Hartwood High School is set to open this year in August. It’s still currently under construction and there’s a lot to figure out. For example, how are sports going to work? With only 5 months left before opening, there are still a variety of things that need to be put together in the athletic department.

On February 12, 2026, at the Stafford County School Board meeting the board named Jermaine Johnson the first athletic director for Hartwood High School. Johnson’s background experience is extensive. He attended Heritage High School in Lynchburg Virginia, played football, basketball, baseball, and threw shot put and discus. After graduation, he attended Virginia State University with a football scholarship then later transferred to Liberty University to pursue his educational career. He received his Bachelor of Science in Social Studies from Liberty University and a Masters in Education from Old Dominion University. Johnson is also currently the dean of students at North Stafford High School. His previous experience demonstrates that he has the skills and levels of experience needed to manage this athletic department.

Hartwood is still in the works of hiring the rest of their coaching staff,half of them already selected. They are going to offer every sport offered here at Stafford High School, with JV and Varsity teams. There are hopes for freshman teams as well. “We need to be able to get a certain number of students so we can hopefully have that freshman team,” says Johnson.

Summer workouts will begin on June 1st and the first day of official fall sports will be July 27th or August 3rd depending on the sport. “The summer conditioning is going to be solely based on the hours the coaches pick and the season of the sport you’re trying out for,” says Johnson.

There are VHSL rules that need to be followed though, like the amount of days and the times they can practice. They plan to have their practices Monday through Friday along with Saturday as well depending on the specific sport.

As far as budgeting goes, Stafford County is allocating a certain amount of money to spend while individual teams will conduct fundraisers for extra expenses that aren’t covered by the budget. For example, some teams raise money for parties or extra equipment that they may need throughout the course of the season.

Even though the school is brand new, there are still high hopes for the teams. Johnson goes on to say, “I’m very happy for the opportunities our students and coaches are going to have.” With the right help and support this program can become strong. They’ve done a large amount of work and the new school year hasn’t even started yet.

Hartwood and Stafford’s athletics should be similar if everything proceeds as planned. “I am excited to see how this all turns out”, says Johnson.