Subscribe
Public Safety

MCPS finishes assessing the condition of 224 buildings. Here are the worst.

Two Gaithersburg schools among the most in need of repair After introducing a revised method to assess building conditions last August, a Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) contractor has finished assessing 224 buildings owned by the county...

Dan Murphy • •2 min read
MCPS finishes assessing the condition of 224 buildings. Here are the worst.
Family & Education

MCPS finishes assessing the condition of 224 buildings. Here are the worst.

Two Gaithersburg schools among the most in need of repair

By

Ashlyn Campbell

July 31, 2026 11:50 a.m.

Share

Facebook X ReddIt Email Print Copy URL
    Quince Orchard High Building
    The main entrance to Quince Orchard High School. Photo credit: G. Edward Johnson

    After introducing a revised method to assess building conditions last August, a Montgomery County Public Schools’ (MCPS) contractor has finished assessing 224 buildings owned by the county school board – Summit Hall Elementary School and Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg are among the worst. 

    Previously, MCPS used “key facility indicators” to measure building conditions. The color-coded system identified whether physical systems of a given building were “trending positive,” needing review or “nearing the end of anticipated life span.”   

    According to the MCPS website, the district contracted Bureau Veritas Technical Assessments in February to conduct facility assessments of schools, offices and holding centers built before 2023.  

    The building reviews include assessing aspects such as roofs, plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems. Instead of using its former system of key facility indicators, the district is now using a metric known as the facility condition index depleted value as the main measure of building conditions.  

    - Advertisement -

    According to the MCPS website, an initial batch of schools were assessed at the end of the 2024-2025 school year, with the remaining buildings being assessed over the 2025-2026 school year.  

    The finished assessments comes before the district embarks on an elementary and middle school closure process and elementary school boundary study, set to begin in August.  

    “As part of this facility condition without a doubt will play an impact in this,” Andrea Swiatocha, deputy chief of facilities management told the school board on July 16.  

    The elementary schools with the highest depleted values include:  

    Sponsored

    AI Contracts: What Every Business Owner Needs to Know

    Maryland Dog Bite Laws: What Victims Need to Know About Liability and Compensation

    Featured Now

    • Summit Hall Elementary in Gaithersburg with 0.727 
    • Piney Branch Elementary in Takoma Park with roughly 0.715 
    • Burning Tree Elementary in Bethesda with 0.702 
    • Beall Elementary in Rockville with a score of nearly 0.697 
    • Stone Mill Elementary in North Potomac with 0.696 

    The study comes on the heels of a middle and high school boundary study that resulted in the school board approving in March boundary lines that will permanently move Rockville’s Thomas S. Wootton High School into the upcoming Crown High in Gaithersburg — along with sweeping changes to the district’s programming model.     

    The middle and high schools with the highest depleted values include: 

    • Quince Orchard High in Gaithersburg with  0.694 
    • Col. Zadok Magruder High in Rockville with 0.649 
    • Earle B. Wood Middle in Rockville with 0.625  
    • Westland Middle in Bethesda with 0.625  
    • Thomas S. Wootton High in Rockville with 0.625 

    The entire list of schools, their scores and the accompanying report can be found here.  

    Digital Partners

    Originally published at Bethesdamagazine