Principal of New Greenbelt School Is Eager to Hear Students Say 'Wow'

Teachers got a look at the new $32 million Greenbelt Middle School facility this week, according to Principal Warren Tweedy. As much as he enjoyed their reactions, he is expecting his biggest payoff to come Monday when students see it for the first time.

"The big-wow factor is going to be the kids' faces," Tweedy said. "I can see the 'oohs', and 'ahs', and 'Wow, this is my school.'"

Parents are moving into Greenbelt just to make sure their kids can go to school here— and the middle school is not the only facility parents want their children attending, according to Tweedy.

"The word is out that it's a new Greenbelt," he said.

It's not only the beginning of a building, it's a new academic culture, Assistant Principal J. Searcy said of the new two-story, 143,277 square-foot LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) middle school.

Tweedy listed some of the programs and facilities the school's 6th through 8th graders will have access to: the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program; the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program; graphic arts; culinary arts; a strong music program; a computer program; and a state-of-the-art TV studio.

This is not the only list on Tweedy's mind. He said he woke up at 2:38 a.m. Tuesday and started typing to-do items into his cell phone. Coming up with a parking plan was one of the main things on it.

The school's athletic fields are also in his thoughts; he expects them to be completed this winter. Most to-dos, though, are reaching the check off point much sooner, such as when Tweedy got the keys to the new building Monday. And on Tuesday, when movers brought in office furniture, and IT workers busied themselves with setting up computers in classrooms.

Tweedy told the IT folk to make teachers' computers a priority and to leave his for later. He isn't expecting to spend much time in his office anyway, he said.

"This furniture will look new for a while," he added. 

Besides, it isn't about furniture to Tweedy, it's about students feeling the same way about Greenbelt Middle School that he felt about his school as a kid.

Counting down the short time left before classes start, Tweedy says he is already envisioning the day students will be able to drive by, point and declare with pride—"That's my school!"

For more on Greenbelt Middle School, take a look at its website.