Important Upcoming Events
April 26-30- Wellness Week
May 3 - SOL Reading test: Grade 7
May 10 - SOL Grade 7 Math, 7 Honors Math, Grade 8 Math, Algebra II tests
May 17 - SOL Algebra, Geometry tests
May 24 - SOL Reading test: Grade 8
May 31 - Memorial Day Holiday - No School or Check-in
|
|
 |
 The Student Services Department will be facilitating Wellness Week for Carson students from April 26-30th. Each Day we will be promoting events or videos on how to practice wellness and find ideas and activities to promote mental and physical wellness. Events include Lunch Time Games, How to ID Stress and Coping Tools, Pay it Forward Day, Practicing Wellness Videos, and more! If you have any question please reach out to any member of our student services team. Help us promote wellness to our students and encourage them to participate.
SOL Testing Information
All SOLs will be completed in person at Rachel Carson MS on the dates above. If you need to make any changes or updates to your testing intentions, please email our School Testing Coordinator, Lauren Ross (lmross@fcps.edu). The Google Form is officially closed and cannot receive any submissions.
From the PE Department
Human Growth and Development will be taught through PE classes the school week of April 27-30 through PE classes. If your child has opted out of all or some of these lessons, they will be instructed by their PE teacher on their alternative assignments. You may still choose to opt out your child of all or specific lessons no later than April 23rd. Please email the opt out form to your child’s PE teacher.
You can find the opt out form here: https://www.fcps.edu/node/31710 Please email your child’s PE teacher if you have any questions.
National Junior Honor Society Updates
8th grade members: The service hour deadline is Friday, May 7th at 2:15 p.m. Students’ Service Hour Reflection must be submitted in the NJHS Google Classroom by this time. For more information, students should see the documents posted in the NJHS Google Classroom.
7th grade students: Application invitations will be emailed to eligible students soon! All students with a third quarter GPA of at least 3.5 will receive an invitation to apply. Once invitations have been sent, an announcement will be included in the News You Choose email.
Please direct any NJHS questions to Elizabeth Joyce (eajoyce@fcps.edu).
Yearbook Update
Due to a shortage of photos, a yearbook will not be printed this year. The yearbook staff is working behind the scenes to assemble submitted photos and school portraits to create a PDF version of the yearbook that will be made available to all students, free of charge, at the end of the school year.
It is not to late to submit photos! Please consider submitting photos of your Carson student in their home office, with a pet, playing a sport, playing an instrument, doing chores, etc. to: Carsonmsyearbook@gmail.com Make sure to include the student’s legal name and grade, as well as a description of the activity in the photo in the email.
Were you unable to attend a school picture session? You can still be
included in the portrait section! The deadline to submit is April 30th.
Send a snapshot of your student to: Carsonmsyearbook@gmail.com PORTRAIT PHOTO CRITERIA- Only one RCMS student per photo, head and upper body only, solid background, no hand gestures. Make sure to include the student’s legal name and grade in the email.
The RCMS Book Fair is open!
Spring has sprung! Enjoy the outdoors with a good book.
We are excited to announce that the RCMS Book Fair is open! There are several new titles, including the Virginia Readers Choice Awards. Check it out here:
Bookworm Central
Your purchase helps the school. 15% of all orders are given to the RCMS PTA. Last year the RCMS library used this money to purchase over 150 electronic books for students to read during quarantine.
|
|
 |
Eating Disorder Parent Information
The Code of Virginia, 22.1-273.2 requires Virginia Public Schools to provide, on an annual basis, parent educational information regarding eating disorders for pupils in grades five through twelve. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA 2020):
Eating disorders are serious but treatable mental and physical illnesses that can affect people of all genders, ages, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, body shapes, and weights. While no one knows for sure what causes eating disorders, a growing consensus suggests that it is a range of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. Eating disorders are not fads or phases, and can have serious consequences for health, productivity, and relationships.
Eating disorders can develop or re-emerge at any age. Eating disorder specialists are reporting an increase in the diagnosis of children, some as young as five or six. Many eating disorder sufferers report that their thoughts and behaviors started much earlier than anyone realized, sometimes even in early childhood. Although most people report the onset of their eating disorder in their teens and young adulthood, there is some evidence that people are being diagnosed at younger ages.
In collaboration with the Fairfax County Health Department, FCPS has developed eating disorder documents with detailed information to be provided to parents and guardians of Fairfax County Public Schools. The letter and fact sheet have been translated and posted on the following webpage: http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/translations/dss-healthmedical.htm.
Action Required: Provide ‘Eating Disorder Parental Letter and Fact Sheet’ located at this link http://fcpsnet.fcps.edu/ssse/translations/dss-healthmedical.htm to parents and guardians of all students grades five through twelve through either hard copy or electronically.
 |
|
Here Comes the Bus Mobile App
Know when your bus is approaching your stop! Here Comes the Bus® app is a school bus tracking app that can simplify morning and afternoon routines for parents and students by giving them real-time bus location and text or email notification alerts, helping them get to the bus stop on time. Here Comes the Bus® utilizes our GPS data and an easy to use customizable map that works on one or multiple devices, such as a tablet or smartphone.
Using the app is EASY! You will need the FCPS school district code 28982 and a SIS Parent Account (contact your child's school if you do not have an SIS Parent Account). Please be sure to follow the detailed instructions here to set up your account.
|
Virtual CAD and Programming
for Young Scholars (MS)
The TJHSST's FTC Robotics team worked with middle schoolers last year on Saturdays to teach about robotics using LEGO robotics kits. Unfortunately, these in-person sessions were not possible to organize this year, so the team has been working on developing their own curriculum for a free, virtual, school-year camp for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The only resource needed to access these camps are an FCPS laptop. The camp will be split into two curriculums: 1) classes on Computer Aided Design (CAD), for students to learn how to virtually design their own robots; and 2) robotics-related programming taught in the programming language Python.
