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AACPS Back-to-School Guide: Bus Stops, Meals, Bell Times and Key Dates
Anne Arundel County Living
AACPS Back-to-School Guide: Bus Stops, Meals, Bell Times and Key Dates
That final week before school can turn into a hunt through emails, school pages and old bookmarks. We pulled the main AACPS back-to-school checks into one place so you can get through them in one sitting.
Start with these six checks
A few minutes now will save some scrambling on the first morning. Bus routes and school event times can still move, so keep the official pages handy.
Find the bus stop
Stop times are posted by school for the 2026–27 year. AACPS updates routes after posting, so reopen the page right before school starts.
View AACPS bus stop timesCheck eligibility and alerts
Use the address lookup if you are unsure whether your student receives bus service. You can also subscribe to route notices by bus number.
Open the transportation lookupPull the supply list
TeacherLists organizes the current AACPS lists by school. Leave a little room in the cart since teachers may add items once class begins.
Search AACPS supply listsHandle school meals
Meal prices remain unchanged. The free and reduced-price meal application is open, and cafeteria accounts can be managed online.
Open the meal application pageConfirm the bell time
The common schedules are listed below, but a few schools differ. Check the official school-by-school list before setting the morning alarm.
See the full school-hours listAdd school events
Back-to-school nights begin before classes. The AACPS event page lists dates and times by school.
Find your school’s eventFour more things worth handling before Monday
These are easy to miss because they sit outside the usual bus-and-supplies list. Knock them out now if they apply to your student.
Complete a separate Emergency Card Verification Form for each student. You will need the student’s birth date, student number and the five-digit PIN supplied by the school. The form also covers photo, honor-roll and instructional social media permissions.
One AACPS Parent Portal login can connect to all of your children. The portal includes schedules, attendance, forms and historical grades. AACPS notes that access may be limited during summer setup; the mobile app district code is LTDJ.
If medication must be given at school, the county health guide requires a parent request form for each medication. The Parent’s Guide to School Health also covers physical exams and immunization records, including Tdap and meningococcal documentation for students in grades 7–12.
If your student needs a device for use at home, start with the AACPS student device loaner page. Check the current application details there since device plans can differ by grade.
Bus stops can change before the first day
AACPS says routes are updated periodically after they are posted. Check your stop now, save the bus number, then look again the night before your student rides.
Naptown Scoop’s roundup notes that bus service generally begins beyond 1/2 mile for pre-K and kindergarten, beyond 1 mile for elementary students, and beyond 1.5 miles for middle and high school students. Use the official address lookup for the answer tied to your home.
The first week starts in stages
AACPS begins classes on Monday, August 24, 2026. The grade-by-grade rollout matters if you have students in more than one school.
Students in grades 1–5, 6 and 9 report.
All students in grades 1–12 report.
Pre-K and kindergarten families have conferences and a staggered start. Your school assigns the date.
Back-to-school nights begin before the first day of class. Use the official AACPS event schedule for your school’s date and time.
A few calendar details worth saving
The first day gets most of the attention, but a few less-obvious dates can catch a household off guard later in the year.
The adopted calendar includes a five-day break.
Schools are open on these three days before winter break.
Four Unity Days are two-hour early dismissal days, so they count as partial student days.
The seven-day spring break begins and continues through the following week.
This is the scheduled last day of school.
The calendar also includes closings on Yom Kippur, Election Day and Eid al-Fitr, plus four non-student days after marking periods. One November non-student day applies only to elementary and middle school students; high schools operate normally. AACPS also built in three inclement weather days, which would be deducted from the end of the year if unused. Save the full AACPS calendar so you can check the exact dates and any later changes.
AACPS meal prices for 2026–27
The Board of Education kept meal prices at the same level for a 12th consecutive year. AACPS approved the prices on May 6 and published the update on May 8, 2026.
| Meal item | School level | 2026–27 price |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast | All levels | $1.50 |
| Lunch | Elementary | $2.75 |
| Lunch | Secondary | $3.00 |
| Milk | All levels | $0.55 |
Families can apply for free or reduced-price meals now. The AACPS school-meal payment page has the current options for cafeteria accounts, and the AACPS dining page is the quickest place to check current menus.
Common AACPS bell times
These are the schedules used by most schools. Open the official 2026–27 school-hours list to confirm the exact time for your school.
8:00 AM
to 2:25 PM
9:15 AM
to 3:55 PM
8:30 AM
to 3:18 PM
A short night-before checklist
If you are new to the county this summer
Moving in August is its own kind of week. If you recently moved and are still figuring out which school your address feeds into, start with the AACPS eligibility and school lookup tools rather than a neighbor’s best guess. Attendance areas do not always follow the lines people assume, and the official tool settles it in about a minute.
We work with a lot of families who time a move around the school calendar, and the first week is usually the one nobody plans for. Getting the bus, the bell, and the start date pinned down before Monday takes most of the noise out of it.
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