There are no changes to the bookbag/backpack rule for students for the 2025-26 school year.

The CCPS rule on bookbags and backpacks states that students may bring their bag to school, but it must be stored upon arrival and retrieved upon departure at the end of the day. During the school day, students can carry their laptop sleeve and/or hand-size bag for personal items. Each secondary school has time built into schedules for students to visit their lockers and swap out instructional materials as needed. For more information, see the Student Personal Property section on Page 15 of the Code of Student Conduct. See the graphic below for examples of bags and carrying cases that are compliant with the CCPS policy. The policy does not allow students to carry zippered binders.

CCPS will begin to load bus information into ParentVue/StudentVue the week of Aug. 18. This information will also be posted to School Locator at www.ccboe.com. CCPS will update the platforms as bus route information is added and finalized. Parents of students without a bus assignment prior to the first day of school should complete a transportation help desk ticket on the CCPS website at https://www.ccboe.com/departments/transportation/help-tickets. As with the start of any new school year, bus routes may run earlier or later than normal the first few weeks of school. Transportation help desk tickets will be addressed as quickly as possible by staff. 

CCPS is hosting a bus hotline prior to the start of school on Aug. 21-22. The hotline number is 301-932-6655 and hours of operation are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Parents of students without an assigned bus stop are encouraged to fill out a help desk ticket rather than call the bus hotline.

Please note, students who receive special education transportation through the IEP process must address any requests or issues regarding transportation through the IEP facilitator at the child’s school.

Follow your child’s bus with Where’s the Bus

Parents and students can use Where’s the Bus, an app that employs GPS technology, to track their bus while its in motion. Through Where’s the Bus, parents and students can see real-time bus arrival and drop off data, and afternoon pick ups and drop offs. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Google or Apple app stores. Bus information will be loaded into Where’s the Bus the week of Aug. 18. Click here for directions in setting up the Where’s the Bus mobile app.

CCPS uses email, phone call and text message alerts as part of its systemwide mass communication. The platform used by CCPS is School Messenger, which pulls data from the student information and staff data systems. Parents should have a current phone number and email address on file with their child’s school. Parents must opt-in to receive CCPS text alerts, as standard messaging rates by carriers apply. A cell phone number must be on file with CCPS to receive text alerts. To opt-in, text Y or YES to 67587. To opt-out, text STOP to 67587 at any time. Emails from School Messenger come from message@ccboe.com. To avoid any issues with emails, parents should add message@ccboe.com to the address book or safe senders list in their preferred email platform. 

All CCPS students are required to have certain vaccinations prior to attending school. The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Center for Immunization has released vaccination requirements for the 2025-2026 school year. The Charles County Department of Health is holding free back-to-school immunization clinics. A list of requirements and free clinic dates is posted on the school system website. Call 301-609-6835 to schedule an appointment. Clinics are for Charles County residents only. For vaccination requirement questions, call the school health management office at 301-934-7346.

Margaret J. Thornton Elementary School opens its doors for the first time to more than 600 students on Monday, Aug. 25. The school is set off of St. Charles Parkway in White Plains at 5860 St. David Drive, within the new Highlands neighborhood development. The 94,000-square foot building has space for 778 students. Brian King, Ed.D., is principal of Thornton. Bianca Valdez and Keyanna Williams are assistant principals. To learn more about the school, visit https://thornton.ccboe.com/. Thornton opens as CCPS' 23rd elementary school. 

Hear from Principal King at https://thornton.ccboe.com/about/announcements.

For the 2025–2026 school year, CCPS has updated student laptop allocations. 

• Pre-K and kindergarten: Will continue using the shared iPad model.
• Grades 1–2: Devices will be shared at a 2:1 student-to-device ratio and remain at school.
• Grades 3–5: Each student will have a dedicated device for in-school use only.
• Grades 6–8: Devices will be available in shared carts for classroom use. Students can check out a device upon request for home use, as needed.
• Grades 9–12: Students will receive a one-to-one take-home device. Personal devices (excluding smart/cell phones) are allowed, but a school-issued device is required for state testing.
  • Any high school student choosing to bring their own device to school must follow the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) guidelines outlined in the 2025-26 Code of Student Conduct. 

Schools have planned meet-and-greet and orientation events for families. Most of the events take place in August, prior to the first day of school.  Parents with questions about a specific listed activity should call their child’s school for more information. Open house events occur after the start of the school year. 

• Click here to view times and dates of orientations and meet and greets. 
• Click here to learn more about open house events. 

The 2025-2026 CCPS Parent Handbook/Calendar is posted on the school system website at https://www.ccboe.com/about/calendar/parent-handbookcalendar. Copies are sent home with students during the first week of school. A Spanish version of the calendar will be posted on the CCPS website by Aug. 8. 

