WALDORF, Md. – Effective Jan. 2, 2025, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) will implement an approved moratorium for two specific address blocks in the current Arthur Middleton Elementary School zone. Superintendent of Schools Maria V. Navarro, Ed.D., approved the moratorium last week to help alleviate overcrowding at Middleton.
The moratorium will be in place Jan. 2, 2025, through the end of the 2024-2025 school year for Block 2643 in the Gleneagles South and Stone Haven neighborhoods, and Block 2711 in the Highlands neighborhood and areas along Demarr Road. These blocks are in areas located off St. Charles Parkway in White Plains that are experiencing rapid growth. Any student moving to these blocks on or after Jan. 2, 2025, will be registered to attend Dr. Gustavus Brown Elementary School for the remainder of the 2024-2025 school year.
Effective with the opening of Margaret Jamieson Thornton Elementary School in August 2025, students living in these blocks will attend the new school including those that currently attend Middleton. Any new student who moves into Block 2643 or Block 2711 and registers for CCPS after Jan. 2, 2025, through the end of the current school year will attend Dr. Brown and then begin at Thornton in August 2025.
The current enrollment at Middleton is 771 students, which is 264 students over the building’s state-rated capacity (SRC) of 507 students. Current enrollment at Dr. Brown, which is located about a mile from Middleton’s campus and is also located within the Carrington community of St. Charles, is 398 students. Dr. Brown’s SRC is 493 students, which leaves space for 95 additional students.
The moratorium will ensure class sizes remain stable. To manage some of the rapid growth at Middleton, CCPS has added six relocatable classrooms to the school campus and is converting some media center space to accommodate an additional third-grade class. However, these additions are not factored into the SRC for Middleton.
CCPS will coordinate transportation to Dr. Brown for any new students with families moving into the two identified moratorium blocks in January 2025. The moratorium only affects future growth in these blocks through the end of the 2024-2025 school year, since students living in these areas will attend Thornton next school year.
CCPS has communicated the details of the moratorium to the staffs at Dr. Brown and Middleton and are in the process of updating parents and the Charles County community. Upon registering a child for school in these two blocks after Jan. 2, 2025, the CCPS registration system Synergy will default the student’s attendance zone to Dr. Brown Elementary School.
About CCPS
Charles County Public Schools provides 27,765 students in grades prekindergarten through 12 with an academically challenging education. Located in Southern Maryland, Charles County Public Schools has 38 schools that offer a technologically advanced, progressive and high quality education that builds character, equips for leadership and prepares students for life, careers and higher education.
The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Mike Blanchard, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (students) or Nikial M. Majors, Title IX/ADA/Section 504 Coordinator (employees/ adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, MD 20646; 301-932-6610/301-870-3814. For special accommodations call 301-934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event. CCPS provides nondiscriminatory equal access to school facilities in accordance with its Use of Facilities rules to designated youth groups (including, but not limited to, the Boy Scouts).
