Mardela community celebrates rededication of Mardela Middle and High School

Mardela Springs, Md. – Plenty of end-of-school celebrations are taking place and that is no different than at Mardela Middle and High School, where the Mardela community gathered for the school’s rededication on Wednesday.

The 2025 to 2026 school year was the first year students were able to utilize the new building, and at Wednesday’s rededication, students, faculty and staff where joined by families, state legislators and school board officials for the celebration. Several members of the community remarked how it felt like “a long time coming” and the day was a culmination of the decades-long effort for a new school building and amenities.

Liza Hastings is a Mardela Middle and High School alum and now serves as it’s principle. Now with the new building, she said she couldn’t be prouder.

“Now it’s come full circle, and I get to celebrate the amazing building that we have today,” she said. “And it’s thanks to the dedication of our staff, our community. Lots of patience, lots of added advocacy.”

Thomas Reeder is a newly-minted class president for the class of 2027. He said Mardela had developed a reputation as a “little country,” “out-of-the-way” and “rundown” school, whereas schools like Bennet and Parkside were thought of the “big ones.”

“But now, I know some of my Parkside friends said that it’s, like, as nice or better than theirs,” he said, which made him feel full of school spirit and proud of where he goes to school.

“We’ve always been proud of our school, but now we have the bricks and mortar to support just how amazing we think the school is. So now it reflects what an amazing school we have,” Hastings said.