FCPS is a successful school system in a diverse and growing community. Frederick County bridges rural, suburban, and urban lifestyles near both the Washington, DC and Baltimore metropolitan communities. Enrollment for 2018 is 42,789 students, an increase of 585 students over the year before. The 2017-2018 school year racial/ethnic composition of our student body was White: 60.4%; Hispanic/ Latino: 16.5%; Black/African American: 12.1%; Asian: 5.4%; two or more races: 5%; American Indian/Alaskan Native: 0.3%; Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian: 0.2%. We serve students with varying needs, including about 4,300 students receiving special education services (10%), 2,700 English Learners (6%), and almost 11,000 receiving free or reduced-price meal services (26%).
Frederick County is home to 67 schools, including 37 elementary schools, 13 middle schools, 10 high schools, 3 public charter schools, an alternative school, a special education school, Flexible Evening High and a Career and Technology Center.
We balance top-rate academics with the personal caring and individual attention you would expect in a small town community. In FCPS, we understand that the children we educate today will be the adults caring for our community's health, homes, businesses, and neighborhoods tomorrow. Frederick County's investment in public education is an investment in our future. Our operating budget for FY2019 is $602,297,453 with just over 47% of our funding coming from our local county government.
The results we achieve are impressive. Frederick County students consistently outpace their state and national peers in academic achievement measures such as the SAT college-entrance exam. Students in our class of 2018 received $45.8 million in scholarship offers. FCPS’s Class of 2017 graduation rate is a high 92.5% (compared to Maryland's 87.7% average), while our dropout rate is 4.4% (compared with the state's 8.2%). Critically, 99% of more than 1,000 employers surveyed indicated that FCPS students met or exceeded workplace readiness standards.
Our 5,800 employees are champions of excellence who collaborate with parents, community members, and local businesses to create an inspiring, academic, safe, healthy and nurturing environment for our students!