Frederick County Public Schools start new school year with growth, changes

FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. ( DC News Now ) — The first day of school kicked off on Wednesday for Frederick County Public Schools ( FCPS ) and the school district is starting the 2024-25 school year with some growth.

FCPS officials said about 49,000 students are expected to be enrolled this school year. That’s up from just under 48,000 in 2023. The district also boasts 180 new employees this new school year

At Oakdale High School, one of the most populated high schools in the school district, the students got in early, took time to take pictures together and got ready for the school year.

“If they weren’t here we wouldn’t be here so we’re very excited to have them back in the building this year,” said Dr. Eric Louérs Phillips , Associate Superintendent Of Public Affairs for Frederick County Public Schools.

“I’m a little nervous, but I already know the teachers that I have this year,” said Emily Kerns a Senior at Oakdale High School. “I’m mostly happy to be here and happy that I get to leave in like three hours.”

The start of the school year means the return of the alarm clock for students. We asked some seniors at Oakdale what time they woke up on Wednesday.

“I got up at 6:30 this morning,” said Kerns.

“6 a.m. on the dot,” added Larry Larbi, a senior at Oakdale High School.

For some seniors, this school year is about preparation.

“This year I’m taking sociology, which will also help me, define how I work out there in life and in everything that I do,” explained Larbi.

“I get to be the county’s first, completer of the interactive digital media City Plus, which will be really exciting and an honor. And also, we’re doing Corn Scroll Honor Society this year,” said Kerns. ”So I’m really excited to see us getting, recognition and graduation for taking this class the same way that people that really like science and math and history all have their own societies.”

And as FCPS students make their way back to the classroom, the new school year includes new changes. First, the school district said there’s an increase in class sizes by one.

“We increase class sizes by one. What that really means is that there is one less teacher, or more than one less teacher within a building that impacts our class offerings. And so what that means is when you have one less teacher in a building, that class of students has to be distributed across other classrooms within that school,” said Dr. Louérs Phillips.

He said now they’re seeing some minor impact with some increased class sizes.

“But really the major impact is on the opportunities for students to have course offerings this year. So what we will be doing this fall is, is really assessing and looking at the impact on students and instruction within the classroom, especially at our middle and high schools,” said Dr. Louérs Phillips.

Also new this school year, the school district’s board of education will discuss cellphone policies but have put in additional guidelines.

“At the elementary school level. Phones will be silenced and off during the school day. At the middle school level, students can use their cellphones for expressly approved instructional purposes,” explained Dr. Louérs Phillips. “For our high school students, they can use them on the bus, they can use them during class transitions, and then they can also use them for expressly approved instructional purposes during the school day.”

This school year, FCPS will open a parent resource center focused on supporting families with special education needs. It will be at the Lincoln A, a building this across the street from Lincoln Elementary School, in downtown Frederick.

School administrators said a record of nearly 4,300 high school students registered online to participate in high school sports this fall.

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