Welcome back CCPS!
It's our first week of school for the 2025-26 school year. We're excited to welcome you and 64,000 students back to classes.
Grades 1-5, 6 and 9 begin Monday, Aug. 18
Grades 7-8, 10-12 begin Tuesday, Aug. 19
Prekindergarten and kindergarten students start on different days:
Some students attend Aug. 18-19; others attend Aug. 20-21.
Schools assign students to specific days to allow students to become more familiar with their new surroundings in a smaller classroom setting.
Starting Aug. 22, all prekindergarten and kindergarten students attend daily.
Make sure to check our calendars page for important dates.
Families can visit the CCPS back-to-school hub for transportation information, Chromebook details, fee payments, supply lists and more.
Have a student who is ready to start school? Families can still register their little ones for kindergarten.
We hope you have a great first week and a wonderful school year!
Registration open for CCPS Night School through Aug. 21
Night School provides high school students the opportunity to earn credits at no cost in the evening. Students engage in intense academic study to complete a traditional yearlong course in a single semester.
Night School in-person and virtual classes take place 5-9 p.m. two days each week with in-person classes meeting at Carver College and Career Academy (12400 Branders Bridge Road).
A wide variety of courses are offered including English 11 and 12, graphic design, driver’s education, ecology, U.S. history and more.
Students and families should contact their school counselor to register for Night School. Learn more about Night School and other alternative educational options.
Where? Chesterfield County Health Department; 9501 Lucy Corr Circle, Chesterfield, VA
When? July 25th
What time? 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Please bring your insurance card if applicable, but little/no insurance is welcome.
Weapons detection system procedures and expectations
Weapons detection systems are bringing an additional layer of security to every Chesterfield County middle school and high school. Starting in August 2025, when school opens, students and school visitors will enter through OpenGate scanners, which are similar to those used at amusement parks, concerts and sporting events.
Weapons detection will be active from the start of the school day until dismissal, working to improve safety while maintaining a welcoming school environment. The system is designed to detect a variety of weapons. But no system is perfect, so it will sometimes alert on acceptable metal items and may sometimes miss items that should not be in school.
Here’s how the automatic, noninvasive screening will work:
Students and school visitors will pass through freestanding pillars that use advanced technology to detect weapons that may be concealed on a person, in backpacks or in other bags.
Some safe items may cause nuisance alerts, therefore students should remove them from their bags and place them in a designated bin or hand them to a school staff member before going through the scanner. Chromebooks, three-ring binders, musical instruments, umbrellas, metal lunch boxes, metal pencil cases, and metal eyeglass cases are the most common items that can trigger nuisance alert
After going through the scanner, students should retrieve their belongings and head to class.
If a potential weapon is detected, the system will flash red and beep. When that happens, the student or school visitor will step to one side so a closer search can be conducted.
If a weapon or other contraband is found, then school administrators, the school safety officer and/or the police will be notified, and the person may face both school and legal consequences.
Students must not open any door to allow others to enter the building under any circumstances. Students who open a door for someone else or who enter the building through an unauthorized door could face serious disciplinary consequences.
More information about weapons detection and other school safety measures is available on oneccps.org.
Chesterfield County Public Schools will host a free documentary film series for families and educators:
- Feb. 20: “Anxious Nation” about growing concerns of anxiety in children and adolescents
- Feb. 25: “Screenagers: Elementary School Edition” about the impact of screen time
Coffee & Conversation is an easy way to connect with experts offering advice on topics helpful to parents. The free online gatherings take place 1-2 p.m. See the full schedule and register here for topics of your choice:
- Oct. 30 topic is “The College Mindset.”
- Nov. 6 topic is “Real Ways to Handle Peer Pressure.”
- Nov. 20 topic is “Supporting Your Child’s Self-Esteem.”
- Dec. 4 topic is “Managing Screen Time.”
- Dec. 11 topic is “Recognizing the Signs of Human Trafficking.”
The first nine weeks of this school year ended Oct. 23 for students at every school except Bellwood Elementary, which follows a year-round calendar. On Nov. 8, printed report cards will be issued to students and digital report cards will be posted to ParentVUE at every school except Bellwood Elementary (where report cards were issued Oct. 16).
- Parents can find easy-to-follow directions for accessing ParentVUE online. ParentVUE is also available as a free app from the App Store and Google Play. Parents who do not have access to ParentVUE should contact their child’s school to get login information.
- Get more information about report cards here.
Keep your eyes on the prize, class of 2025! Here is your graduation schedule:
- May 19: Matoaca High at 9 a.m. at Virginia State University and Thomas Dale High at 3 p.m. at Virginia Commonwealth University
- May 20 at Virginia Commonwealth University: Monacan High at 9:30 a.m. and Clover Hill High at 2 p.m.
