🎨✨ 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐂𝐏𝐒 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫!!🎶🖌️

Garrett County Public Schools invites you to celebrate the incredible talents of our student artists at the Student Arts Fair on Saturday, March 14, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., at the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College!

Enjoy a day filled with visual art displays, theatre and dance showcases, and honor chorus and band performances from students across the county. This is a wonderful opportunity to support the arts and the amazing young people who bring them to life!

🎭 Free admission
🖼️ Open to the public
🎼 All ages are welcome

Mark your calendars now! Come be inspired by the future of the arts in Garrett County.

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝟐/𝟐/𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools will open two (2) hours late today, Monday, February 2, 2026.

📣 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐬! 𝐏𝐫𝐞-𝐊 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 📣

Applications for Kindergarten and Pre-K (ages 3 & 4) for the 2026–27 school year open on February 9, 2026, at 8:00 a.m.* Learn more about each program by visiting https://www.gcps.net/o/gcps/page/student-enrollment and selecting your desired program. 🌐
*𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔, 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝟐- 𝒐𝒓 𝟑-𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝟏𝟎:𝟎𝟎 𝒂.𝒎. 𝒐𝒓 𝟏𝟏:𝟎𝟎 𝒂.𝒎., 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚.

Follow along over the next week, and we will take a closer look at each program. If you have questions about a program or desire school-specific questions, please reach out to your local school's office or the Office of Elementary Education at 301-334-8927. 📲

Your child’s learning journey starts here, in GCPS! 📖

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝟏/𝟑𝟎/𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools will open two (2) hours late on Friday, January 30, 2026.

𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐚𝐲 – 𝟏/𝟑𝟎/𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) is preparing for the possibility of a Virtual Learning Day on Friday, January 30, 2026. All necessary learning materials will be sent home with students today, Wednesday, January 28, 2026. No decision has been made at this time. A message will be sent through our regular media outlets and school system alerts no later than 6:00 a.m. on Friday, January 30, 2026, regarding whether a virtual learning day will be implemented.

In reviewing the extended forecast, students may be sent home prepared for the possibility of virtual learning daily.

Full details of the 2025-26 GCPS Virtual Learning Plan are available on the homepage of our website, www.gcps.net.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟔 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐮𝐩 𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐝

The Maryland State Board of Education approved the Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) request to use Monday, February 16th, Presidents’ Day, and Monday, April 6th, Easter Monday, as make-up days. Additionally, as pre-approved on the GCPS 2025-26 Calendar, Friday, June 5th, will be used as a make-up day.

Should any additional traditional inclement weather days occur, those make-up days will be added to the end of the school year. For up-to-date information on the GCPS calendar, please visit www.gcps.net/calendars.

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools will conduct a Virtual Learning Day (with live instruction) on Tuesday, January 27, 2026. Schools will be closed for in-person learning.
A decision about Tuesday’s afternoon and evening activities will be made by midday on January 27, 2026.

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 - 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools will conduct a Virtual Learning Day (with live instruction for the morning) on Monday, January 26, 2026. Since this day was scheduled as a 3-hour early student dismissal, students will only be involved in morning instruction. Teachers will complete their scheduled professional development for the afternoon. All afternoon and evening activities are canceled. Liberal leave is in effect for employees.

𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐉𝐫. 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏/𝟏𝟗/𝟐𝟔

Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) will be closed on Monday, January 19, 2026, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Both schools and offices will be closed. GCPS is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday, January 20, 2026. For full calendar details, please visit www.gcps.net/calendars.

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐂𝐏𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔-𝟐𝟕 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫

During the January 13, 2026, Board Meeting, the proposed Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) 2026-27 school calendar, developed by the GCPS Calendar Committee, was approved. It is now available on the Public Relations page of our website: www.gcps.net/public-relations, under the GCPS Calendars tab. The Calendar Committee, which consisted of parents, staff, administrators, and a Board member, met in November & December 2025, and January 2026.

