Forest City - Dunbar Elementary

Student Prescriptive Dress Code

Updated 6/29/2026

Forest City - Dunbar continues to value the positive outcomes that wearing uniforms instills in our students.  At the same time, we want to adapt our guidelines to ensure affordability and availability of items for our families. For this reason, we are expanding the guidelines to include some additional clothing options.

All clothing options that were already on our Student Prescriptive Dress Code will continue to be allowed.  Nothing is being taken off the previously approved list.  

Below is a list of  ALL approved student clothing options that can be worn.

Tops:

• Navy blue, black, gray, or white polo style collared shirts or crew neck t-shirts (no collar) - V-neck t-shirts are NOT allowed.   Shirts may be long sleeve or short sleeve.  Shirts must not have logos, patterns or stripes.
• Girls may also choose to wear khaki, navy, or black jumpers or navy, black, gray, or white polo style dresses. Polo shirts or t-shirts must be worn under jumpers.
• Students will be allowed to wear any shirt with a Forest City - Dunbar logo and any color on Fridays ONLY.  These are shirts that have been sold by FC-Dunbar.
• Navy blue, black, gray, or white sweatshirts or hoodies may be worn.  For a sweatshirt or hoodie to be worn in the building it must be solid colored with no logos, prints, or designs.  Hoodies with a Forest City - Dunbar logo may be worn anytime.   Hoods may not be worn inside the building at any time.
• Students should always wear an approved shirt underneath their sweatshirt or hoodie.
• Coats, jackets or hoodies that have non-uniform colors or patterns may be worn when a student is outside the building.  These must be removed whenever students are inside the school building.

Bottoms:

• Boys - Navy blue, gray, black, or khaki dress pants, dress shorts, joggers, or athletic pants (no sweatpants).  All pants/shorts must be worn at the waist.  Pants should not have stripes, patterns or print.  Small single logos on athletic pants are permissible.  Athletic shorts are not allowed.
• Girls - Navy blue, gray, black, or khaki dress pants, dress shorts, skorts (skirt with shorts underneath), joggers, or athletic pants.  Solid navy blue, gray, black, or white tights or stockings may be worn under skirts.  
• Shorts, skirts, or skorts must be at mid-thigh length.

There are no additional guidelines for shoes beyond the current Rutherford County Schools policy. Street shoes or sandals will be worn.  All other Rutherford County School elementary dress code guidelines will be followed.  Those items can be found below:

The following are standards not specified in the FC-Dunbar Prescriptive Dress Code that are included in the RCS Elementary Dress Code. Principals may make additions to these standards as needed..

• Street shoes or sandals will be worn.
•  Lace-up shoes must be tied. Bedroom shoes and heelys (wheels) are not permitted.
•  Hats, hoods, sunglasses, hair curlers, skullies, picks, do-rags or head sweat bands may not be worn inside the school, unless specified for a designated day.
• No clothing or jewelry will be permitted that displays or promotes profanity, alcohol, tobacco, drugs or anything of a sexual nature.
• Clothing or jewelry commonly recognized as being related to a group or gang that causes others to act violently or be intimidated shall not be worn.
• Shorts, skirts, and dresses may not be shorter than mid-thigh.
• Clothing is not to be sheer, see-through, mesh, have holes, or expose underclothing or midriff.
• Sagging trousers and baggy clothing are not permitted. String will be provided for students who have difficulty keeping pants at waist level.
• Abnormal hair color will not be allowed (i.e. blue, green, orange, etc.)
• Clothing may not drag the floor.
• Extraneous articles hanging from clothing, such as chains or other articles are considered dangerous, and will not be permitted.
• There shall be no jewelry affixed to a student’s nose, tongue, lip, chin, cheek, or eyebrow.

We take pride in creating and maintaining an atmosphere of respect and learning at Forest City - Dunbar.  We strive to support our students and families in their efforts to meet our Student Prescriptive Dress Code.  We maintain a uniform clothing closet for students to borrow items whenever they arrive at school without acceptable attire.  Our school has a washer and dryer on site to clean any borrowed clothing items.  The school counselor serves as our contact person for uniform needs.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to keep student clothing from being a distraction to the learning environment.  If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child's teacher, our school counselor, or administration.

While FC-Dunbar does not require uniform items to be purchased from specific locations, we would like to provide you with suggestions of where you can make purchases:

• Southern Scrubs in Forest City
• Walmart in-store or online
• Old Navy in-store or online https://oldnavy.gap.com/
• The Children’s Place https://www.childrensplace.com/us/c/kids-school-uniform-shop
• Amazon