Guilford Park High School is Howard County’s Newest High School

February 13th, 2023

Students who will attend HCPSS’ newest high school, formerly known as High School #13, now know the name of their new school: Guilford Park High School (GPHS). The extensive naming process started with a community survey back in October 2022 and culminated with the Howard County Board of Education approving the new name at its Feb. 9 meeting.

Now that the name has been chosen, a focus group of GPHS students will collaborate with school administrators to generate a list of potential mascot options. All incoming GPHS students and families will have the opportunity to vote for the final mascot selection. Choosing the mascot is just one of the ways for GPHS students to leave their mark on the school community.

In the future, Principal Josh Wasilewski envisions students providing input on the school’s fight song and crest. In addition, he will solicit student help in choosing the nine wayfinding murals that will appear throughout the building, which will help students determine where they are and where they are going in the school since the building is so large.

“We are so excited that our school’s name has been selected! This was such an important step in building our school community,” Wasilewski shared.

Once the mascot is determined, a school logo will be designed, uniforms can be ordered, and the school can start to transform from a blank canvas into Guilford Park.

In the coming weeks, GPHS administrators will meet with soon-to-be-named Instructional Team Leads and can begin team building and planning for the academic side of the 2023-2024 school year.

Construction on the school continues and is more than 86% complete—on track to open its doors to students in August 2023.

For more insights into the opening of a new school, listen to Principal Wasilewski and Assistant Principal Adrienne Williams talk with Superintendent Michael Martirano in episode 2 of the Inside HCPSS podcast. Additional information on Guilford Park High School is available online.