Three New Financial Literacy Programs, and Where to Ask Us About Them on Aug. 22
- Whitney Ramirez, AFC
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Montgomery County Public Schools opens six regional Back-to-School Fairs on Saturday, August 22. Diapers 2 Deposits will have a station at four of them.
If you have been looking for financial literacy programs Montgomery County families can actually get into, three of them start this school year. All three are easier to understand from a person at a table than from a webpage, so the short version first, then the detail.
Where and when to find us
The fairs are not all at the same time. Three run in the morning and three in the afternoon, so check the hours before you drive.
Fair site | Region | Time | D2D station |
|---|---|---|---|
Paint Branch HS | Eastern | 9 a.m. to noon | Yes |
Gaithersburg HS | Central North | 9 a.m. to noon | Yes |
Wheaton HS | Central South | 3 to 6 p.m. | Yes |
Seneca Valley HS | Northern | 3 to 6 p.m. | Yes |
Richard Montgomery HS | Central | 1 to 4 p.m. | No |
Albert Einstein HS | Southern | 9 a.m. to noon | No |
MCPS assigns each school to a region and publishes a region finder, so your family's fair may not be the one closest to your house. Worth checking first.
The fairs are organized into zones. Alongside community organizations like D2D, MCPS staff will be on hand for registration, technology support, transportation, school meals, special education, multilingual services, and mental health. If you have three unrelated questions, this is the one Saturday where all three answers are in the same building.
The Art of Money, through Excel Beyond the Bell
The Art of Money is the financial literacy program D2D delivers through Excel Beyond the Bell, the county's out-of-school-time initiative for elementary and middle school students.
One thing to know before you get your hopes up: EBB is not available at every school. It is a partnership between the Montgomery County Collaboration Council, Montgomery County Recreation, and MCPS, and it runs at selected sites. EBB Middle operates at 10 middle schools and served more than 1,900 students last fiscal year. EBB Elementary runs at selected elementary schools with limited seats and a waitlist, with priority going to students who need academic support. Both include meals, and EBB Middle includes a bus home.
So the first question at our table is usually whether your child's school is an EBB site. Come ask; it takes ten seconds to check.
The curriculum runs on the F.A.S.T. Framework: FinancialField Trips, Applications, Standards, Theory. It is credit-first and it leads with hands-on application before theory, which is the approach behind a 92 percent program completion rate and a 40 percent average increase in post-assessment scores across more than 2,000 young people served.
The Ambassador program, and how SSL hours actually work
The Middle School D2D Ambassador program gives students 15 Student Service Learning hours for helping bring financial literacy to their peers.
Fifteen hours is worth putting in context. MCPS requires 75 SSL hours to graduate from high school, and students can start earning them the summer after Grade 5. So 15 hours is a fifth of the requirement, banked in middle school, doing something more interesting than picking up litter.
Here is the part nobody tells families until it is too late. SSL hours do not count automatically because a program says they do. To earn credit, the opportunity has to be with an organization carrying the MCPS SSL graduation cap designation on the Montgomery County Volunteer Center site, or the student has to submit MCPS Form 560-50 and get it approved by their school's SSL coordinator at least two weeks before serving. Hours are then documented on Form 560-51 and submitted to the coordinator by the posted deadline.
Two more rules worth knowing: you can claim a maximum of 8 SSL hours in any 24-hour period outside the school day, so 15 hours is not a weekend project. And students who finish all 75 hours before leaving middle school earn the Superintendent's Student Service Learning Award.
Ask us at the fair which route applies, and if it is Form 560-50, start it before you serve rather than after. That form is the difference between 15 hours on the record and 15 hours of goodwill.
Courses with Montgomery College this fall
D2D is offering courses through Montgomery College starting this fall. They sit inside Montgomery College's Youth Programs, part of the college's Workforce Development and Continuing Education division, which runs programs for ages 5 to 18.
Course listings and pricing appear on the college's WDCE class listing site, and WDCE publishes a fall brochure as each program area is added. Come to a fair station for the D2D lineup and registration details.
One thing that is easy to miss: if your family qualifies for free and reduced meals in MCPS, you may qualify for a partial Montgomery College youth program scholarship. If you are already at the fair asking the meals table about benefits, that is a useful second conversation to have while you are there.
What to bring, and what to ask
Nothing is required. But a few things make the ten minutes at our table more useful:
Your child's school name. It determines EBB eligibility and it is the first thing we will ask.
Your child's grade this year. The three programs split by age, and only one of them is for middle schoolers.
Your child's current SSL total, if you have it. It is visible in ParentVUE. Knowing whether they are at 0 or 40 changes the advice.
A question you have actually been putting off. Credit, a first job, a bank account, a car in two years. The framework is credit-first for a reason.
FAQ
What financial literacy programs Montgomery County families can join are starting this year?
Three. The Art of Money for elementary and middle school students through Excel Beyond the Bell, the Middle School D2D Ambassador program for SSL hours, and noncredit courses through Montgomery College's Youth Programs this fall.
What time is the MCPS Back-to-School Fair on Aug. 22?
It depends which fair. Albert Einstein, Paint Branch, and Gaithersburg run 9 a.m. to noon. Richard Montgomery runs 1 to 4 p.m. Wheaton and Seneca Valley run 3 to 6 p.m. Fairs are region-assigned, so check your school's region rather than assuming the nearest site is yours.
Which fairs will Diapers 2 Deposits be at?
Four of the six: Paint Branch and Gaithersburg in the morning, Wheaton and Seneca Valley in the afternoon.
How many SSL hours do MCPS students need to graduate?
Seventy-five. Students can begin earning them the summer after Grade 5 and accrue them through middle and high school. There is a cap of 8 hours in any 24-hour period earned outside the school day.
Do SSL hours from an outside program count automatically?
No. The organization has to carry the MCPS SSL graduation cap designation on the Montgomery County Volunteer Center site, or the student has to submit MCPS Form 560-50 and have it approved by their school's SSL coordinator at least two weeks before serving. Hours are then verified on Form 560-51.
Is The Art of Money available at every school?
No. It is delivered through Excel Beyond the Bell, which runs at selected elementary schools and 10 middle schools. Check whether your child's school is an EBB site before making plans.
Are Montgomery College youth programs free?
They are paid noncredit courses, but families who qualify for free and reduced meals in MCPS may qualify for a partial youth program scholarship. Ask at the fair or contact Montgomery College's WDCE office.
Come find the table
Three programs, four sites, one Saturday. If you only remember two things: check whether your fair runs in the morning or the afternoon, and if SSL hours are the reason you are interested, ask about Form 560-50 before your child starts serving rather than after.
D2D runs financial literacy programs Montgomery County families reach through Montgomery College, county out-of-school-time programs, and MCPS classrooms. For the full picture of what is available to organizations and districts, see the programs for organizations overview, or the capability statement.
