Parents worry as John Hanson Montessori faces possible relocation

Families at John Hanson Montessori in Oxon Hill were facing the prospect of a move after years of building problems inside the PreK-8 school at 6360 Oxon Hill Road. Falling ceiling tiles and leaking pipes had become the latest signs that the school’s aging facility was no longer giving parents confidence that daily learning could continue without disruption.

The concern was not only about a new address. Parents worried that a relocation could unsettle enrollment, change the feel of the school community and complicate the routines that help Montessori students thrive. For families who have stayed with John Hanson because of its program and stability, the possibility of moving raised a bigger question: whether a facilities failure would spill into the classroom and push some families to leave.

Prince George’s County Public Schools had already moved to plan a relocation to the Potomac Landing Elementary School site. The district said the project would include a 10-classroom modular building, minor modifications to the existing Potomac Landing building and a broader set of site improvements designed to support students, safety and transportation services. Those changes include new security cameras, playground work, frontage improvements, sidewalk widening, tree planting, bike lane enhancements, evergreen screening and a repainting and rebranding of the campus as John Hanson Montessori.

District officials also said transportation would continue for eligible students and that the school’s entry lottery process would remain the same. In a community letter, PGCPS said it did not anticipate a programmatic impact from the transition. Courtney King is listed by the district as the principal of John Hanson Montessori.

The stakes are high because John Hanson is not just another neighborhood school. PGCPS says its Montessori program expanded in the 1990s, with dedicated Montessori sites established at John Hanson Montessori and Robert Goddard Montessori in 2002. Judith P. Hoyer Montessori was added as a third dedicated site in 2008. The county’s Montessori program serves grades PreK-3 through 8 and uses the lottery system for admission.

That background helps explain why families reacted so strongly to the move discussion. The district’s own facilities framework shows how the issue fits into a larger policy problem: Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Building Services division uses a Comprehensive Maintenance Plan to address deficiencies, while Maryland’s school facilities assessment is meant to evaluate condition and educational sufficiency, not decide repairs or new construction.

For John Hanson families, the question now is whether the move to Potomac Landing can preserve the school’s Montessori identity while finally relieving the building problems that have been wearing on parents for years.