History
Jones Lane Elementary opened in l987 with students in grades K-6 drawn from the populations of Darnestown and Travilah Elementary Schools. Students voted to be known as the Jaguars and decided that our school colors would be black and gold. Jones Lane was built on a beautiful site surrounded by farmed fields and bordered with a wooded meandering stream at the edge of the property.
Located on Jones Lane between North Potomac and Gaithersburg, students had a dramatic view of the changing seasons as they watched the growing cycles in the neighboring farmer's fields. Students soon became aware of the abundant wildlife in the area and as a special project, the school worked on developing an outdoor classroom in a meadow near the creek. Deer, bluebirds, rabbits, mice, snakes, salamanders, raccoons, and woodchucks were among the animals that shared our land.
The school has classroom corridors surrounding an inner courtyard. Through the Arts in the Schools program, two resident dinosaurs live in the courtyard. Our dinosaurs are works of art sculpted from recycled automobile parts by artist Jim Garey. These silent sentinels watch over us as we grow, learn, and make our way through our school years. In recent years, our dinosaurs have been joined by Ruffles, the bunny, a family of turtles, and on occasion, visits from ducks from our kindergarten hatchery.
With our bright green roof as a landmark, our school became a focus of family life and activity within our community. The layout of the school provided for large playing fields and our gym became a focus of night time recreational and social events. Within two years, our enrollment increased and we had eight portable classrooms on our fields. With the opening of Rachel Carson and Thurgood Marshall Elementary Schools and the transition of 6th grade to middle school, our school population is now around 450 students and 50 staff.