Visit the FCPS Back-to-School Page! School Starts Tuesday, September 3

Frederick County public schools are preparing to welcome nearly 43,000 students Tuesday, September 3

Any parent or guardian with a child not yet enrolled should contact the local school Monday-Thursday. FCPS has posted enrollment details and lots more information in the newly updated back-to-school Web section.

The Back-to-School section is a single-stop resource for school-supply lists, back-to-school night and orientation dates, forms, meal prices, transportation details, the new Calendar Handbook (in English and Spanish) and more that’s new for the coming school year. 

Look for bus routes to go live in the back-to-school section at 6 PM, Friday, August 23. FCPS reminds parents to notify the school right away of any changes expected in how a student will travel to school. Forms for reporting transportation changes are also online. Route adjustments can occur any time before the start of school, so even after Friday, August 23, parents should check bus information periodically through the start of school. Meanwhile, mechanics are prepping more than 400 school buses to travel more than 42,000 miles each day, as drivers transport 31,000 kids to and from school.

Full-price meals and milk prices are the same as last year. Full-price breakfasts are $1.60 for elementary students and $1.85 for middle and high. Full-price lunches are $2.65 for elementary students and $2.90 for middle and high. Milk, when purchased separately, is 60 cents. For prepaying and monitoring school meals, FCPS invites parents to use www.myschoolbucks.com. Cafeterias continue to offer whole-grain options, fresh vegetables and fruits, and low-fat choices daily. Families are encouraged to see if they qualify for free or reduced-price student meals using a Meal Benefit Application, distributed to all students when school starts and online at www.fcps.org/meals. 

New this school year, all middle and high schools have added the Schoology learning-management system for student assignments, grades and more. FCPS will continue to use the Home Access Center to provide official interim and term grades.

Immunizations that are required by law are posted in the back-to-school section. Students must have up-to-date immunizations to attend school. FCPS will exclude students from attending the first day of school if they do not have the required immunizations, unless they present evidence of an appointment for immunizations scheduled within the following 20 days.

FCPS continues to use FindOutFirst to offer phone-text messaging for emergency-closing notices and email for regular school communication and emergencies. More than 70,000 subscribers no longer need to update their schools and grade levels, as these are automatically uploaded from each child’s eSchool record, provided the parent has given the school a current email address. Community members may sign up for FCPS emails at www.fcps.org/fof. Parents may log in to add phone numbers for texts and to select news groups of interest. Parents who find that a school or grade level relationship is missing from their FOF profile should contact the school, so staff can add the parent’s email address to the student’s eSchool record. 

In addition to watching FCPS TV online at fcps.org/tv, the public may see school videos at the FCPSMaryland YouTube page. Comcast subscribers can tune to Channel 18 for FCPS TV broadcasts such as live Board of Education meetings, also live online.

Students will get a 2019-2020 Calendar Handbook the first school day. The full-color Calendar Handbook is online at fcps.org/calendar. While the online version is updated, FCPS asks those with a print copy in English to please note on The School Year At a Glance page six that schools are CLOSED Wednesday, January 29 and OPEN Friday, January 31. This year, FCPS is scheduling half days off for elementary and middle parent-teacher conferences Wednesday-Friday, October 23, 24 and 25; high school students attend full days.

FCPS continues to offer School Cash Online for field trip and sports fees, spirit wear, and other payments. The back-to-school page has a link to sign up.

Even graduation dates for the Class of 2020 are posted. Check out the new FCPS Back-to-School page today.