Students accepted into the prekindergarten program start school on Tuesday, Sept. 2. Program acceptance is based on tier criteria outlined by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). Students who qualify under Tier I are given priority program placement, followed by Tier II and Tier III students. If program space remains after all eligible Tier I students have been placed, Tier II and Tier III placements would not be made until after the school year begins. Placement of Tier II and Tier III students is not guaranteed.

CCPS regularly highlights the achievements of the school system, including sharing positive news about students and staff with the general public. Publicity helps to connect the community with the school system, aids in a positive school experience for students and builds school and community pride.

Publicity may include different forms, including but not limited to: photographs and video shown in school; CCPS news releases; photos and videos submitted to local media outlets (television, newspapers and radio stations); school system displays; special events; posting on the CCPS website, www.ccboe.com; posting on school websites; posting on CCPS social media sites (Facebook and Instagram); photo or video use for television stories for publication on the CCPS YouTube Channel, or public television stations of Comcast Channel 96/Verizon FiOS Channel 12; or publication in the CCPS parent newsletter (This Week in CCPS) or the School News staff newsletter.

Parents/guardians have a right to opt out of publicity for their child. Each student’s publicity status is recorded in the CCPS student information system, Synergy, as either Approved or Denied. A parent/guardian can opt their child out of publicity at any time during the school year.

For those parents/guardians who would like their child to be included in CCPS publicity opportunities, no notification or authorization is needed to the student's school.  CCPS is an opt-out system, meaning parents/guardians must opt their child out of publicity. Any parent/guardian who does not wish for their child to appear in publicity must notify the student’s school in writing.

Please note that if CCPS does not receive written notification from a parent/guardian by Sept. 15 annually, it is assumed the parent/guardian grants permission for their child to appear in publicity. Each school/center will maintain a list of students whose parent/guardian has opted out of publicity for the student. A student’s opt out status should be updated as needed by the parent/guardian and remains in effect for the duration of the school year. Parents/guardians can update their child's publicity status to opt-out at anytime during the school year. 

Please note that certain CCPS and school events are public in nature, and publicity in the form of photographs, video, social media posts, etc. is often not within control of CCPS or the school. This includes events such as concerts, awards programs, extracurricular activities and athletic events, county competitions, year-end events such as promotional events and high school graduation ceremonies, and public Board of Education of Charles County meetings. Student names will appear in event programs, on honor roll lists, on artwork and in yearbooks (along with a photograph) unless the parent/guardian makes a separate specific written request that the student’s name and/or image be withheld.

All students new to CCPS must be registered for school prior to attending. The CCPS registration process is completed online through the parent portal of the student information system called ParentVue. The registration process requires parents to provide several documents, such as a birth certificate or passport, two proofs of residency, the most up-to-date report card (if applicable) and immunization records. Details about the CCPS registration process are posted on the school system website at https://www.ccboe.com/parents/online-registration. For on-site registration support, please contact your child’s zoned school.

Through the food and nutrition services program at schools/centers, students can select from several breakfast and lunch menu items. Menus are available on the CCPS website at www.ccboe.com.

Meal prices for the 2025-2026 school year are: elementary breakfast is $1.45 and lunch is $2.90. Breakfast for secondary level students is $1.60 and lunch is $3.15. Milk remains $0.75 cents. The school system uses a cafeteria prepayment system through MySchoolBucks, a secure, online system that allows parents to deposit money electronically on their child’s cafeteria account.

As of 2024, CCPS no longer uses Meals Payment Plus for prepayment of meals for students. MySchoolBucks is the only platform supported by CCPS for online meal prepayment. 

Students may be eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Eligibility is determined by guidelines developed by the USDA. The application is available at www.ccboe.com and provided to students the first week of school. All families should complete the application, as other benefits are available such as reduced testing fees for student exams and discounts on internet service. To view the application, visit https://www.myschoolapps.com/.

To learn more about school menus, visit Page 12 of the CCPS Parent Handbook/Calendar.

School supply lists for elementary and middle schools are posted to the CCPS website at https://www.ccboe.com/quick-links/school-supply-lists. High schools do not have supply lists, as students will receive information about any required materials during the first week of school. Questions about specific school lists should be directed to the specific school.

School administrators are working to finalize teacher assignments and class schedules for the coming school year. This information will be loaded into the CCPS student information system, Synergy. Beginning the week of Aug. 18, schedules and class assignments will be loaded through Synergy into ParentVue/StudentVue accounts. CCPS uses the online platforms ParentVue and StudentVue to allow parents and students to track grades, attendance and assignments.