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Charlottesville City Schools

Daily Routines Hub

DAILY ROUTINES

From school hours to school lunches, find links on this page to practical information for families in our schools.

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Attendance

Extracurriculars & After-School

School Hours

Regular Hours

Early Dismissal Hours

  • Elementary (includes PreK): 12 noon
  • CMS:  12:45 pm
  • CHS: 1:40 pm
  • Lugo-McGinness Academy: 11:30 am

Visiting Our Schools

Parents and guardians are welcome to visit our schools, whether for schoolwide morning meetings, a visit with your child’s teacher, or other school events. To visit, please bring a photo ID and check in at the main office. The receptionist will give you instructions and a badge to stick to your clothing. Remember to sign out when you leave.

 

New Visitor Management System 

As part of our ongoing commitment to campus safety, our district is transitioning to Raptor Technologies for visitor management, replacing our previous Securly system. The Raptor system allows us to keep better track of all guests entering our school while ensuring our campus remains secure. Here is what you need to know when visiting us this year:

What to expect when you arrive

When visiting during school hours, check-in is quick and self-guided:

  1. Photo ID: Please bring your government-issued driver’s license or photo ID.

  2. Self-Check-In iPad: You will scan the front and back of your driver's license directly at the front desk iPad kiosk and take a quick photo. (Our front desk staff or admin tech will be right there if you need help or need manual entry!)

Save Time with the Raptor App

You can save time and a few steps by downloading the Raptor Safe App before your visit:

  • Set up your profile and enter your details in advance.

  • The app will generate a personal QR code.

  • When you arrive, simply scan your QR code at the iPad kiosk for a fast check-in!

Pre-Registering for School Events

For special school events, assemblies, or classroom visits, we will send out a pre-registration link ahead of time. Registering online beforehand will help check-ins run a lot more efficiently. 

Thank you for your partnership in keeping our students and staff safe. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the front office.

 

Volunteers

Volunteers make a big impact in our classrooms and throughout our schools. Interested in volunteering? Complete the online training and registration form on our volunteer page.  

❄️ Snow Day/Inclement Weather Plans ❄️

 Safety is our first concern. Decisions on schedule changes due to weather are made after taking into consideration:

  • Road conditions within the city
  • Conditions of primary roads in the surrounding area that would impact school staff and bus driver commutes
  • Sidewalk conditions within the city that would impact walkers
  • Conditions on school grounds, including walkways
  • Forecasted weather that could create hazardous travel, particularly if an early release is needed

Our staff works with the City of Charlottesville to make these decisions, consulting with a professional weather service and surveying local road and sidewalk conditions. 

    • Morning announcements will be made around 5:30am. Sometimes CCS can announce a decision the evening before.
    • Early-release decisions will be made by 10:30am whenever possible.

    • Via phone, email, or text using ParentSquare. All staff, families, and CHS students automatically receive notifications.
    • CCS website homepage
    • CCS social media: Facebook
    • Through local TV and radio stations and their websites.

  • Join ParentSquare Community Group for Weather Announcements

  • All school activities are canceled unless otherwise indicated.

    • School buses run on the same delay as school. (If schools are opening on a 2-hour delay, then buses will run their usual routes 2 hours later.)
    • Early-morning (zero period) classes at CMS and CHS are canceled.
    • At CATEC, the morning session is canceled, but the afternoon session will begin at the usual time (1:25).
    • Morning field trips are canceled.

    • Students will be fed lunch before dismissal, if possible.
    • At CATEC, the afternoon session is canceled. After-school programs are canceled unless otherwise announced.
    • All school activities are canceled unless otherwise indicated.

    Unless otherwise announced, the dismissal schedule is:

    • Preschool through 4th grade will dismiss at noon.
    • Grades 5-8 will dismiss at 12:45 pm.
    • Grades 9-12 will dismiss at 1:40 pm (since afternoon CATEC will be canceled, this includes CATEC students).
    • LMA dismisses at 11:30.

    • We sometimes announce a 2-hour delay with re-evaluation – especially if the weather is forecasted to begin early in the morning.
    • This gives us extra time to consider the latest conditions before we announce a final decision around 7:30am.
    • If you receive this message, we expect that schools will open 2 hours late, but please be prepared in case we announce a full-day closure at 7:30am.

    • Generally, no announcement means we will open school on time. No news is good news!
    • In some cases, we will post a message saying “we will open on time” to ParentSquare and the website with no notifications so that families can check to be confident that a decision has been made. This typically happens following a series of closures, or in situations where inclement weather has been forecast but conditions are safe.