- May 21 at Virginia Commonwealth University: Manchester High at 9:30 a.m. and Cosby High at 2 p.m.
- May 22 at Virginia Commonwealth University: James River High at 9:30 a.m. and Bird High at 2 p.m.
- May 23 at Virginia Commonwealth University: Meadowbrook High at 9:30 a.m. and Midlothian High at 2 p.m.
- May 28 at Career and Technical Center @ Hull: Carver College and Career Academy (time to be determined)
- Nov. 4-5 student holidays: At every Chesterfield County school, students will be on holiday Nov. 4-5. Also, parent-teacher conferences will take place Nov. 4.
- Complete student calendars for 2024-25 are available on this webpage, including English and Spanish versions of the regular school year calendar and the year-round calendar for Bellwood Elementary.
Oct. 21-25 is National School Bus Safety Week. This seems like a good week to share a video reminding students about what to do and what not to do on school buses.
October is National Bullying Prevention Month, making this a great time to talk about bullying and what to do if it happens. Watch this CCPS in the Know video to learn more about bullying prevention. Do you have a question that you’d like answered via CCPS in the Know? This video series gives quick-but-helpful insights into central Virginia's largest school system. If you have a question for CCPS in the Know, then ask it here. We’ll cover as many topics as we can. You can see all of the videos via this playlist, with captions available in English and in Spanish for each video.
Chesterfield County Public Schools is launching a weeklong celebration to honor and appreciate all staff members. Thank You, Team Chesterfield Week will take place Oct. 28-Nov. 1, and everyone is encouraged to express their thanks to teachers and school employees. The goal of Thank You, Team Chesterfield Week is to encourage and uplift all teachers and all employees of Chesterfield County Public Schools. Unlike days or weeks that focus on one group or another, this week of appreciation covers everyone working in Chesterfield County Public Schools: teachers, cafeteria staff, office workers, bus drivers, skilled tradespeople, custodians, technology employees and all other people working in our schools and central offices.
Free online tutoring is now available for students in grades 3-12 via Stride Tutoring. To provide this service, Chesterfield County Public Schools is using funds available through the Virginia Department of Education’s ALL In initiative as well as other funding sources. Students can access free tutoring through Stride as long as funds are available. To access Stride Tutoring, students along with their families should go to the backpack icon on the RapidIdentity dashboard using their CCPS-issued Chromebook. Click the Stride Tutoring icon under the “District Applications” heading. No additional login credentials are required. Students can reserve time for online video meetings with tutors licensed in subject areas in which they need additional support. Students and families select a tutor based on expertise and availability to fit their schedule, with tutoring available in the evenings and on weekends. Students do not need a teacher referral to schedule a tutoring session. There is no limit to the number of tutoring sessions at this time. Information is available at oneccps.org/tutors.
Gifted learners are students who show the potential for advanced thinking and reasoning, creativity and high achievement. So that schools can support, challenge, enrich and engage gifted students, Chesterfield County Public Schools conducts an annual referral process to identify gifted students. Students are evaluated during the current school year for services that will formally begin in the 2025-26 school year.
- Parents, teachers, community members, and students can refer a student for gifted evaluation by filling out this online form.
- Oct. 25 is the deadline to refer students currently in grades 2-12 in Chesterfield County Public Schools.
- Oct. 25 is also the deadline to refer students in grades 2-12 who are not enrolled in Chesterfield County Public Schools but who are residents of Chesterfield County.
- For more information, check out the gifted education overview and the gifted education webpage.
Everyone within Chesterfield County Public Schools works to support students and help them grow into strong young people. When problems arise that get in the way of learning, schools want to connect with students and families to solve those problems. But we can only solve problems that we know about, so communicating to school staff members is how problem-solving starts. That’s the topic of this CCPS in the Know video. Bonus: This easy-to-understand chart is a handy reference. Do you have a question that you’d like answered via CCPS in the Know? This video series gives quick-but-helpful insights into central Virginia's largest school system. If you have a question for CCPS in the Know, then ask it here. We’ll cover as many topics as we can. You can see all of the videos via this playlist, with captions available in English and in Spanish for each video on our YouTube channel.
County libraries will forgive fines Sept. 12-16
Are fines keeping you from fully accessing everything the Chesterfield Public Library has to offer? Read Away Your Fines! Stop by any Chesterfield County library Sept. 12-16, read for 30 minutes and tell a staff member about what you read. It’s that simple, so don't let fines hold you back any longer. This opportunity is open to anyone with an overdue fine with the Chesterfield Public Library. Find your nearest location via this webpage.
Students: Your presence matters
This is Attendance Awareness Month, and we want students to know that their presence matters. When students are in school, they help create a vibrant and complete learning environment. Chesterfield County Public Schools is here to support families and ensure every student is able to show up ready to learn in class.