Schedule
Come to school on time! The instructional day begins at 8:45 AM (enter the building at 8:30 to be in class by 8:45). Students not attending before care may arrive at 8:30 AM for breakfast in the classroom. If you come after 8:45 AM, stop at the main office to sign in as tardy. Failure to do so may result in your student being marked absent for the day after teachers submit attendance at 8:45 AM. If this happens, please contact the main office so that the attendance record can be corrected.
School dismissal is 3:15 PM. If you do not pick your student up on time, they will be sent to late pick-up.
Before and Aftercare
Before and Aftercare is provided on site through the Future Stars for the 2025-2026 school year. See the note below from Van Ness Site Director, Mahni Hellams, and email the Future Stars team at vanness@thefuturestars.net with any questions.
Greetings VN Families,
Registration for Before and Aftercare '25 -26' School Year is LIVE! Please view below for steps on how to register and to answer any questions you may have before registering. We look forward to servicing the VN community next year!
Here’s a quick overview of how it works:
• Before Care will have one universal registration link.
• After Care registration links will be labeled by the grade your child will be entering this fall.
Disclaimer: If you have any questions before registering please reach out to the FutureStars Team - vanness@thefuturestars.net. We will walk you through the process. There are no refunds for incorrect registration.
How to register:
- Click HERE to pay for your 1 time membership and complete your student(s) profile
- Click HERE to register for Before Care (Needs to be paid separately from aftercare at checkout)
- Click HERE to register for After Care (Needs to be paid separately from before care at checkout)
Please purchase Before care and After care in two separate transactions. This is the only way the sibling discounts can be applied correctly.
*If you want to utilize the sibling discount ALL students need to be in the cart for the discount to apply*
Please view our Parent Guidebook HERE for more information on how to register, our behavior expectations, late fee policies and all of what we offer to the VN community.
Please take a moment to read through the Q&A section below, we hope it helps answer any questions you may have:
Q: Are there sibling discounts for Extended Care?
A: Yes! Our sibling discounts will automatically apply at checkout!
Q: How do you handle days off?
A: We follow all DCPS scheduled days off and inclement weather closures. Additionally, there will be no Extended Care on the following days:
• The day before Thanksgiving Break
• The day before Winter Break
• The last scheduled day of school
Q: Do I need to register right away?
A: Not at all! However, if you end up on the waitlist, rest assured, we will continue lifting students off the waitlist as we finalize staff hires and complete background checks.
Q: Will I be charged in July and August if I register now?
A: No. Your first payment is due at the time of registration, but your second payment would not be due until October 1st.
Q: Why do you have a waitlist?
A: The Future stars extended care program operates on rolling admissions based on additional staffing. To ensure a safe environment all aftercare rooms need to be within ratio as it relates to classroom size and employees. The capacity confirms the staff that we already have in place. The waitlist will give us an idea of how many Group Leaders and Assistant Leaders we need to hire and complete background checks for.
Q: I need financial assistance. How do I apply?
A: While we work on obtaining approval for OSSE vouchers to provide free aftercare for qualifying families, The Future Stars will offer a 50% discount to those who qualify for financial assistance. To begin the process, please email aisaacs@thefuturestars.net.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the Future Stars team at Vanness@thefuturestars.net
Lunch and BREAKFAST
The school provides breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge. (This is new as of February 2020.) Unlike prior years, families do not need to set up accounts to pay for lunch.
However, we strongly request that all families, no matter their income status, fill out a Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) form, no matter the income status. This helps maintain the school’s status and ability to provide free lunch to all students. Click here to fill out the FARM form.
Please find the tentative school menus here.
Families can choose to provide lunch from home for students. If you choose to provide lunch to your student they must bring it with them to school. We will not accept drop off lunches from restaurants or orders from delivery services (Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, etc.).
PLEASE NOTE: We are a nut-free school, so please ensure all items from home a free of peanuts and tree nuts.
If your child has dietary restrictions, be sure to complete the request forms. You can find them here. Email the forms to food.dcps@dc.gov or turn them in to our main office and they will be submitted for you.
Get involved!
As a parent/guardian of a Van Ness student you are automatically a member of the Parent Teacher Organization, and you don’t have to be on the Board of Directors to get involved. Click here to learn more.
Feeder Pattern
A feeder pattern school is one that a student has the right to attend based on their current school. For Van Ness Elementary, that school is Jefferson Academy, followed by Eastern High School. Click on each school to learn more about their school models and curriculum!