Woodward High School is ready for students

 

Montgomery County Public Schools has been re-building Woodward High School for the past several years.  They demolished the old building in the Spring of 2021 and since then I have posted quite a lot about the construction progress. (See them all here.)

After all this time, the school is finally ready for students.  A couple of caveats apply though. First, the school isn't completely done, there are not yet athletic fields or a theater, or a couple of other things, and second, it isn't reopening as Woodward yet.  For the next few years Northwood High School will be based here while the rebuild that building.

Northwood will be here when the school year starts on Monday. Yes, it is just days away from a new school year.

 

Here's the school from the Southwest, there is a large parking lot, I think for bus drop-off, and, in the bottom right, the shadow of me taking the picture.

The school is set a ways back from the road and the sidewalk will also be moved back from the edge of the road a bit.

 

 

 

Woodward High School update

Woodward High School from Old Georgetown Road

I last posted about the construction of the new Woodward High School in August. On the surface, it doesn't look like much has happened since then. There is a bit more cladding on some parts of the building, and one of the parking lots is beginning to take shape.  I'm sure a lot more has been going on inside.
 

Woodward is scheduled to have phase one complete by August of this year. At that time, Northwood High School is supposed to move in for 3 years. This is a year longer than originally planned and is due to budget restrictions.  That means that Charles W. Woodward won't open for students of its own until August of 2027.

 

South side of Woodward H.S.

The boundary study for the new Woodward H.S. was approved last March but there haven't been updates since then.

Here is the south side of the new school with a future parking lot prominently in the foreground.  The portion of the school facing Old Georgetown Road is to the left.

 

 

Woodward High School construction update for August, 2023

 

My last update on the construction of the new Woodward High School on Old Georgetown Road was back in February, so it is time for another one. To Recap, in Spring of 2021, the old Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School was torn down. A new Woodward High School is being built in the same location. When the first phase is complete, it will be used as a holding school for two years while Northwood High School is rebuilt. Originally, Northwood was supposed to move here for the 2023-2024 school year (as in now), but that was delayed by one year due to fiscal constraints. Now Northwood will use this school for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years and it will re-open as Woodward H.S. for the 2026-2027 school year.  The budget for this project is 196 million dollars. Full details are in the budget.

 I actually like the yellow-and-orange-with-green-lines motif, it's different and fresh.  They are covering it up with bricks though.

There is also some information about the planning for the school on the MCPS Charles W. Woodward High School Reopening Project page.  I find these project pages get some updates early in the process then nothing until the project is complete, so information there is out-of-date.  You can find all my posts on Woodward H.S. here.

Another Woodward High School construction update

 I last posted an update about the construction of the new Woodward High School back in October of last year, so it is time for another one.  The old Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School was demolished in the spring of 2021 and since then they have been working on a new school to take its place.

The three stories of the school have the steel frame up and floors (as well as the roof) are installed. This is quite a bit further along than it was in October, then only about half the building was framed and there were no floors. (See the above link for photos.)

One side of the building has the walls in progress, green insulation has been put up on part of it.

ere is a view of the construction of the new Woodward High School as seen from across Old Georgetown Road (Maryland Route 187).  You can see the new bike lanes in this area.

Woodward High School construction update

 

Woodward High School construction continues.  The steel frame of the building is up and a cinderblock core exists on the left side of it.  The plan is to have it ready for the 2022-2023 school year and move Northwood High School there for two years while that building gets rehabilitated.  After that it will re-open although the school boundaries haven't been determined yet.

Charles W. Woodward High School was established in 1966 and closed in 1987, it's students were re-districted to Walter Johnson High School. The building was used by Springbrook High School while it was being renovated then by Tilden Middle School while their facilities were re-built. Demolition of the old building started in February of 2021 (see below for posts I did about the demolition).

I actually took these pictures a week ago but was too busy to put them up. I don't think that much has changed in a week.

Previous update:

• Woodward High School construction (July 22, 2022)
  

  
   

Updates about the demolition of the old building:

• The demolition of Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School (March 29, 2021)
  

• Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School demolition update (April 19, 2021)
  

• Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School demolition: another update (May 7, 2021)
  

Woodward High School construction

 

The old Woodward High School (and Tilden Middle School) was demolished in the Spring of 2021 (see my posts here and here and here). Since then there hasn't been much to see. It has just been flat, bare ground with a construction fence around it.  They hadn't forgotten about it, but the work that was done wasn't very visible.  Now that has changed.  The are three stories of steel girders up outlining part of the new school.

Most of the site is still vacant, but there are piles of construction material in some places.

This project is officially called the "Charles W. Woodward High School Reopening Project" and you can get the full details of MCPS's plans at that link.  Construction will be in two phases.  Phase 1 will end at the start of the 2023 school year when it will be a holding school for Northwood HS while that school gets extensive remodeling.  For the 2025 school year it will be reopened as Woodward High School (unless the name gets changed). The boundaries for the new school haven't been determined but it is expected to relieve the crowding at local high schools such as Walter Johnson HS.

There will be a Phase 2 which will have at least a second gymnasium, auditorium, and athletic site amenities the timing for this phase is to start in the summer of 2023 and be finished in time for the 2025 school year.

