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SHAKY FOUNDATIONS

Locked bathrooms, dirty floors, broken sinks, and drab, outdated paintings

are all things seen by Sherwood students every single day. Over the past few

years, it has become increasingly clear that Sherwood is a building in need of a

makeover. Despite that, action to turn Sherwood into a school that its students

and staff can be proud to learn, teach, and socialize in every day hasn’t been

taken. This is why Sherwood should create a ‘planning and action committee’

consisting of the principal, business manager, building services supervisor,

SGA members, and other engaged students to develop specific plans for improving

and maintaining Sherwood’s physical appearance. As a start to this

initiative, here are a few ideas that could transform Sherwood into the ideal

learning environment.

Sherwood Excluded from

MCPS Maintenance Budget

by Jordan Costolo ‘25

Every six years, MCPS

sets a CIP (Capital Investment

Plan) for how money

will be spent to improve

school buildings and facilities

within the county. In

the latest one spanning from

2025-2030, Sherwood is nowhere

to be found. This, along

with the increased number of

maintenance problems the

school building is experiencing,

has raised concerns about

the quality of Sherwood’s infrastructure,

and if there will

continue to be problems with

the building as time goes on.

MCPS has two different

budgets: the capital budget

and the operating budget. The

operating budget is used to

pay teachers and staff, cover

programming costs, and for

everything else that keeps

the school running. The capital

budget is used to renovate

school buildings, along with

supporting infrastructure and

improvements a school’s faculty

wants to be done. The CIP

works as the county’s plan on

how they want to spend the

capital budget. This year’s requested

capital budget, along

with the requested CIP for

2026-2030, totals $1.999 billion

dollars, which is $93.6

million more than the previous

CIP. The new superintendent

Thomas Taylor has also

asked for an additional $4.5

million to look into a backlog

of problems schools have had

with their heating and air

conditioning.

This summer, one of three

Sherwood HVAC systems

were replaced, but the other

two still seem to be in disrepair,

with maintenance people

coming frequently to fix

broken heating and cooling.

Wootton has many of the same

problems that Sherwood’s

building has, such as broken

bathrooms and malfunctioning

HVAC systems. Eastern

Middle School, Cold Spring

Elementary, and Magruder

High School are also among

the schools that are due for

maintenance, but have also

not received much help. In

an interview with MoCo360,

MCPS Board Member Julie

Yang recommended the students

and staff of Magruder,

which has had frequent problems

with mold and plumbing,

go around the school and

see what they would be able

to fix themselves to improve

their environment.

“Sherwood is in need of

a complete renovation,” said

Principal Tim Britton. “We

have a serious need for piping

and ventilation in the school

to be looked at, but unfortunately

that is difficult to get

to without tearing down parts

of this building.” Britton

stated that while the maintenance

team is coming in frequently,

and doing as much as

they can, “They [MCPS] are

putting a Band-Aid on our

maintenance problems but

taking it off before they have

enough time to fully heal.”

Britton commented that

at a recent meeting with other

principals, many of them

shared concerns with the superintendent

similar to his

own about the state of their

buildings. “It’s important to

know that we are NOT the

only school with issues.”

1 2

UTILIZE COURTYARDS THE

Whether it’s on the dirty floor or on top of used lockers, students

need a safe and healthy place to eat lunch. Sherwood has seven courtyards,

located all around the building. However, out of the seven, only

one located at the front of the main entrance is currently open to students

at lunch time. These open spaces, with their lush green scenery

and ample seating, potentially provide a perfect place to enjoy a meal

and socialize.

The idea of transforming these unused courtyards into designated

eating areas would gain traction among the students and different

clubs. By organizing regular clean ups and installing trash bins, the

school could trust students to keep these outdoor areas clean. Not only

would this help students experience a pleasant lunch but it would also

improve the school’s overall climate, reflecting a commitment of the

students environmental responsibility. Students in the spring would feel

a nice cool breeze, which adds onto the positives of opening the courtyards.

Although it’s only December, the next two months are the critical

time when Sherwood should plan what to do to get the courtyards ready

in springtime for students to access and enjoy.

SHERWOOD’S

CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE

3 4

IMPLEMENT

REPLACE

CLEANING

INITIATIVES

At the beginning of each school year, Principal Tim Britton

makes an announcement asking students to do their part to keep the

school clean by discarding their trash in the garbage cans or recycling

bins. However, some students continue to not clean up after themselves.

It is not uncommon to see bits of food and wrappers on the hallway floors,

especially by the bays of lockers, after lunch. Some students also leave

food and wrappers on the bathroom sinks. Additionally, there is litter on

the grass in the student parking lot, and litter under the bleachers in the

stadium that is difficult to clean up.

Last school year, Leo Club and National Honor Society (NHS)

coordinated campus clean ups as credit opportunities. Campus clean

ups could make a return. Clubs and honor societies, like NHS, could take

turns picking up litter around the school during lunch, and offer SSL opportunities

or credit for participation. Alternatively, students could organize

a new club dedicated to cleaning up the school grounds. Instead of

clubs meeting in classrooms at lunch, some should make the rounds of

Sherwood and improve the school’s appearance.

