Keep in Touch - Frequently Asked Questions

What is Keep in Touch (KIT)?

Keep in Touch is Fairfax County Public Schools' notification system.

What it the difference between KIT Basic and KIT Plus?

KIT Basic is the automatic enrollment service for parents of FCPS students and employees of the school system. Contact information is loaded into KIT from the student information system and the employee databases. FCPS central offices and schools use KIT Basic to communicate emergency, attendance, and outreach messages. It is important that parents keep each child's emergency contact information up to date. We recommend parents use weCare@School, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) to review and update the information. Requests to update student contact information may also directed to the student information assistant at each school by the child's parents or legal guardians. FCPS employees may view and update contact information through UConnect.

KIT Plus is a subscription service for anyone interested in receiving information via e-mail about FCPS news, events, and updates.

I am a parent receiving messages from KIT Basic, is there any reason to subscribe to KIT Plus?

If you are a parent only wanting attendance, general news and announcements, emergency, delayed opening and school closing information, there is no additional advantage to becoming a subscriber. As long as your e-mail address is up to date on your child's contact record in the student information database, you will automatically receive that type of information.

If you are a parent wanting specific information on any of the topics listed below, we recommend becoming a subscriber:

Adult and Community Education (ACE) classes and news
Current issues (budget, boundary studies, summer programs)
FCPS job opportunities
Magnet schools and advanced academic programs
My FCPS – Community (newsletter)
News releases and media tips
PTA, PTSA, PTO information
School Board news and updates
School Board news from At-Large Member - Ryan McElveen
School Board news from At-Large Member - Ilryong Moon
School Board news from At-Large Member - Ted Velkoff
School Board news from Braddock District Member - Megan McLaughlin
School Board news from Dranesville District Member - Jane Strauss
School Board news from Hunter Mill District Member - Pat Hynes
School Board news from Lee District Member - Tammy Derenak Kaufax
School Board news from Mason District Member - Sandy Evans
School Board news from Mount Vernon District Member - Dan Storck
School Board news from Providence District Member - Patty Reed
School Board news from Springfield District Member - Elizabeth Schultz
School Board news from Sully District Member - Kathy Smith
Special education services
Summer programs
Visual and performing arts
School specific topics, such as:

Performing and Visual Arts (middle school and high schools)
PTA/PTSA/PTO
Sports (middle school and high schools)

How do I update my KIT contact information?

Parents and legal guardians of students may view and update their student's contact information using their Parent View account in weCare@School, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard). If you do not have a Parent View account, you can create an account. Please note, you may be required to go to your child’s school to verify your identification when setting up a new account. If you need assistance with Parent View, call 1-866-434-8880.

Parents may also contact the student information assistant at their child's school and request to update the emergency contact information in the student information system.

Subscribers may follow the instructions and instructional video clips found on the Keep in Touch web page. Please note if you have created a subscription account, this service is self-subscribing, self-updating, and self-unsubscribing. Schools and offices cannot update or delete subscribers. Subscribers are responsible for updating and removing themselves from the subscription system.

I think my school is sending too many KIT messages or not enough, what should I do?

Please contact the school administration to make them aware of your concerns.

I am a parent who wishes to opt-out of e-mail messages sent from the Keep in Touch system?

If you have listed your e-mail address on your child's emergency care information in the system you will receive emergency, attendance, and outreach messages. Currently there is not an opt-out feature for e-mail addresses with our current KIT vendor (Blackboard Connect). You have the option to remove your e-mail address online at any time from your child’s record using a Parent View account in weCare@School, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) or by contacting the student information assistant at your child’s school and requesting the e-mail be removed from his or her student record.

Please note:

If your e-mail address is removed from your child's contact information, you may miss important messages from his or her teachers or school staff members regarding your student's education. Removal of your e-mail address also eliminates the school system and school's ability to e-mail you in the event of an early closing, an unexcused absence if the child for whom you are an emergency contact is missing from school, as well as news and information from your student's school or FCPS central administration.

