Germantown

At more than 439,000 square feet, Seneca Valley High School is the largest MCPS project to have achieved certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED rating system, the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Points are assessed during project design and after construction to achieve a final rating of Certified, Silver or Gold. With Seneca Valley’s Silver certification, the total number of MCPS schools with LEED certification is 37.

“Seneca Valley High School students and families prioritized environmental consciousness throughout the design process for their new building, noting that we must all play our role in ensuring a safe and sustainable future for our children and our community,” said Dr. Marc Cohen, principal at Seneca Valley.

A time capsule was buried in 2002 by students at Spark M. Matsunaga and Longview School and was opened at an event at the school that was broadcasted live on YouTube on Friday. Some of the items included were a “Tycoon Roller Coaster” computer game, Girl Scout cookies (Samoas), a SpongeBob toy, a Maryland Basketball  National Championship flag (the team won it all in 2002), a box of 2002 Upper Deck baseball cards, a few issues of The Gazette, a roadmap of Montgomery County, a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, a Birdseye view photo of the school taken from a plane, a disposable camera, and a lot more (full video available below).

To commemorate the co-location of these schools, students raised $2,100  in 2002 for a time capsule that has been displayed at the school’s Media Center. In addition, students and their families have contributed written works and letters that will be included in the capsule. The capsule will be opened in twenty years when its count-down clock reaches zero, which will be at 10am today.