Architects are putting the final touches on the designs for the new Park View High School and area residents last week got the chance to help.
The community on June 6 got the latest progress report on the plan to build a new high school on the Park View campus in Sterling starting this fall. The new school will come with new programs but also challenges for sports teams during the construction.
A virtual flyover of the new Park View High School presented by GWWO Architects June 6.
Meeting participants were given a sneak peek at what the building could look like and a chance to vote on the exterior building options. The choices were narrowed based on feedback after a February meeting to a grey brick with blue metal panels and a grey brick with red brick accent and grey metal panels instead of an all red brick building.
The four proposed color schemes for the new Park View High School.
Phase one of construction begins this fall with the demolition of the football stadium, followed by the building of the new school on that site.
GWWO Architects walked attendees through the site plan and floor plans as well as showed high level drawings of the exterior of the building with several different color schemes. The community is asked to provide feedback on which of the four exterior color schemes they like best.
Mike Devaney, a graduate of the class of 1980, asked that elements of the former school be added to the new school. He specifically requested a large sign made out of tiles and donated by the classes of 1979-1981 be preserved and added to the entrance of the sports stadium to connect the past with the future. Staff members said they liked the idea and would add it to their list of feedback.
The new school will be the first three-story high school in Loudoun County. It will have lots of natural light, over 700 parking spaces, all turf fields, two multi-purpose fields, a marching band observation tower a north/south facing football stadium which was preferred over the current east/west facing one and will keep the three access points to the school.
A representative from GWWO Architects shows Park View community members the site plan for the new school June 6.
The $221 million replacement project involves an estimated 295,000-square-foot building for 1,800 students in ninth through 12th grade and includes the construction of the new school, stadium, and athletic fields.
The new school is expected to open to students in fall 2027. Phase two is the demolition of the existing building and the constitution of the new athletic fields that are expected to be complete for the 2028-2029 school year.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Neil Slevin presented an update on the new Career and Technical Education programs that will be at the school.
He said, based on feedback from the last meeting, the division has made some changes to the proposed courses
“Everything I am talking about tonight is something that is going to be unique and special for the Park View campus,” Slevin said, adding that all traditional CTE courses currently offered at Park View will still be offered at the school.
New programs include a two year culinary arts program, including an enhanced culinary space and a traditional kitchen space so more students can access the program; a two-year surgical and sterile processing technician program, which is a new program not only to Park View but to the division; and a four-year electronics and engineering honors program.
A sports medicine program that had been recommend was removed based on community feedback.
“That hands on application opportunities for multiple industrial credentials allows for students to leave park View High School employable, but also set them up with options in terms of two- or four-year degree programs,” Slevin said.
Slevin said, while there isn’t a new special program being announced at the school, what they are putting in the school will give students lots of opportunities.
“We know and are still hearing that you want Park View to be that place that attracts … and we know that we’re going to get there and these programs are going to help us get to that point,” he said.
Because the student athletes are going to be displaced for about four years, the division has been looking at ways to accommodate the athletics and marching band programs during construction. Those plans involve having teams play at other fields and schools in the division.
The athletic fields at Park View will be operational until Sept. 27, according to Assistant Director of Athletics and Activities Derek Farrey. After that, football practices will be held at Claude Moore Park, with students accessing it through a pathway that will be built behind the school this summer. Farrey said games will be held at Potomac Falls and Dominion high schools and Bill Allen Field. The marching band will continue practice in its current location until students transition into the new school.
Field hockey will practice at Independence High School on Friday nights or in the gym other times and play at neutral sites. Cross Country will compete at several parks and at Rock Ridge and Woodgrove high schools. Indoor fall sports will not be impacted by the construction.
Farrey said the track team will begin practicing at Seneca Ridge Middle School, where the division plans to build a regulation six- to eight-lane track and possibly bleachers so Park View can host meets.
All winter sports will take place at Park View per the usual with the exception of indoor track which will take place at Dominion High School and Seneca Ridge Middle School.
Spring sports like baseball, softball and lacrosse will be held at Claude Moore Park, soccer will be at Seneca Ridge, tennis will be at Park View and Dominion High School, and spring track will be held at Seneca Ridge.
There will be a pre-construction presentation to the community in September.
In November 2022, during the FY2024-FY2029 Capital Improvement Program presentation, then-Superintendent Scott Ziegler recommended the school be replaced, rather than renovated after months of comments from teachers and students asking that the school be rebuilt.
At the time the 46-year-old school was set to undergo a $42 million improvement project with design funding set for 2023 and construction set to begin in 2024.
The School Board approved the $1.3 billion six year construction budget, with $221.7 million allocated for Park View. The CIP also included funding for renovations for Waterford and Banneker Elementary schools.
