A groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the Paint Branch High School modernization project will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010, on the site of the new building at 14121 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville.

Montgomery County Board of Education President Patricia O’Neill, Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett and Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen are among the scheduled speakers for the event.

Paint Branch High School Principal Jeanette Dixon, PTSA President Mark Weiser, and former PTSA President and emcee Don Hauprich will welcome a number of other distinguished guests. Board of Education members, other elected officials, students, staff, community members, and representatives from the Mosley architectural/engineering firm, school system construction and planning staff, and HESS Construction + Engineering Services have been invited to the celebration. This is a Northeast Consortium-wide event, with all schools in the consortium invited. The Paint Branch Symphonic Band will provide musical entertainment and the Paint Branch NROTC will present the colors. Light refreshments will follow the ceremony.

The new building, scheduled to be completed in 2012, will have 93 classrooms, including 12 science labs, a 900-seat auditorium and a greenhouse. The entire campus, scheduled to be finished in 2013, will have a new football/soccer stadium, a track located around a practice field and 400-500 parking spaces. A third access road will be added near the southwest corner of the campus for buses, and fields available for use by the whole community will be placed near Old Columbia Pike.

In 2007, Principal Dixon, anticipating the impact of the new building on the students and community, said, “It will be beautiful and inspire those who learn there. We hope it will be the jewel of Burtonsville. We’ll have everything we need to deliver our outstanding educational programs.”

For further information about this event contact Patti Twigg at 301-384-3847 or lptwigg@verizon.net.