Newark City Schools

Newark City Schools will receive $550,000 to upgrade camera systems and video surveillance at 11 buildings through grants from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. The School Safety Grants will allow the NCS to improve school safety monitoring districtwide. The grants have been awarded to Ben Franklin, Cherry Valley, Carson, Hillview, John Clem, Legend and McGuffey elementary schools, Liberty, Heritage and Wilson Middle schools, and Newark High School. Upgrades should be installed in the buildings by December 2023.

There is a lot going on as the start of the school year approaches on Aug. 18. Here are a few links to important information as the start quickly approaches:

The Newark City School District will assess families with a technology fee of $40 for the 2022-23 school year. This fee covers technology usage and the district’s one-to-one computer initiative, helping to pay for repairs and maintenance of devices. Please see the Student Device Handbook for more information by clicking here. The NCS Board of Education has waived academic fees for the 22-23 school year. This includes all consumable instructional fees assessed on a yearly basis for workbooks and other classroom supplies. The academic fees have ranged from $28 to $36 in elementary; $43 to $50 in middle school; and can be over $100 for some high school students depending on classes. Fees will still be assessed for AP testing and for any lost or damaged district property, such as books. Preschool tuition is not considered a fee and has not been waived. Additionally, prior years’ unpaid fees have also not been waived. Please pay your prior school years’ fees as soon as possible.

Online back-to-school forms are now open for the 2022-23 school year. The forms must be filled out online by clicking this link. Your user name is your child's student ID; the password is your child's six-digit birthdate in MMDDYY format. For example, if your child's birthdate is Nov. 15, 2013, the password would be 111513. Please contact your child's school if you have questions about the student ID or difficulty filling out the forms.

School lunch charges will resume for the 2022-23 school year, as the USDA has ended the program that provided lunches at no cost for all families. Lunches will cost $3 for students this year. Breakfast will continue to be offered for free. Please consider filling out the free and reduced price meal form. A family of 4 that makes less than $51,000 is eligible for at least a reduced price lunch. Parents can fill the form out online by clicking here, or a paper form can be downloaded by clicking here. Filling out the form can impact funding sources for our district, such as technology and other federal dollars.

Middle school start and end times are moving up by 10 minutes for Heritage, Liberty and Wilson students. The day will now begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m. This is to assist with transportation schedules. More information about student drop-off and pick-up will be communicated by your student’s school at a later time. The Transportation Department will communicate pick-up and drop-off times closer to the start of the school year.