Springdale Preparatory School is going big in New Windsor. On Monday, the private boarding-and-day school closed on the long-discussed purchase of the former New Windsor Middle School and rolled out a multi-phase plan to expand its upper-school campus, with a stated goal of more than doubling its student body.
County history with the property
Carroll County records show that back in 2018, the county approved a lease with Springdale Prep that included an option to buy the shuttered New Windsor Middle School. According to Carroll County, that agreement pegged the sale price of the building at $6.4 million and set up joint-use terms so the athletic fields could remain available for community recreation.
The purchase and expansion plan
As reported by the Baltimore Business Journal, Springdale has now exercised that option, buying the former middle-school building and mapping out a six-phase expansion of its upper-school complex. School leaders describe the phased approach as the framework for a significantly larger campus, with a stated aim of growing enrollment to more than double its current size.
How big 'more than double' is
Private-school directories put Springdale’s current student body at roughly 65 students, according to High-Schools.com. The school’s website outlines a coeducational boarding-and-day program for grades 6 through 12 on a campus at 1000 Green Valley Road in New Windsor, where administrators highlight small class sizes and residential life as key selling points.
Community use and reaction
Local reporting traces Springdale’s launch to 2017 and underscores the founder’s effort to keep the school tightly connected to the town through shared-use agreements and public programming, Carroll News reported. Officials quoted in that profile have pointed to new jobs and added economic activity, even as community leaders also note the growing pains that come with a rapidly expanding private campus in a small town.
What is next
Before the six-phase buildout moves from paper to construction, the plan will need to clear the usual gauntlet of site plans, permits and reviews by county planning and zoning authorities. The county’s planning office spells out those requirements on its website. Applicants typically work with the Carroll County Development Review Division and Zoning Administration to verify zoning, stormwater and public-use compliance, according to Carroll County planning.
If approved and fully built, Springdale’s project would be one of the most significant private-school expansions in the area and could reshape how the New Windsor campus serves both boarding students and local families. For more on the school and its admissions process, visit Springdale Preparatory School.