If you think your school is sending too many e-mails using KIT, please contact the administration and make them aware of your concerns.

I am a parent who wishes to opt-out of outreach telephone calls and messages sent to my home or cell phone from the Keep in Touch system. I DO want to be contacted by phone for important matters like attendance and emergency calls, but only wish to receive outreach by e-mail, not phone. Can this be done?

Yes, contact your child's school and let them know. You will need to submit a signed, written statement to the school indicating the phone numbers you want blocked from outreach only types of phone calls. If your school opts to send an important KIT communication by phone only, you will miss the message. The schools should have a sample letter you may use. You may also contact Cindy Rivera to facilitate your request with your school.

I am a parent who wishes to opt-out of all KIT communication. How do I do this?

The only way to opt-out from the KIT system is to submit a signed, written statement to the school that you fully understand that by opting-out, you will not receive any KIT messages. Blackboard Connect (our KIT vendor) will block all communications from their system to your phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

Please note: You will not get emergency communications, unexcused absence messages if the child for whom you are an emergency contact is missing from school, early closing or delayed opening notifications, messages from your student's teachers and school staff members regarding your student's education, and other news and information from the student's school or FCPS central administration.

The schools should have a sample letter you may use. You may also contact Cindy Rivera to facilitate the request with your school.

My child no longer attends {fill in the blank} school. Why am I getting still getting messages from the school?

You probably subscribed to receive notifications from the school. You will need to unsubscribe yourself. Subscribers may follow the instructions and instructional video clips found on the Keep in Touch web page. Please note if you have created a subscription account, this is a self-subscribing, self-updating, and self-unsubscribingservice. Schools and offices cannot update or delete subscribers. Subscribers are responsible for updating and removing themselves from the subscription system.

If you are still continuing to receive messages after successfully unsubscribing, please contact the school and ask to speak to a student information assistant (SIA). Have the SIA make sure your child is no longer listed in the system at that school.

I’m the PTA president at my child’s school. May I use the KIT system to reach all the parents our school?

PTA and booster organizations cannot use the KIT system to send messages to parents of students. Only school principals, school staff members approved by the principal, and approved central staff members may use the KIT system to send messages to parents, FCPS employees, and KIT subscribers. School principals and school staff members approved by the principal may send messages on the behalf of PTA and booster type organizations as long as the content of the message has been reviewed by the principal and a disclaimer is included in the message. Please contact your school's administration with your communication requests.

How are emergency notifications different than the other messages?

Emergency messages are reserved for rare occasions when it is crucial that information be sent as quickly as possible to all FCPS KIT contacts. All phone numbers and e-mail addresses listed in contacts are notified simultaneously by phone, e-mail, and SMS (if opted-in). Examples of an emergency message: unscheduled early dismissals, tornado warnings, or other crisis situations.

How can I receive text (SMS) messages?

You will need to subscribe to KIT Plus to receive SMS. From the (Optional) Additional notification devices section, click the I agree to receive text messages on my mobile phone box and type your mobile phone number in the textbox below. If you are already a subscriber, login and select Edit from the My Devices section and follow the same instruction.

Please note: FCPS KIT only sends SMS messages in cases of emergency, delayed openings, or school closings.

If you are interested in receiving FCPS news and announcements to your phone, you may be interested in signing up for fcpsnews on Twitter.

I am not receiving e-mail messages from my child's school or my KIT Plus subscription. I heard from other parents that messages have been going out, why am I not receiving them? What can I do?

If you are a parent, make sure the e-mail addresses listed on your child's record are correct. Login to your Parent View account in weCare@School, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) to verify. If you do not have a Parent View account, you can create an account to review your child's contacts.

Check your spam filter or folder to see if the messages are being blocked by your e-mail service provider. Add FCPSkit@fcps.edu to your safe or friendly e-mailers list. For more information see the Whitelisting page. If the e-mail address listed is a work e-mail address, you may need to ask your IT department to whitelist or allow FCPSkit messages at a higher level.