Anne Arundel school officials are saving money by patterning new schools using the same design.
The latest example is Freetown Elementary School in Glen Burnie, where construction began recently, which mirrors the design of Seven Oaks and Pasadena elementary schools.
“It?s a repeat copy,” said Anne Arundel?s chief facility officer Alex Szachnowicz. “It saves us money on design fees, and it also saves us time.”
The only differences are changes related to the landscape, he added.
The $18.4 million project, approved by the Board of Education in 2005, is expected to be finished by June 2009, school system spokesman Bob Mosier said.
The old elementary school on Freetown Road will be demolished and used for parking and playing fields, officials said.
The new school next to the current one will have a “true, standalone media center,” Szachnowicz said. The current school used a classroom as a library since it was built in 1958.
Other amenities of the new school include separate rooms for science and art; two music rooms, one for instruments and another for vocalists; a gym; and a cafetorium.
“I know that having more space will really enhance the opportunities for the students,” Principal Shirley Moaney said.
The school system decided to replace the old school because of its age and the expected growth and enrollment in the area.
The new school will include almost 20,000 more square feet of space, bringing total space to 69,000 square feet.
Current enrollment at the school is 409, but it is inching closer to the state-rated capacity of 440, school officials said. The new school will have a capacity of 628.
In addition, an elementary school in Gambrills will open this fall with a planned enrollment of about 675, Szachnowicz said.