The portables are gone at Walt Whitman High School

 

Notice anything different?  For the past few years there have been portable classrooms in this section of the parking lot, since the new wing is open they are no longer needed and have been removed.

Here's how this part of the parking lot looked earlier this year with the portables still in place.

You can tell exactly where the portables were because the blacktop has square patches where the classrooms were anchored down.

The new sign is now (mostly) done, proudly proclaiming the name of the school.  The black rectangle should get an LED variable message sign at some point in the future.

Here's the new classroom wing. The building is ready but there is still work that needs to be done on landscaping, water retention, and paving. Even though the parking lot has been striped, it has not been paved to be even to the curp bottom, another layer of blacktop is still to be added.

I understand that they might not want water going into the water retention areas yet since they are not complete, but it seems like an overkill and more permenant than needed to brick the drainage cuts up.

Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School demolition: another update

 

The demolition of Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda (or Rockville if you want to call it that) is complete.  The building is entirely gone and all the debris cleared away.  The only evidence of its existence is the concrete slab the school was set on.

A few trees that were in front of the school remain, looking a bit lonely behind the construction fence.  If I were them, I would be nervous.

The slab itself is in the process of being removed. In a few places it was above the ground on short concrete pillars.

Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School demolition update

 

The demolition of Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda is almost complete, only the front right part of the school with the school name and one rear wall remain. I am happy they left the wall with the name until the end.

Here's a wider shot, the school used to cover the whole left side and more. The three trees you see still standing are directly across from the exit to Old Georgetown Road.

From the rear, you can see very little of the school remains, just part of the back wall and the front right corner are left.  Much of the rubble has also been cleared. Next to the back wall there is a pile of wood and to the right of the front wall is a pile of crushed cinder block.

You often don't realize how big a building is until its gone.  This was taken from the side of the school, looking towards the remaining walls.  Towards the front is a pile of scrap metal.  Most of the metal and other rubble has already been removed.

The school opened in the late 1960's as Charles W. Woodward High School. Due to declining enrollment, the school was closed in the late 1980's. It later housed Tilden Middle school while that school was it was undergoing a major renovation.  Tilden moved out in the summer of 2020.

After the site is cleared, a new high school will be built here and will be used as a holding school for two years while Northwood High School is rebuilt.  In 2025 the school will reopen for students, probably as Woodward High School, however it may also be renamed as Josiah Hensen High School.

The demolition of Woodward High School / Tilden Middle School

Montgomery County Public Schools is replacing the former Tilden Middle School (At Charles W. Woodward) with a new high school.  Before it was Tilden, it was Woodward High School.  The building is being razed and a new building will be raised. It will re-open as Woodward High School in a few years.

 

Demolition is well under way at the site. There are piles of rebar, metal beam, and other bits of the building. Here you can see some what good venilation they have for these classrooms.

The far wall of this exposed hallway has red and yellow lockers lining it. There are piles of rubble in the foreground on both sides.

 

A section of the wall has been torn out to allow work crews to access the building more easily.

Hawk beacons at Democracy Blvd and Walter Johnson H.S. are now working

I noticed that the new  HAWK beacons are now active along Democracy Blvd near Walter Johnson High School.  HAWK beacons are normally dark, but when activated by a pedestrian, they turn yellow, then red.  This provides a safe opportunity for people to cross the street.

This is a very important place to have them since (in normal years when children actually go to school buildings) many kids cross this busy street on their way to and from school.  They also make it easier to walk from the neighborhood to the Giant Food store and other shops at Georgetown Square. These signals are a big improvement over the old flashing yellow crosswalk signals since those were always active even when no one was around.  These only activate when a person pushes the button for the walk signal.

There are two of them, one for each of the two crosswalks that flank Davis Library.  When activated you have 30 seconds to cross the street, which is more than enough time for most people to cross.

Walt Whitman High School Construction Update

Walt Whitman High School is in the middle of a 24.5 million dollar expansion.  I first posted about this in early March of this year when they started tearing down the old Whittier Woods Elementary School, but now things look a lot different.

The building is just beginning to take shape, with some of the steel beams and concrete block walls being put up.  In the foreground there will eventually be a parking lot.

 

 The existing Walt Whitman H.S. is on the left, the road goes to the loading dock.  On the right is where the new expansion connects to the school.

For comparison, here is a photo I took back in 2008 when the school was still standing.

If you'd like more information about what is going on, here is an article on Bethesda Beat about the expansion, and you can look at this PDF of the different options they considered.

RIP Whittier Woods ES

 The demolition has started on the old site of Whittier Woods Elementary school located on Whittier Blvd in Bethesda, MD.

The building is being torn down to make way for the expansion of Walt Whitman High School next door.  When completed the addition will house a dance studio, five science labs and 18 classrooms and will also have a courtyard area.

This site most recently held Petals Child Development Center, and before that whittier Woods Center / Kenwood Park Children's Center.

The front part of the building is completely torn down, but a significant part of the back of the building remains.

This Saturday the demolition was still proceeding, moving debris and sorting the metal from the rest.

By the end of the day all was quiet and there were piles of neatly sorted rubble.  Bricks in one spot, metal in another, and a big pile of wood and miscellaneous construction bits.  There is still part of the building standing so they are not done.