Chesterfield County Public Schools -

Hooray for the 2024-25 school year!

Teaching and learning and more, oh my! The first week of this brand-new school year was a whirl of classes, buses, lunches and memories. This video shows as much of the week as we could possibly pack into 65 seconds. Families can continue to find helpful details on this webpage, including:

• Student calendars in English and in Spanish

• Parent handbook and standards for student conduct in English and in Spanish

• Information about updating your student’s transportation information

• Breakfast and lunch information, including how to pay for meals and how to apply for free or reduced-price meals

Here’s how to get all of the school info you need

Step by step, the latest CCPS in the Know video shows how to stay up-to-date with all that’s going on in Chesterfield County Public Schools. Available in English and in Spanish, the video is part of a new series giving quick-but-helpful insights into central Virginia's largest school system. If you have a question that you'd like answered, then ask it here. We’ll cover as many topics as we can via CCPS in the Know. You can see all of the videos here, with captions available in English and in Spanish for each video on our YouTube channel.

Labor Day weekend

Chesterfield County schools and school offices will be closed Aug. 30 and Sept. 2 for Labor Day. Enjoy the long weekend!

Sept. 3 is deadline to apply for openings on School Board advisory committees

Advisory committees established by the Chesterfield County School Board are one way community members connect with schools. Advisory committee members are appointed from each of the county’s five magisterial districts and include parents, teachers, staff members, students and others interested in helping Chesterfield County Public Schools achieve its vision of creating a better tomorrow. Advisory committee members who are appointed by the School Board must reside in the district they represent.  

Go to bit.ly/BdCom for information about specific committees (including meeting dates) or to apply by Sept. 3 if you are eligible and interested in these openings:

• Career and Technical Education Advisory Committee: Midlothian District (partial term ending June 30, 2025)

• Citizens Budget Advisory Committee: Midlothian District (partial term ending June 30, 2025)

• Special Education Advisory Committee:

  Bermuda District (partial term ending June 30, 2025) Parent representatives must have a child participating in special education at the time they are appointed to the committee.

Apply Sept. 16-19 for Christmas Mother help

Families can request help from the Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Christmas Mother during application review at the Chesterfield Fairgrounds (10300 Courthouse Road):

• 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 16-17

• noon-7 p.m. Sept. 18

• 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 19

Get details and an application (in English and Spanish) on the Christmas Mother website. Applications will also be available at the fairgrounds on review days. Children will not be allowed on site during application review.

Be a volunteer

Schools are looking for volunteers! Most volunteers must complete an application which goes through a central approval process that includes a background check. This could take two to four weeks, so be sure to allow ample time for your application to be reviewed before you plan to volunteer. Applications are available in English and Spanish.

You must submit an application if you plan to:

• Chaperone a field trip

• Advise a club or sports team

• Participate in mentor groups

• Work with students unsupervised

You do not have to submit an application if you are:

• Visiting for lunch

• Helping in the library or office

• A college student in classrooms for program credit

• 18 and under

• A supervised classroom helper such as a room mom, assisting with a

  class party, etc.

School Board policy 6160 states that the School Board has the authority to name school facilities. The names of most Chesterfield County schools that have opened in the past 20 years have geographic connections but not specific neighborhood names.

The west area middle school is being built on Westerleigh Parkway in the Matoaca District, and it is scheduled to open in August 2025. Students are expected to come primarily from neighborhoods currently zoned for Tomahawk Creek Middle.

Potential names for the new middle school were solicited from the public Feb. 14-28, and nearly 500 suggestions were submitted. Based on the recent practice of involving the impacted school communities in the naming process, PTA leaders at Tomahawk Creek Middle reviewed the submitted names and forwarded three to the School Board for review: Otterdale Middle School, Otterdale Branch Middle School, Otterdale Grove Middle School.

Research into those potential names revealed connections to Otterdale Farm where Col. Woodson Wingfield Hancock built a home in 1834. Enslaved people worked the 560 acres of Otterdale Farm, growing tobacco and other crops until after the Civil War.

The Chesterfield County School Board is now bringing forward three new name suggestions: Freedom Middle School, Liberty Middle School, Lincoln Middle School.

• Parent involvement survey in English

• Parent involvement survey in Spanish

Parents have online access to frequently asked questions (scroll to “indicator 8” for information about the parent involvement survey). Parents also have online access to printable versions of the survey in English and the survey in Spanish. If you have questions, then email Chiquita Seaborne or call 804-418-4672.

Resources for mental health and counseling services

This video offers helpful information for families about mental health and counseling resources. The providers in this video participated in a Spring Into Wellness event, then helped create this virtual fair. Watch for information (in this order) from:

• Richmond Center for Eating and Anxiety Disorders

• Comfort Zone Camp

• Soaring for Change

• Circle of Wellness

• A Peace of Mind Counseling Services

• Chesterfield County Mental Health Department

• Healing Sounds

• Family Services

• Brothers’ Keeper

• Positive Paths Wellness Coaching

• T.R.I.N.I.T.Y.

• Rush Community Group

• Healing Circle Counseling

• Sources of Strength

• The Light Beyond Supportive Services

• HCA Tucker Pavilion Behavioral Health Services

• Be SMART

• Commonwealth Autism

• My Spectrum Counseling and Coaching

• Every Age Every Stage

• Fig Tree Therapy

• Chesterfield County Mental Health Support Services

• Hidden Roots Mental Health

How to solve problems at school

Everyone within CCPS works to support students and help them grow into strong young people. When there is a problem, we want to connect with students and families to solve it. As we move toward the start of a new school year, we want to be sure that families know what to do if you have a concern. Communicating to school staff members is the best way to start. Here is a handy chart to help the problem-solving process. See the problem-solving chart in Spanish.