The approved calendar features a pre-Labor Day start, with students returning to school on August 31, 2026, and the school tentatively concluding on June 3, 2027. Professional development days are scheduled throughout the year. The 91st day of school is scheduled for January 28, 2027. Students will be dismissed three hours early on this day. The day will NOT move (or “float”) as it has in the past.

Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held once, on February 1, 2027, tentatively planned to occur from 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. All major holidays are also school holidays. Additional holidays include October 9, 2026 (Autumn Glory Friday), November 3, 2026 (Election Day), November 30, 2026 (Thanksgiving Monday), and March 29, 2027 (Easter Monday).

Three make-up days are scheduled during the school year to account for potential inclement weather: February 15, March 29, and June 4, 2027. These make-up dates are marked with snowflakes on the calendar and will be used in numerical order as possible make-up days. Since it's impossible to predict inclement weather days or emergency system-wide closings, it is recommended that vacations not be scheduled until at least after June 11th to avoid any scheduling conflicts. If additional days are needed, the school year will be extended to meet the state requirement of 180 days.

UPDATE 12/16/2026:
Based on information received from the Maryland State Board and the State Superintendent, calendar modification requests will not be accepted until the January State Board Meeting of the current school year. This makes Presidents’ Day the earliest holiday on which a local school system may request the State Board for schools to be open on a holiday due to inclement weather. The State Board and the State Superintendent of Schools strongly recommended that local school systems refrain from designating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day as an inclement weather recovery day in their school calendars, as noted in the previously proposed 2026-27 calendar linked above. The calendar committee reconvened on December 15, 2025, to discuss this change. As a result, the committee determined that community input was necessary to finalize the proposed calendar, particularly regarding the placement of built-in snow make-up days and the graduation date. Once the survey closes, the calendar committee will reconvene to propose an updated calendar at the January 13, 2026, Board meeting.

Update 12/11/25 3:15 pm:

Based on information received from the Maryland State Board and the State Superintendent, it will not be possible to use Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a make-up day for inclement weather, as noted in the proposed 2026-27 calendar.  The Calendar Committee will reconvene, and a revised proposed calendar will be posted soon.

GCPS is Now Accepting Feedback for the Proposed 2026-27 School Calendar

Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) is collecting feedback on the proposed 2026-27 school year calendar. The feedback collected will be provided to the Garrett County Board of Education (GCBOE) members. The calendar and feedback form may be found under the "Calendars" tab on the Public Relations page of the website: www.gcps.net/calendars.

For the 2026-27 calendar, the Calendar Committee has recommended a pre-Labor Day start of August 31, 2026, with a scheduled end date of June 3, 2027. There are nine (9) Professional Development Days built into the calendar, one per month beginning in September and running through May. There are three make-up days built into the calendar, but if necessary, additional days will be added at the end of the school year. Of note, MD Statute §7–103.2 requires school systems to utilize the make-up days built into the calendar before implementing Virtual Learning. Therefore, based on the proposed calendar, GCPS must have three (3) traditional inclement weather days before a virtual learning day may be implemented.

Additionally, the Calendar Committee recommends adopting a standard practice for determining whether the annual school calendar will begin before or after Labor Day. Under this recommendation, September 5th will serve as the official marker:

• If Labor Day falls before September 5th, the committee will create a post–Labor Day calendar.
• If Labor Day falls on or after September 5th, the committee will create a pre–Labor Day calendar.

Please review the calendar in its entirety before providing feedback. All information collected will be shared with the Board and posted to BoardDocs under the January 13, 2026, meeting agenda item. Please use the Google Form to provide feedback on the calendar selections you believe are in students' best interests. Written comments may also be submitted via mail or by email to the following address:

Garrett County Public Schools
Attn: Public Relations Office
770 Dennett Road
Oakland, MD 21550
public.info@gcps.net

Feedback will be accepted through Thursday, January 1, 2026. The Board will review each comment before voting on the calendar at the January 13, 2026, Board Meeting.