When classes resumed on Jan. 5, students and faculty of Quantico Middle/High School stepped into a new and modern building, ushering in a new era of education at MCB Quantico.

“We were due for a new school with the old school being 63 years old,” said Miles Shea, the QMHS principal and 2025 Department of Defense Education Activity Principle of the Year. “We are transitioning to 21st century schools and learning spaces with the biggest difference being more collaboration space.”

The original school, built in 1962, had a traditional layout with a hallway full of classrooms and little room to spread out, limiting interaction and collaboration between students with teachers or even students with other students. The new school offers a more immersive environment.

“For me that’s the biggest difference,” said Shea. “There’s a lot more space when you walk through here this morning. Kids are already out in the common areas working in small groups, working with one another, that is the most significant part of the new school.”

The vice principal agreed with Mr. Shea about the collaborative space and pointed out other improvements that he believes will have a significant and positive impact on campus.

“This space is a lot more welcoming and inviting,” said Ben Kolodziej, the QMHS Vice Principal. “We have said for years that the community really deserves a brand-new campus. We have an auditorium that’s now separate from the gym, which we didn’t have before, and that allows us to lean into the gifts and talents of our students and educators more readily.”

Educators are excited about the new environment that brings a more neighborhood-like feel a Middle/High school. In the new school, students are now all in the same building. The old facility had seven external trailers and modulars used as classrooms that kept some students and teachers outside the main building. The new school also enables the middle and high school students to have their own primary space with middle school classes and lockers on the second floor and high school on the first.

“We ask so much of our kids when we have to move, sometimes every year, or every three years,” said Abby Hutcheson, QMHS Secretary and parent of an attending student. “That’s why giving them a brand-new space is so important, and making sure they know they are not an afterthought, that we’re not throwing them in a rundown building, that we can give them something new to look forward to come to.”

The new school is also much more than just a new building. There is a major improvement to the athletics program as well. The new campus now has its own football and softball fields. QMHS no longer needs to rely on athletic fields around the base like Butler Stadium.

“Thank you to the installation for loaning Butler Stadium to us,” said Kolodziej. He also noted plans for future improvements. “When the former campus is demolished, it will be remade into a baseball field. It will be the only baseball field on Marine Corps Base Quantico. We don’t have one existing right now so that’s very exciting.”

The new baseball field is expected to be constructed sometime this year and will be called “Barkley Diamond at Fenton Field” in honor of former students, baseball players, and United States Marines, Lt. Col. William “Bill” Barkley and Pvt. Michael F. Fenton.

“It’s a fresh opportunity for students,” said Dr. Tracy Fisher, an English language arts and an Advanced Via Individual Determination coordinator with QMHS. “The environment in the old school was great. However, the new environment is a new start. New starts are always good for students, and it gives them a new opportunity to reset for success and being even better than you were in the old building.”

Even though the building has been replaced, the roots remain and hold true to the values and expectations that have always been here since The Quantico School was founded. The new school could be seen as a testament to DoDEA’s vision of excellence in education for every student, every day, everywhere, and echoing their mission to educate, engage, and empower military-connected students to succeed in a dynamic world.