Students may choose to participate in one or both classes. Each class will last for 6 weeks, making both a total of 12 weeks from March 27th to June 12th. These sessions will be on Saturdays and take place from 9:30AM to 11:00AM. Students will be emailed a Blackboard Collaborate link to join at these times, similar to how one would join a regular school-day class.
Although the CAD camp has already started, they have posted recordings of the sessions in their Google Classroom (this information will be sent in an email to those who sign up) so students can watch those if they wish to participate in the CAD classes now. They can also sign up for the Programming course, which will be starting on May 1st. More information can be found on the following website: https://www.robotuprising.org/camps/. You may also Register Here.
FCPS Cares Program
The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can acknowledge the good work of FCPS employees.
Watch this video to learn more
Course Requests for 2021-2022
Course Requests for Rising Seventh and Eighth Graders: To see the list of courses that your child selected for seventh or eighth grade, please log into your SIS ParentVUE account and click on the course requests tab. Directions for how to view your child’ course requests online in ParentVUE can be accessed at the following link : Online Course Requests in ParentVue . Students can also view their list of courses on the course request tab in SIS StudentVUE.
This list of courses is NOT a schedule, but a confirmation of the courses entered into the student information system. Elective choices are subject to change based on space, teacher availability, and schedule conflicts. Please review this preliminary list of courses and look for the following errors: Too few or too many classes, absence of a required course, inaccurate placement by grade or course level.
Parents, please contact your child’s school counselor if you have questions or concerns about the selected courses. Course requests are a firm commitment. Course request changes will not be accommodated after June 4.
Daily Bell Schedule
Reporting Absences
If a student needs to miss any class time at all, be it one period or a full day, parents or guardians should always report the details of the absence to the RCMS Attendance Office. Teachers do not have access to mark a student excused for an absence, which is why it is imperative that parents contact the attendance office (instead of, or in addition to, the teacher) when their child is absent so we can mark them correctly.
To report an absence, parents have these options:
- Use the link to our online attendance form (preferred) from the main page of the RCMS website:
- Send an email with full details to: CarsonMiddle.Attendance@fcps.edu, or
- Call the attendance line at 703-925-3636 being sure to include the spelling of your student’s last name and reason for the absence.
If your student is scheduled to be in the building that day but, instead, needs to attend classes virtually, it is very important to let us know!
Please contact the attendance office with the methods above so we don't worry why your student is not in the building. Parents will see the “SYC” code in ParentVUE when their student is absent on their assigned in-person day, but attends class online. FCPS eNotify messages will also go out to parents who have not reported their student's absence.
If your in-person student will be picked up early for an appointment, please send them to the front office in the morning with a note stating the time of the dismissal. Students participating virtually who will be missing class due to appointments or otherwise should have parents contact attendance with the times and the reason the student will be missing classes.
For more information on the attendance policies, please visit the RCMS Attendance page.
RCMS Library Curbside Checkout
At RCMS, outside Door #1
11AM-2PM every Monday (excluding holidays)
Books can also be returned at these times.
Curbside Library Book Checkout is now in operation. This service will be held every Monday, unless otherwise noted. Please check the Library page on our website for further details: RCMS Library
Students can reserve books ahead of time through the Destiny Discover online library catalog by placing them on hold, then pick them up at the next curbside checkout.
If you are cannot make it to the regularly scheduled curbside checkout time, please contact Mr. Treakle to make other arrangements.
Questions? Contact one of your librarians: Mr. Treakle or Ms. Donovan
We look forward to seeing you at curbside checkout!
Who to Contact
If you have a question or concern, please visit our website for a full listing of Who to Contact. This listing includes all of our administrators, our counselors, and who to speak to regarding a specific content area or class. Contact information for all staff members is listed on our website - just click on the name of the person you wish to contact to be redirected to their email address: RCMS Staff Directory.
Other Schools are Sharing....
Westfield High School Class of 2025 Parents
Westfield High School is planning to host a spring town hall meeting for parents of the Class of 2025. On Thursday April 29th at 6:00pm, Westfield High School Administration and Student Services Departments will host a parent town hall meeting for parents of incoming freshmen. The town hall will be an opportunity for families to ask questions about the first year of high school after a brief presentation about an overview of Westfield High School. In order to prepare for this presentation, please complete this google form. This will help Westfield plan and prepare for your concerns, questions and interests. A link to the meeting will be sent out the morning of April 29th to parents email accounts on file. We will host the meeting for Spanish speaking families at 7:30 pm.
Para familias habla Espanol
El jueves 29 de abril a las 7:30 pm, los Departamentos de Administracion y Servicios Estudiantiles de la Escuela Secundaria Westfield organizaran una reunion de padres para los padres de los estudiantes de primer ano que ingresan. El ayuntamiento sera una oportunidad para que las familias hagan preguntas sobre el primer ano de la escuela secundaria despues de una breve presentacion sobra una descripcion general de la escuela secundaria Westfield. Se enviara un enlace a la reunion la manana del 29 de los padres en el archivo.
Westfield High School Freshman Football
Freshman Football at Westfield High School is beginning their pre-season workouts in May. If you are interested in playing football next year at Westfield, please contact Coach Sachlis at jason.sachlis@fcps.edu immediately so your name can be added to the email distribution list. No previous experience is necessary. Join the Bulldog Football Family today. Go Bulldogs!
South Lakes High School - Fall Sports at South Lakes High Start on Monday August 2nd. (Boys and Girls golf will begin on July 29th) Please reach out to the coaches for more sport- specific information.
|
