Dear Patuxent Valley Families: 

I hope you have been enjoying your summer. As the 2023-2024 school year quickly approaches, we have a number of informational items and changes related to transportation to and from school. 

Many changes have been made to school start times and transportation across Howard County schools. This school year, our school day will begin at 8:00am and end at 2:45pm.  

For families that receive bus transportation, bus stop information for the 2023-2024 school year will be available by mid-August and can be accessed online via the Bus Stop Locator or HCPSS Connect Synergy under More Options and then Homeroom / Transportation / POS. Families will be notified by email and the HCPSS website when the information is available. 

For families that do not receive bus transportation, if your child will be walking or riding their bike to school, I encourage you to take time now to familiarize your child with their route to and from school. Map out and walk the route between your home and school to ensure all roads, sidewalks and pathways are familiar for your child. In addition, review crosswalks and intersections that are safe for crossing the road if required and review safe pedestrian tipsLinks to an external site. with your student. If you encounter any issues regarding safety as you walk these routes with your student, please contact the HCPSS Office of Student TransportationLinks to an external site. to make HCPSS staff aware. 

Additionally, we will be sharing more information soon related to drop off and pick up procedures at the school if you will be transporting your child by car. We have spent a considerable amount of time this summer evaluating our traffic patterns to ensure a safe and efficient process may occur each day. 

I encourage you to view the HCPSS Help Site to see answers to questions related to a number of topics. Additionally, please check in regularly to the page that will provide updated information for the 2023-2024 school year. Both of these sites are updated regularly so check back often for more information. Finally, I encourage you to bookmark our school's website: http://pvms.hcpss.org/ where we post news and information throughout the school year. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact the school with questions related to the information provided here, or anything else related to traveling to and from school. Thank you for your partnership and I look forward to welcoming students to school on August 28! 

Sincerely,

Richard J Smart

Principal