Two Montgomery County Middle Schools Where Students Can Earn 15 SSL Hours This Fall
Most MCPS families start thinking hard about SSL hours around tenth grade, when 75 hours suddenly looks like a very long list of Saturdays. The families who never feel that pressure are the ones who worked out early that SSL hours for middle school students count toward the same total.
Diapers 2 Deposits is running the Millionaire's Club at two upcounty middle schools this fall, and enrollment at both closes September 23, 2026. A 7th or 8th grader who finishes banks 15 verified SSL hours before setting foot in a high school building.
Key Takeaways
The D2D Millionaire's Club is documented for 15 verified SSL hours, which is 20 percent of the 75 SSL hours MCPS requires for high school graduation.
Two sites run this fall: Forest Oak Middle School on Wednesdays from September 30 to December 16, 2026, and Neelsville Middle School on Thursdays from October 1 to December 17, 2026, both 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Enrollment closes September 23, 2026 at both schools. Contact Vanessa Blagmon at Vanessa.Blagmon@montgomerycountymd.gov, 240-740-7570 for Forest Oak or 240-740-6630 for Neelsville.
MCPS students may begin earning SSL hours the summer after completing Grade 5, and hours earned in middle school carry forward toward the 75-hour high school total.
Every hour is verified by a credentialed D2D staff member and recorded on MCPS Form 560-51, the Student Service Learning Activity Verification form.
How many SSL hours middle school students earn in the Millionaire's Club
The Millionaire's Club is documented for 15 verified SSL hours per student. Every hour is logged through D2D's digital tracking system, verified by a credentialed D2D staff member, and recorded on the official MCPS Activity Verification form. Fifteen hours is one fifth of the graduation requirement, earned inside a program the student is already attending.
Program phase | Documented SSL hours |
Preparation | 5 |
Product creation | 6 |
Advocacy | 2 |
Reflection | 2 |
Total | 15 |
Students who complete the program receive the D2D Ambassador designation and a completion portfolio: the verified hour log, work samples, a reflection product, and an official D2D Ambassador certificate. That portfolio matters later. A student applying for a magnet program or a scholarship has something to show beyond a number in ParentVUE.
Where and when the fall 2026 sessions run
Both fall sessions run for twelve weeks, one afternoon per week, from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Forest Oak Middle School hosts the Wednesday cohort starting September 30, 2026. Neelsville Middle School hosts the Thursday cohort starting October 1, 2026. Enrollment at both sites closes September 23, 2026.
Detail | Forest Oak Middle School | Neelsville Middle School |
Day | Wednesdays | Thursdays |
Dates | September 30 to December 16, 2026 | October 1 to December 17, 2026 |
Time | 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. | 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. |
Address | 651 Saybrooke Oaks Boulevard, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 | 11700 Neelsville Church Road, Germantown, MD 20876 |
Phone | 240-740-7570 | 240-740-6630 |
Enrollment for both sites runs through Vanessa Blagmon at Vanessa.Blagmon@montgomerycountymd.gov. Seats are limited and the September 23 close is firm, so an email this week beats a phone call next week.
Neelsville families may recognize the program. It was announced in August as part of D2D's fall lineup in Montgomery County, alongside the Money Club for 4th and 5th graders at Watkins Mill Elementary. Forest Oak is new this fall.
Why hours earned in middle school are worth more than the same hours in eleventh grade
MCPS lets students begin earning SSL hours the summer after they complete Grade 5, and those hours accrue through middle school and high school toward the same 75-hour total. An hour earned in 7th grade counts exactly the same as an hour earned in 11th grade. The difference is what else the student is doing that year.
Eleventh grade brings AP coursework, standardized testing, athletics, and college applications. Seventh grade does not. A student who finishes middle school with 30 or 40 hours already banked is making a scheduling decision, not a service decision.
There is also an award attached. Students who document all 75 hours while still in middle school receive the Superintendent's Student Service Learning Award, which can only be earned once. Fifteen hours in one fall session is a real step toward that.
What students actually do: learn, build, then teach
The Millionaire's Club is not a financial literacy class with a service label attached. Students train as D2D Ambassadors, build original financial education resources, and then teach that material to elementary school students. The program runs in three phases.
