Loudoun County Year Starts With New But Empty High School | WTOP

ALDIE, Va. — Loudoun County’s first day of an unprecedented, all-virtual school year during the COVID-19 pandemic will be bittersweet, as a brand-new high school in the Virginia county opens its doors with many of its classrooms empty.

Lightridge High School formally opened as the Loudoun County public school system’s 19th high school, situated in the Dulles South District. But due to the coronavirus, its debut went without much of the usual pageantry.

Located on Collaboration Drive in Aldie, near Braddock Road and Northstar Boulevard, Lightridge is ready to provide 305,000 square feet of space for the ninth through 12th-grade students who will someday return to it.

With an anticipated program capacity of 1,800 students, Lightridge includes classrooms, a media center, a cafeteria, an auditorium/theater, greenhouse, main and auxiliary gyms, a lighted stadium, baseball and softball fields, lighted tennis courts, as well as practice and physical education fields and track and field facilities. Key project team members include:

  • Owner: Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS)
  • Contractor: Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.
  • Architect: MTFA
  • Civil Engineer: Urban Ltd.
  • MEP Engineer: 2RW

Source: Read the original story by Neal Augenstein of WTOP.