By Claire Burnett, The Current Co-Editor-in-Chief
The long awaited name for Howard County’s new High School 13 is finally here: Guilford Park High School. On Wednesday 9 February 2023, the Howard County Board of Education made their final decision for the school’s official name. Until now, the school has simply been referred to as “High School 13.”
Plans for Guilford Park High School have been in the making for almost five years now, with construction for the school starting in April of 2020. The school, which will accommodate over 1,500 students, is located in Jessup, Maryland on Mission Road. As for the design of the school, it is the same layout as Marriotts Ridge, Long Reach, and Reservoir.
Guilford Park will officially be open next school year in August 2023. To populate this new school, there will only be freshman and sophomore classes next year. Redistricting plans will be finalized in the summer, and it is expected that schools in eastern Howard County like Hammond will be most affected. Redistricting will also affect each grade differently; Rising sophomores and juniors can choose to stay at their current school or go to their newly assigned school, rising seniors must stay at their current school, and rising freshmen must go to their newly assigned school.
Besides the layout and location of the school, the actual name of High School 13 has been a topic of discussion ever since planning for the school started. A committee of staff, students, and members of the community have been tasked with finding a fitting name for the school. Because of HCPSS Policy 6050, schools must be named after geographical features in the area and they cannot be named after people. For example, Reservoir High School is named after the Rocky Gorge Reservoir and Centennial High School is named after Centennial Lane.
In October, a form was sent out to the community asking for name suggestions. In the beginning of January, names such as Quarry Rock and Quarry Heights were strong contenders for High School 13 as suggested by the committee, but they were later advised to not use the word “quarry” in the name because of the connection to an “ongoing commercial enterprise,” according to the Board of Education.
After the final vote on February 9th, High School 13 officially became Guilford Park High School, with the school colors being blue and green. This new name has stirred up varying opinions among Howard County students, with some loving the new name, and some wishing that they used other names like Mission High. However, it seems to be a common trend that many students haven’t yet heard of the new high school. When asked about Guilford Park, junior Charlotte Krausz questioned “Is that the new school?” Sophomore Mischa Nowrangi also commented “I don’t have a strong opinion about the name. It’s not bad.” Despite not hearing about Guilford Park before, Mischa added “They should probably choose a different name that is also based around the area.”
Although sophomore Allison Xu also did not know about Guilford Park, she was in support of the name, commenting “I haven’t heard of the school but it sounds like a nice name.” Indifferent to the name, Charlotte added “I mean it’s a generic high school name and I still don’t know what it’s named after.” She also added “Bureaucracy is slow enough as it is; I’m just glad they found a name.”
Many students seem unsure about this new school, which could partly be due to the fact that the River Hill area will not be strongly affected by redistricting. In the final stages of development, construction on Guilford Park High School will continue through the summer until its grand opening in August 2023.