Phase 1: Learn. Ambassadors work through D2D's core credit curriculum using the F.A.S.T. Framework, covering credit scores, FICO, APR, interest mechanics, and credit-building strategies adapted for a middle school audience. They also run a community needs analysis, looking at where credit education is thinnest for elementary-age children in their own area.
Phase 2: Build. Ambassadors use professional tools to create original resources for younger learners.
Tool | What students build |
Gemini AI | Age-appropriate scripts and narratives for elementary audiences |
Canva | Illustrated Mini Money Books on credit, interest, saving, and borrowing |
Interacty | Branching decision-tree stories where young learners face financial choices |
GameClass | Interactive games that reinforce credit concepts through gameplay |
Phase 3: Teach. Ambassadors deliver their own materials as live FinancialField Trip workshops to MCPS elementary students, and distribute their tools through community platforms and QR codes placed in public spaces.
That sequence is harder than it sounds. Explaining compound interest to a third grader requires understanding compound interest well enough to strip it down without breaking it. A multiple-choice quiz never asks a student to do that.
What makes an SSL opportunity actually count
An activity earns SSL credit when it addresses a real community need, includes all three core components, and is verified by the organization rather than a parent. MCPS requires that SSL experiences include academic preparation, service action, and structured reflection, and meet Maryland's Seven Best Practices of Service-Learning. A one-off volunteer shift usually fails on preparation and reflection, which is why hours get returned.
The Millionaire's Club was built against that standard. The MCPS Student Service Learning office reviewed the D2D proposal in May 2026 and confirmed it meets all three core components, the Seven Best Practices, and all three recognized service types: direct service through the workshops, indirect service through the materials, and advocacy service through public distribution. Most SSL opportunities touch one. Our explainer on the MCPS approval covers the documentation mechanics in full.
A few MCPS rules worth knowing before your student starts anything, not just this program:
One SSL hour is awarded for each hour of service outside the instructional day, with a maximum of 8 hours in any 24-hour period.
All service must be documented on MCPS Form 560-51, submitted to the school-based SSL coordinator, and the form includes a written reflection section that coordinators check.
Service with an organization that does not carry the graduation cap icon on the Montgomery County Volunteer Center site requires Form 560-50, filed at least two weeks before the service date. Check the Volunteer Center SSL listing first.
Forms for service completed during the current school year are due to the coordinator no later than the last Friday in May. Earlier submission windows apply during the year, so check the MCPS SSL overview rather than waiting.
Frequently asked questions
Does my child have to attend Forest Oak or Neelsville to join?
Both sessions are hosted at the school site, so start by contacting Vanessa Blagmon at Vanessa.Blagmon@montgomerycountymd.gov to confirm eligibility for your student's school. Families at other schools can ask about bringing a cohort to their own site.
Do SSL hours earned in 7th grade still count in high school?
Yes. MCPS students begin earning SSL hours the summer after completing Grade 5, and those hours accrue through middle and high school toward the same 75-hour graduation requirement. Nothing resets at the transition.
How is this different from volunteering at a food drive?
A food drive is service action without the other two components. SSL credit requires academic preparation before the service and structured reflection afterward, and the Millionaire's Club builds both into the schedule rather than leaving them to the student.
What paperwork does the family handle?
Very little. D2D verifies the hours and records them on MCPS Form 560-51. The student submits the completed form to the school-based SSL coordinator, and the reflection section needs to be filled in properly or the form comes back.
What grades is the program open to?
Middle school students at the two host schools. Students in 7th and 8th grade get the clearest benefit, since the 15 hours land before high school begins.
How to get a seat before September 23
Fifteen verified SSL hours is the practical reason to sign up, and credit literacy at 13 is the reason it matters ten years from now. Both fall sessions close enrollment on September 23, 2026, and seats are limited.
Email Vanessa Blagmon at Vanessa.Blagmon@montgomerycountymd.gov, or call 240-740-7570 for Forest Oak and 240-740-6630 for Neelsville. Ask about the Millionaire's Club Ambassadors Program.
Families outside these two schools can start with our financial literacy programs for families. Schools and after-school programs that want to host their own Ambassador cohort can review school and district partnership options.
