(October 8, 2008) - Last night the Baltimore County Board Of Education approved a contract for Oak Contracting to provide construction management services for two new schools in Towson. The new Towson West Elementary School, conceived to alleviate the overcrowding in the Towson area, will be situated on the same site as the Ridge Ruxton School. Design is already well under way by Design Collective, Inc. Construction will start early next spring and the new three-story school will open in August 2010.

The existing George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology will be replaced by a new state-of-the-art performing arts center. Grimm + Parker Architects is designing the new high school, which will be constructed adjacent to the current facility while it remains safely operational. Construction will start in the summer of 2009 and the new school will be ready for occupancy in summer 2011. Once the new school is complete, the existing facility will be removed and the construction waste recycled. Both schools are seeking LEED certification.