BY RYAN GREEN ‘26

BY KATIE NG ‘25

OUTDATED

ARTWORK

When walking around Sherwood it’s difficult to miss the strange

and often bizarre artwork seen around the halls. In the upper A-hall a distinctive

mural can be found showcasing a guitar, music notes, and students

in a variety of settings–including playing basketball. Another odd

painting is located in the lower C-hall, revealing two women dancing in

ball gowns. A series of other strange paintings are scattered throughout

the school including a Black Student Union installation featuring a tree

growing into a hand with images of long-graduated BSU members in the

palm. There is also an outdated map located near the main office, and a

waterfall mural near the music room. A few more of these paintings can

be found in the Ertzman lobby, including one of a woman seemingly on a

boat wearing a long white dress and a three-frame painting representing

the arts with the first frame showing paint brushes and paint, the second

showing a woman singing, and the last one displaying theatre masks.

The artwork is shrouded in mystery with students and staff alike

often wondering why the school has yet to replace these old paintings

and murals with updated artwork reflecting the modern environment of

the school.

Perhaps the most common gripe that students have about

Sherwood’s building and facilities is the state of its bathrooms, which

frequently are unclean and smell bad. Students for years have complained

about there not being paper towels to dry their hands, and it is

not an uncommon sight to see a student shaking their hands as they exit

the bathroom to dry them. Students have also complained about items

in the bathrooms being broken, such as sinks and the Feminine Hygiene

Dispenser.

IMRPOVE THE

BATHROOMS

Having a regular cleaning schedule that includes mid-day

checkups by Building Services should be a main priority to quickly respond

to messes and to check toiletries. Along with the cleaning, a sign

for washing hands should be added to the bathrooms to promote best

practices and hygiene. In the best interest of the majority of students,

replacing the air dryers with paper towels can help reduce the spread of

germs and viruses. If we come together as a school, we can make changes

to our bathrooms to create cleaner bathrooms for students.

BY SHANNON NAAS ‘26

BY ZIV GOLAN ‘26

Short Staffed Service Workers

by Justin Lakso ‘25

Whether it be the classrooms,

the lockers, the bathrooms,

or the hallways, the

Building Services staff are

truly the unnoticed heroes

keeping the Sherwood building

habitable. They arrive

early and stay late just to make

sure every student and staff

member can come to a clean

and orderly school building.

Now the question arises, why

is the Sherwood building still

sometimes messy if they’re

working so hard?

Positions in the team

are hard to fill, occasionally

looking to the furthest reaches

of Montgomery County to

find a suitable hire. This can

lead to Building Services being

understaffed for a long

period. “The MCPS process

to be hired takes time, so the

position could be open for

a while,” explained School

Business Administrator Linda

Berkheimer.

Two staff members were

missing from an already

small roster last August,

which meant even more work

for the rest of the team (without

another person arriving

for another three months).

These staffing issues are becoming

a problem with how

large the school building is.

Sherwood is 342,000 square

feet with only three custodians

on shift during the school

day, and “that makes it impossible

for us to cover the entire

building during the day with

what we have,” said Building

Services Manager Pete Jones.

If Building Services were allowed

just two, maybe three

more people on shift during

the school day, the trash littering

the school could be

cleaned up a lot faster.

From the very start of this

school year, Sherwood has

faced issues with heating and

air conditioning not functioning

well. In certain wings and

rooms of the building, classes

are either too hot or too cold

and teachers have little to no

control over the temperature

in their rooms.

Having unpredictable

and abnormal temperatures

in a learning environment

can become uncomfortable

for students and teachers. It

can become irritating when

the temperature of any given

room cannot be predicted,

and they need to be prepared

for hot and cold temperatures.

It’s also distracting for students

that are trying to learn.

“When some students are very

hot or cold, they focus on that

discomfort and this makes

them less available for focusing

on learning,” said art

teacher Nakeya Cook. Cook

also noted that the extreme

temperatures have been prevalent

for most of the school

year and have interfered with

her ability to teach her best.

At the beginning of the

year, maintenance workers

from MCPS visited the

school to attempt to solve AC

issues when it was in the 90s

and rooms felt like they were

boiling. While these were resolved,

they were not given

permanent solutions, according

to Principal Tim Britton.

He explained that one section

of the building is older than

other areas and old pipes,

vents, and AC units do not

line up with the newer additions

of the building.

Additionally, some issues

with the boiler that have

been only temporarily solved

caused the school to be cold

for all of November. Maintenance

workers and technicians

are working hard to find

Even though it might not

seem like it, students are responsible

for the appearance

of the school as well. Some

inconsiderate kids think it’s

funny to tear soap dispensers

and sinks off the wall, smoke

in the bathrooms, or throw

their trash wherever they

please, but it’s more inconsiderate

than amusing. These

acts of vandalism create even

more work for an already understaffed

and overworked

team.

“On one hand, we’re responsible

for keeping the

building clean, but on the

other hand, show some respect

for the school,” said Jones.

Students should be working

with the Building Services

team to clean up the school,

not against them. Take pride

in the school and clean up

your own trash; it’s the least

you can do to help.

Temperamental HVAC Systems Leave

Students and Teachers Struggling

by Taylor Adams ‘27

CARTOON BY LAURIKA PICH ‘27

solutions to these problems

and are at the school almost

every day working on them.

“There was a pipe that needed

to be unblocked and replaced

and when that happens, one

of the boilers gets drained of

water,” said Britton.

As rated by the MCPS

Department of Facilities

Management, Sherwood is in

the lower half of schools for

HVAC system quality. It has

a system that can be modified,

but it’s older and its unit

ventilators and fan coils are

at least 10 years old or older.

“Based on the age of the

school externally and internally,

more needs to be done,”

said Britton.

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