At its October 21 meeting, the Prince William County School Board approved Potomac Shores Elementary School as the name of the division’s newest elementary school.

Opening for the 2027-28 school year, Potomac Shores Elementary will serve approximately 1,050 students. Located at 1720 Thoroughgood Dr. in Dumfries, the three-story school is designed as a LEED Silver-certified facility and will include classrooms, a gymnasium, STEAM and art classrooms, a media center, learning stairs, and rooftop photovoltaic panels.

Potomac District School Board Representative Justin Wilk, who represents the community where the school is being built, said feedback he received from area residents was overwhelmingly supportive of the Potomac Shores name.

“The goal of this process was to be as proactive and engaged with the community as possible,” said Wilk. “We know that when a new school is built, the name will eventually come to fruition, but my goal has been to speak with residents as much as I could about their thoughts about the school, and the insight given to me by the community was overwhelmingly supportive of naming this school Potomac Shores Elementary.”

In approving the name, the School Board waived applicable provisions of Policy 854 governing the naming of school facilities. The Board considered community feedback as well as circumstances associated with the division’s acquisition of the school site.

As part of the agreement through which PWCS acquired the property, the developer prepared the land for school construction at a cost of approximately $1 million, resulting in a corresponding cost savings to the division.

Potomac Shores Elementary will provide additional capacity in the southern Route 1 corridor. The attendance area approved by the School Board in February 2026 will take effect with the school’s opening in the 2027-28 school year and provide capacity relief for several nearby elementary schools.