Diapers 2 Deposits Earns MCPS Approval for Student Service Learning Hours
- Whitney Ramirez, AFC
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD., August 1, 2026. Diapers 2 Deposits, Inc. has been approved by Montgomery County Public Schools for Student Service Learning hours, beginning with the 2026 to 2027 school year.
The approval gives MCPS students in grades 6-12 a new way to meet their SSL graduation requirement. Rather than collecting hours from whatever happens to be available, students train as D2D Ambassadors, master credit and budgeting, and then teach that material to younger children and families in their own community. Every Ambassador earns at least 10 verified SSL hours.
What the program asks of students
The training is the first phase. Students work through the D2D Credit First curriculum until they can explain credit and budgeting without notes.
Then they build the teaching materials: Mini Money Books, interactive games, the kind of thing a nine-year-old will actually pick up and use. Then they go teach, starting with younger peers and extending to community families.
The program runs year-round rather than in a single seasonal block, and students who want more than the 10-hour minimum can extend their schedule. Participants also have the option of a FinancialField Trip®, where partnering sites allow.
How the hours count
Maryland recognizes three kinds of service action. Most SSL opportunities give a student only one. The Ambassador model touches all three.
What the student does | Service type |
|---|---|
Teaches credit and budgeting to younger students and families | Direct |
Builds Mini Money Books and interactive games | Indirect |
Distributes those tools into the wider community | Advocacy |
The program is built against Maryland's Seven Best Practices of Service-Learning, the state framework that defines a high-quality experience, and includes all three core components the state requires: Academic Preparation, Service Action, and Structured Reflection. All seven best practices must be present, not just most of them.
Why the approval matters
Financial education usually reaches young people late, after the first credit card and the first mistake. D2D was founded on the opposite sequence, Credit Mastery Before Budgeting, on the reasoning that credit decides access to housing, transportation, and employment long before a budget has any say.
This approval puts that sequence into practice in the community while students earn the hours they need to graduate.
"Our students do more than learn about money. They become the solution their community needs," said Whitney Ramirez, AFC®, Founder and CEO of Diapers 2 Deposits. "When a young person teaches a younger child how credit works, they master it for life. This approval means that service now counts toward graduation, and it means more Maryland families gain access to financial education."
The teaching requirement is doing real work. Explaining credit to a ten-year-old is a harder test of understanding than a multiple-choice quiz. D2D has run the pattern before: summer interns through MCPS Summer RISE built more than 170 assessments and 100 investing cards that younger students now use.
It also addresses a gap the state would recognize as an authentic community need. Maryland still has no statewide personal finance course requirement, so whether a student learns this depends largely on which school they attend.
What students need to know about SSL
Student Service Learning is a Maryland graduation requirement, adopted in 1992 under COMAR 13A.03.02.05, which made Maryland the first state in the country to require it. In Montgomery County, it comes to 75 hours per student, accrued from the summer after Grade 5 through senior year.
Four things determine whether Ambassador hours actually land on a transcript.
Check the Volunteer Center listing. MCPS-approved organizations appear on montgomeryserves.org with a blue graduation cap icon. If D2D is showing that icon, no pre-approval paperwork is needed. If it is not listed yet, students file Form 560-50 at least two weeks before serving.
Log the hours on Form 560-51 afterward. It includes a written reflection section, and coordinators return incomplete forms.
Watch the dates. For 2026 to 2027, MCPS recommends submitting forms by September 25, 2026, and requires them by May 28, 2027.
A parent cannot sign off. Verification has to come from the organization or designated school staff.
Full forms and deadlines are on the MCPS Student Service Learning FAQ.
Where the program runs
D2D delivers the Ambassador program with Excel Beyond the Bell, the free out-of-school-time program running at ten MCPS middle schools, and with Montgomery College Youth Programs, where a companion offering already introduces high schoolers to credit, budgeting, and beginner investing.
The after-school delivery matters more than it looks. Independent service-learning must occur outside required instructional time, and MCPS does not award hours for tutoring during the school day. After-school programming is already on the right side of that line.
Additional schools and youth programs across Maryland are invited to bring the Ambassador program to their students.
FAQ
How many SSL hours can a student earn through the program?
A minimum of 10 verified hours, covering preparation, service action, and reflection. The program runs year-round, and students can extend past the minimum rather than starting over elsewhere.
What grades is it open to?
Grades 6 through 12. MCPS allows students to begin accruing SSL hours the summer after Grade 5, so rising sixth graders should ask about the summer window.
Does teaching younger students count as service?
Yes, when structured correctly. Maryland names tutoring as a direct service and the creation and sharing of educational materials as an advocacy service. The experience must include all three core components, demonstrate all seven best practices, and occur outside instructional time.
Is this only for Montgomery County students?
The approval is specific to MCPS, since SSL is administered county by county. Students in other Maryland districts have the same 75-hour state requirement, and other schools and youth programs can bring the Ambassador program in.
Enrolling for the fall
The September 25 submission date arrives faster than families expect, and hours served without the right paperwork do not count.
Families can start at financial literacy classes for families. Schools, after-school programs, and youth organizations that want to host an Ambassador cohort can review school and district partnership options or email mastermind@diapers2deposits.com to schedule a partnership conversation.
Students who want a head start on the credit material before training begins can work through the D2D Youth Money Hub.
