MCPS Leases Crown to Spirit Halloween
Gaithersburg, Md. - After Spirit Halloween was left in limbo by a failed lease agreement in Rockville earlier this month, the pop-up retailer has found a home at Montgomery County Public Schools' yet-to-open Crown High School.
MCPS officials confirmed late Friday that the district will lease the brand-new $180 million facility to the Halloween chain through early November, calling it a "creative, short-term public-private partnership that will help improve neighborhood relationships" before the building becomes a holding school for the Montgomery County Department of Correction and Rehabilitation's Violent Offender Workforce Reintegration Program in mid-2026.
"This arrangement aligns perfectly with our commitment to community engagement — everybody loves 'School Spirit'," quipped MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor. "And it helps students in older schools like Magruder and Gaithersburg appreciate that every learning environment has its challenges — whether it's mold and asbestos, or volatile organic compounds off-gassing from latex masks and animatronic yard displays."
Board of Education President Julie Yang praised the deal, calling it "a bold example of government flexibility." She added, "And if I'm elected to the County Council next year, this is precisely the kind of program you can expect to see me resoundingly criticize."
The announcement drew sharp commentary from activist parent groups. Moms for Liberty questioned whether parents would be permitted to exempt their children from seeing Joe Biden or Kamala Harris masks "for religious reasons." In response, MCPS said it would release a catalog of all 400,000 Spirit costume options with opt-out instructions.
The Spirit Halloween lease will expire on November 3, after which MCPS says it will assess whether to restore the building for educational use or lease the gymnasium to Cirque du Soleil for its "Winter Wonderland High Holiday Spectacular."
Publisher’s Note: Shortly after this edition went to press, we learned Spirit Halloween did finalize its lease for 1683 Rockville Pike at Congressional Plaza in Rockville. The store is now open at that location.
Photo Credit: Rockville Nights
