As the new St. Charles High School in Waldorf nears completion, Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot toured the building still under construction Thursday, February 20 along with three Charles County commissioners and Charles County Superintendent of Schools Kim Hill.
Steve Andritz, project manager for Charles County Public Schools, told the assemblage that the new 290,000-square-foot school will have three points of entry and will be heated by a geothermal system.
“There were 400 geothermal wells sunk of 300-feet each,” Andritz stated. “Then we built the athletic fields up over them.”
The St. Charles Spartans will play sports on heated fields including a football stadium with eight-lane track, baseball, softball, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse fields and eight tennis courts. There will be bleacher seating for 1,500 home fans and 500 visitors.
Andritz escorted the comptroller to the commons area of the school, pointing out a unique concrete surface that once buffed will reveal an impervious surface.
“For maintenance, all you have to do is mop and dry it,” he said. “We keep a stable temperature using geothermal which is the only cooling and heating source for the entire building.”
The school will feature four floors and 72 teaching stations.
Hill guided the tour to a unique feature of the new school, “Science on a Sphere,” located in the lower level. There is a room enclosed with glass in which sits a metal framework.
“In the center of the frame will be a 6-foot diameter sphere with several projectors focusing onto it like it’s moving,” Hill explained. “Kids can come through and see the weather patterns all over the world as they develop. NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] will supply the data.”
Hill said that St. Charles will only be the third high school in the nation to have Science on a Sphere.
“One thing to point out about the new school is that it will be ope
