FPS Early Childhood

Monday, August 24: Back to School Night 5-6:30 pm

Wednesday, August 26: First day of School Grades 1-12

Friday, August 28: First day of School Kindergarten

Monday, August 31: First Day of ECSE at Longfellow and Agassiz

🌟 Welcome Back!

Welcome to a new school year!

We are so excited to welcome our students and families back for another year of learning, growing, and playing together! We hope you had a wonderful summer and are ready for a great year ahead.

Our staff has been working hard to prepare welcoming, engaging classrooms where every child can learn, build relationships, develop independence, and have fun. We are looking forward to partnering with you and your family throughout the school year.

Your child's teacher will be reaching out to you by the end of this week to introduce themselves and share important information as we get ready to begin the school year. Please watch for a message from your child's teacher.

🏫 Back-to-School Night

Monday, August 24
5:00–6:30 PM

Back-to-School Night is a wonderful opportunity to:

• Meet your child's teacher
• Visit and explore your child's classroom
• Learn more about your child's school day
• Ask questions and connect with staff
• Help your child feel comfortable and excited about the new school year

We hope you and your family can join us! This is a great time to meet your child's teacher, see their classroom, and begin building the partnership that will support your child throughout the school year.

We can't wait to see you on Monday, August 24!

💙 Here's to a wonderful year of learning, playing, growing, and making memories together!

Welcome back, families!

Tera Sistad
ECSE Principal

The Campus Parent Portal is now open for the 2026-27 school year. Parents/Guardians can log in to access their student’s school schedule and check attendance, assignments, and grades.

The Campus Parent screen is organized with communication items on the right, menu options on the left, and student information in the center.

On the right side, Announcements will display general messaging. The Inbox will display messages sent to families by the school. Shortcuts will contain items of interest for a parent like teacher contact info, and access to online registration forms.

On the left side, the menu options provide access to a student’s daily class schedule, as well as attendance, assignments, grades, and the school calendar. As you click each menu item, details related to a student and topic will appear in the center of the screen. If you have multiple students associated with your Campus Parent account, you can switch between students using the dropdown next to the student name in the upper right of the screen.

At this time, parents may also choose to download the Campus Parent app from their phone’s App Store. Once downloaded, parents will be asked to search for the school district. Enter Fargo for the District Name, select North Dakota from the state list and click submit. From the list that appears, select Fargo Public School District. You will then be prompted to enter your Campus Parent username and password.

There is a change to the ECSE schedule for the 2026-2027 school year. Please note that school will be in session Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. There will be no school on Fridays, as that will be a designated IEP Meeting day. The first day of ECSE is Monday, August 31.

Morning Session: 8:00-10:30 a.m., Monday–Thursday
Afternoon Session: 12:10-2:40 p.m., Monday–Thursday

Arrival & Dismissal Procedures

Make plans to drop off and pick up your student on time. Arriving on time helps establish routines, makes for smoother transitions, and helps your child be ready to learn.

Classic markers (broad), 10 count washable

Playdough, 2 cans

Crayons, 2 boxes, 24 count each

Dry Erase Markers, 4 pack

Glue sticks, 4 count

White Glue (4 oz)

Folder, 1 2-pocket with 3 prongs

Backpack, no wheels, large enough to fit a standard folder

Ziplock bags, 1 pint sized

Extra set of clothes (shirt, pants, socks, shoes)

Diapers/Pull Ups

Baby Wipes, 1 pack

Tissues, 2 boxes

Consistent attendance is important for your child's learning and sense of well being. Students who attend school regularly build routines to become comfortable and confident in the school environment.

📱 Text Our Attendance Line: If your child will not be at school, please use the ECSE attendance line by texting 701-446-8003. This number is for students at both Agassiz and Longfellow

🚍 If your child rides the bus, please also call Valley Bus at 701-235-5912 to cancel transportation for the day your child will be absent.

Fargo Public Schools encourages all families to complete the free/reduced meal application. The application is free and only takes a few minutes to complete: https://secure.ezmealapp.com/ApplicationScreen.aspx

The most common reason to apply is to receive free or discounted school meals for children. Eligibility is based on family size and income. It is important to know that the federal program assists in providing children more than just meals.

School Funding

The amount of funding the district receives is dependent on our rate of free/reduced students, as is our eligibility for additional grant funding. Ensuring our free/reduced rate is an accurate representation of our district is vital in providing a valuable education.

Activities

Families enrolled in the federal free/reduced meals program are eligible for fee waivers associated with student activities.

College Applications

Families enrolled in the federal free/reduced meal program are eligible for fee waivers associated with national standardized tests (ACT, SAT, and AP Exams).

The Community Friends Program places two typically developing peers in each of our afternoon ECSE classrooms. Community friends serve as role models and language models for our preschoolers with special needs. In return the community friends receive a high quality half day preschool experience at no cost and simultaneously learn empathy and acceptance. We had great success with our program in past years and are excited to be able to continue it. In order to qualify as a community friend, child must be 4 years old by July 31, 2026 and they must pass a developmental screening. In addition, parents must provide transportation to an from school each day. The program runs four days a week (Monday - Thursday) from 12:10-2:40 pm.

If you have siblings, relatives, friends or neighbors who might make a good community friend please have their parents call our Early Childhood office at 701-446-3100.