Several members of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) administration, including Superintendent Millard House II, attended the February 25 worksession of the Greenbelt City Council. The discussion covered recent federal changes, the academic performance of Greenbelt schools, a possible shared use agreement for Greenbelt Middle School athletic fields and the Springhill Lake Elementary School building project.
House noted that PGCPS had responded to recent changes in federal immigration policy enforcement by creating an immigration resource hub. He said that there was no increase in absences or withdrawals from the many immigrant children in county schools.
State Report Cards
PGCPS Chief Accountability Officer Douglas Strader shared information on the academic performance of Greenbelt schools. The English and math test scores of Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) (K-8), Eleanor Roosevelt High School (ERHS), Greenbelt Elementary (GES), Greenbelt Middle School (GMS) and Springhill Lake Elementary (SHL) have all been relatively stable over the last year, he reported. GES dropped 4.1 percent in math proficiency from school year (SY) 23 to SY 24, while DKFI improved 4.5 percent in math proficiency levels. GES, SHL and GMS performed below state averages in English and math. ERHS performed below the state average in math but made the greatest change among Greenbelt schools between SY 23 and SY 24 with a 7.7 percent improvement in math proficiency, and it performed above the state average in English. DKFI performed above state averages in both English and math. GES will be getting additional support as it has been identified as an Additional Target Support and Improvement School (ATSI) due to academic shortfalls (see the January 30 issue).
Strader pointed to the high number of multilingual students learning to speak English as a factor in Greenbelt schools performing below state averages. At SHL the rate of multilingual students is approximately 50 percent compared to a 10 percent state average; he also noted as contributing factors the autism program at GES and a GMS special education program called the Community Reference Instructional Program which serves 50 of the most needy students. Councilmember Jenni Pompi pointed out that GMS is also a TAG school but Strader did not have the number of TAG students at the school.
GMS Fields
Several councilmembers noted that the City of Greenbelt has been seeking to partner with PGCPS for more than six years to have access to the Greenbelt Middle School athletic fields in exchange for helping with maintenance. PGCPS expressed willingness to explore the idea. Councilmember Silke Pope pointed out that while willingness had been expressed before, no concrete steps have been taken. PGCPS Chief Operating Officer Charoscar Coleman said that they were committed to restarting the conversation about the athletic fields.
Springhill Lake Plans
Shawn Matlock, PGCPS Director of Alternative Infrastructure Planning and Development, presented the design for the new Springhill Lake Elementary School. Work on the site is scheduled to begin in August 2026 and the new school should be ready for occupancy by July 2028. During construction, Springhill Lake students will relocate to the former Greenbelt Middle School building currently occupied by DKFI, which is scheduled to move in 2026 to Lanham, where it will share a building with the Robert Goddard Montessori School.
Councilmembers expressed concern about SHL’s relocation to the DKFI building due to its poor heating and cooling systems. They also expressed concern that the 850-student capacity of the new Springhill Lake building would be inadequate.
