level will take place to provide relief to unprecedented growth and overcrowding in a hand full of Schools. Fulton Elementary will play a key role to directly relieve overcrowding at Gorman Crossing Elementary and indirectly relieve Atholton and Guilford Elementaries by opening up space at Hammond Elementary. Although this change is welcome, the southeast will continue to grow beyond its capacity at both the Elementary and Middle School levels. The County realizes the need for a new Elementary School in the southeast but has yet to realize the need for a new Middle School in the same region.
The southeast includes Columbia's Kings Contrivance Village, whose overcrowding will be subdued at the beginning of the coming School Year by adding Hammond Elementary into the equation. Now for the new Elementary School in the Southeast, the County will have to secure a
new site somewhere in the region to build it. I'm sure like in the case of the Northeast they will look in the Route 1 Corridor but maybe they're already sitting on a few viable School Sites right in our beloved Columbia.
The Kings Contrivance Neighborhoods of Dickinson (pictured above) and Huntington both have sites that were reserved for Elementary Schools but existing Schools such as Atholton, Guilford, Bollman Bridge (which was essentially the rebuilt Savage Elementary) have served the Village and later this year, so will Hammond. I think the Dickinson site will be the optimal site for the new Southeast Elementary School because not only will Atholton continue to grow in size but Hammond will be needed to provide relief for Gorman Crossing, Laurel Woods, Forest Ridge, and Bollman Bridge. Dickinson Elementary will produce a domino effect of redistricting that should provide region wide relief.
Dickinson Elementary (my vision for it pictured above) won't be large in size it only needs a Capacity of about 450 but its impact will be huge. The Neighborhood of Dickinson in 2015, the projected opening date of the new School will be served by Atholton and Hammond Elementaries while Huntington will be served by Hammond and Bollman Bridge. The Dickinson Elementary District will include the Dickinson Neighborhood south of Guilford Road, Kings Meade Way, and Huntington west of I-95 pulling from the three mentioned Schools.
Atholton will not receive any additional Students given its small capacity of 387. Bollman Bridge will receive from Deep Run the area southeast of I-95 and Route 175, Hammond will receive from Gorman Crossing the proposed Wincopia Farms Development and from Laurel Woods
the Canterbury Riding and Whiskey Run Developments. Gorman Crossing will receive Emerson East of I-95 from Forest Ridge and Forest Ridge will share the Laurel Park Station Development with Laurel Woods.
Now we've seen how in 2015 Dickinson Elementary can provide relief to the entire Southeast but just like clock work a few years after massive Elementary growth, massive Middle School growth will follow. I'm proposing a new Southeast Middle School to open by 2018. The three existing Middle Schools in this region are Hammond, Murray Hill (pictured above), and Patuxent Valley (pictured below). All three Schools will be way overcrowded and the County will again have to look for a new site suitable for a Middle School. And wouldn't you know it? Kings Contrivance also has a Middle School Site? It's right next to the Village Center and Hammond High.
Like most new Middle Schools in Howard County Kings Contrivance Middle will have a capacity of 662 and will draw from the entire Dickinson Elementary, the Kings Meade Neighborhood, Macgills Common, and the Glen Oaks Neighborhood. Whether this School District can fill a
capacity of 662 is yet to be seen.
Kings Contrivance Middle was created from Hammond and Patuxent Valley Middles and in order to back fill their districts they will draw from Murray Hill Middle, the School that will be the most crowded. Hammond Middle will receive from Murray Hill, Harvest Way, Settlers Landing, Wyndmere, and Wincopia Farms. Patuxent Valley will receive Kings Woods, Northgate Woods, Country Meadows Apartments, and Hammond's Promise Overlook. Patuxent Valley will have already given the portion of Jessup above the train tracks to Mayfield Woods in 2015 when Long Reach Middle is due to open.
By opening new Schools on sites long reserved for new Schools in Columbia, a domino effect of redistricting can provide relief for an entire region.