Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is changing the start and end times of J.C. Parks Elementary School for the 2020-21 school year. The 10-minute time change was made to allow more time for bus routes. The hours have been changed to 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. The previous hours were 9:05 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. The Board of Education of Charles County voted on July 14 to start the new school year virtually for students on Aug. 31 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Students and staff will likely start returning to school buildings and traditional in-person Read more…

High school juniors and seniors in Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) can audition virtually to be an anchor for NewsBreak, the television program that features news on what’s happening around the school system. Virtual auditions via the video conferencing tool Webex will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 3 through 6, Aug. 10 and Aug. 12 and 13. To try out, students can email ccpstv96@ccboe.com to request an audition time and date. In the request, students should include a contact phone number and an email (if different from the one used to set the audition.) An audition invitation will be emailed Read more…

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) offers Westlake High School as an SAT testing site regularly throughout the school year. The College Board currently lists Westlake as a location for its Aug. 29 SAT administration, but the school site is not available due to COVID-19 schedule changes. Westlake also is not a testing site for the Sept. 26 exam. Students registered for the exam at Westlake on Aug. 29 need to reschedule and take the exam at another testing location. Students should contact the College Board to reschedule. The first SAT scheduled for Westlake is Saturday, Oct. 2. Students and parents Read more…

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) is launching new technology initiatives to support enhanced student and staff access to distance learning. The initiatives will support distance-learning plans for the 2020-21 school year, and beyond. Through funding CCPS received from a CARES Act technology grant, the school system will provide all high school students with a laptop. CCPS received nearly $3 million to support this initiative through the CARES Act, which was passed earlier this year and provides school districts with COVID-19 aid. With this funding, CCPS is purchasing nearly 9,000 laptops to distribute to high school students. The laptops will support Read more…

Parents can apply now for free and reduced price meal benefits for the 2020-21 school year. The application is live on the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) website at https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application. The application includes a language option in Spanish for Spanish-speaking families. The language option is located in the upper-right hand corner of the application’s main screen. CCPS determines eligibility through income guidelines established by the federal government. CCPS serves a variety of breakfast and lunch menu items during the school year for students at low costs for parents. For the 2020-21 school year, prices for elementary school students are $1.35 Read more…

The Charles County Board of Education voted today to start the 2020-21 school year with virtual learning for all students, with a goal of transitioning to Phase 2 as quickly as possible. Phase 2 would include in-person instruction for special populations of students. The first day of the 2020-21 school year is Monday, Aug. 31. The Board asked the Superintendent to conduct another survey, this time asking students in special populations and their parents, as well as all teachers, their comfort levels with participating in in-person teaching and learning. Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) defines special populations as students qualifying Read more…

The Board of Education’s next meeting is 1 p.m. Tuesday, July 14. The meeting will be held virtually using WebEx conferencing. There is no public access to the Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building on Radio Station Road in La Plata; however, the meeting will stream live on the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) website, www.ccboe.com and air live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOS Channel 12. CCPS will rebroadcast the meeting as well as post it on CCPSTV under the Board meeting tab at ccboe.com. Although the Board is unable to make public forum live, it is encouraging the Read more…

The Board of Education met July 7 to discuss how individual members view reopening schools in August and their thoughts about different instructional options. Superintendent Kimberly Hill will present the school system’s 2020-21 school year opening options to the Board in a follow-up meeting on Tuesday, July 14. Hill’s plans will take Board, staff and community input into consideration, and the report to the Board will outline staff recommendations. The Board plans to discuss and vote on the Superintendent’s recommendation during the July 14 meeting, which begins at 1 p.m. via WebEx. The meeting will stream live on the Charles Read more…

With the restrictions put in place to stem the spread of COVID-19, there have been casualties among some programs and activities. Barbershop Books, an initiative focused on getting books into the hands of young Black boys between the ages of 4 to 8, has had to rethink its approach. Traditionally, books that appeal to young boys are housed in area barbershops on a designated book shelf. Kids waiting to get a haircut or who are tagging along with an adult can select a book, and if they like it, they get to keep it. Now with barbershops and other businesses Read more…

Families visiting the Mt. Hope/Nanjemoy Elementary School meal site this summer will be able to feed their minds with STEM challenges aimed at preventing the “summer slide.” Every other week until Aug. 13, the school, which is collaborating the Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) Title I office, will give out supplies for a Virtual Summer STEM Challenge, an activity that allows children in kindergarten through fifth grade the opportunity to use creativity, critical thinking and engineering skills. Supplies for the first challenge were given out June 29 and 30 to families visiting the meal site at Mt. Hope. It centers Read more…