Neelsville Middle School has a short but layered history that mirrors the growth of the Germantown area and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).
The original school building on the Neelsville site was constructed in 1981 and served as the home of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School for fifteen years. In 1996, Martin Luther King MS moved into a newly constructed building approximately three miles away, clearing the way for a new school to occupy the site.
In a 1996 WaPo article, Dan Beyers wrote, “The staff at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School has been busy this summer moving its school — name and all — to a brand-new building in Germantown so the county’s newest middle school, Neelsville, can take up residence this fall in King’s old building.”
Later that summer, Neelsville Middle School staff and students moved into the original facility, which was refreshed and updated ahead of its opening. The school was officially dedicated to the students and community it serves on May 18, 1997.
In recent years, Montgomery County Public Schools constructed a brand-new Neelsville Middle School on the same site as the original building. The new facility reopened in August 2024, marking a major milestone for the school community. The new Neelsville Middle School includes six additional classrooms and was designed for a master-planned capacity of 1,190 students, allowing the school to better serve current enrollment and future growth in the area.
The school’s name honors the small historic community of Neelsville, which once existed in the area where the school now stands. While the community itself no longer exists, its name continues through the school and its long-standing connection to the surrounding neighborhood.
