ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – The St. Johns County School District continues to grow as it consistently remains one of the top districts in the state academically.
The district is opening a new K-8 school in the Rivertown neighborhood as students head back to class across Northeast Florida on Monday.
And that’s not all that’s new.
St. Johns County Superintendent Dr. Brennan Asplen will also be taking the reins in his first year as the head of the district.
Asplen told News4JAX that he’s elated and ready to deal with the county’s continued growth as he works to maintain its high-achieving academic status.
“When you’re looking at the curriculum and you’re looking at educating students, you really need to look at them on an individual basis, not just a number,” Asplen said. “There’s always room for improvement and there’s always gaps and little areas that we need to look at. And mostly, like I said, it is looking at the individual’s scores and needs and making sure that we provide the proper resources for them.”
Asplen said the district is already making adjustments as it looks to the future.
“It’s a changing environment right now, and we need to meet the needs of our students, so we’re looking at every area,” Asplen said.
That includes a new communications app for parents and a new school bus tracking app.
News4JAX spoke with four Creekside High School students who said they are ready to take on the new school year.
“Seeing everybody after summer is always great,” a student said.
News4JAX Anchor Melanie Lawson had the opportunity to join a family in St. Johns County on Monday morning as they were getting ready for the first day of school.
Press play below to watch the video
ParentSquare app
This summer, the district kicked off a new app for parents called ParentSquare.
It’s a two-way communications platform that has now been launched in all St. Johns County schools and provides newsletters, notifications, calendars, report cards, volunteer sign-ups and more.
The app is not required, but Asplen encouraged all parents to download it as soon as possible.
“It’s an app that makes it wonderful I think for parents because all the information is in one place,” Asplen said. “I know all of our schools have been communicating with their parents through ParentSquare, and if parents haven’t signed up for it yet, they need to do that.”
Once you have registered your account, you can adjust your notification settings to determine which communication methods you prefer -- email, text, or mobile app -- and how often you would like to receive these notifications.
Regardless of your notification settings, you will continue to receive emergency notifications instantly.
You can download the ParentSquare app from the Google Play Store or Apple Store.
When you register your ParentSquare account, use the email address that is connected to your student in Home Access Center (HAC).
Students in grades 9-12 can also download the ParentSquare app and connect with their school district email address.
You can learn more about ParentSquare here.
School bus tracking app
In May 2025, the St. Johns County School District introduced BusPlanner, a new online transportation portal designed to give parents easy access to their students’ bus information.
Parents can access BusPlanner through its web portal at https://sjcsd.mybusplanner.com or by downloading the companion mobile app, Chipmunk, available for Android and Apple devices.
BusPlanner will provide timely updates about bus delays and other important transportation-related notifications. In addition, parents can use the system to send messages directly to the SJCSD Transportation Department.
“Chipmunk is for our transportation department, and that’s also an app, and that allows parents to see where the bus is and how much longer the bus will take to get to their particular bus stop, given traffic problems or an accident of some sort, so they’re not waiting around for an hour and do not know why,” Asplen explained.
To get started, families should create an account on the BusPlanner website or on the Chipmunk app using the same email address associated with their Home Access Center (HAC) account. SJCSD encourages all families with bus riders to register early and stay informed. View instructions showing how to create your BusPlanner / Chipmunk account.
Please note: Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, all student pick-up and drop-off times and locations will be provided exclusively through BusPlanner and will no longer be available on Home Access Center (HAC). View instructions showing how to access your student’s bus schedule.
E-bike safety
Another issue that has drawn a lot of concern in St. Johns County is e-bike safety, particularly for young children.
Crashes more than doubled from eight in all of 2024 to 20 in the first five months of 2025.
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Since the beginning of 2024, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office has responded to more than 200 e-bike incidents, which include something as simple as riding through a stop sign or not wearing a helmet.
Now, the sheriff’s office and the school district are teaming up to educate students about e-bike safety.
The district said it initially plans to implement a classroom curriculum in 17 district middle schools by Christmas.
The Sheriff’s Office and the county commission are promoting “S.A.F.E.T.Y.” practices:
- Stay visible: If operating on any public roadway, an electric bicycle, electric motorcycle or other electric motorized devices should have a front white light, a rear red light, turn signals and an audible horn capable of being heard within twenty feet of a vehicle under normal operating conditions.
- Avoid accidents: Operators should yield the right-of-way to pedestrians and take such precautions as may be necessary to avoid accidents or collision causing injury to any person or property.
- Far-right: If a bicycle lane is not available, operators should ride on the far-right side of the travel lane.
- Exercise due care: Operators should use due care while operating on sidewalks and verbally announce they are approaching pedestrians as required by Florida law.
- Ten mph or less: If operating on a pedestrian path, operators should limit their speed to 10 mph or less.
- Your helmet: Operators of e-bikes, e-scooters and other electric motorized devices should wear a helmet.
