For the Week of September 28, 2026

Good afternoon-

Thank you for reading our weekly newsletter. Our staff works hard to put all of the most important information in this one message so you can best stay informed.

We had a busy week! Our sixth graders enjoyed their after-school dance and our sports teams started their competitive schedules.

I also want to thank our community for coming together to support one another during a time of grief and healing. Please know our counseling staff is always available to help process and support students during this time or with any other topics impacting our students in the future.

Enjoy your evening,

Stephen Reck, Principal

In this message, I will address the following topics:

Outdoor Education (Grade 6)
Eastern Region High School Programs Showcase (Grade 8)
Open House
PSAT Testing (Grade 8)
Philadelphia Field Trip (Grade 8)
Parents' Night Out Fundraiser
MCPS School Closures and Consolidations Study
Athletics
Attendance Reminders
SSL Updates
Grade Level Assignments Summary
Upcoming Important Dates & Events
PTSA Updates
MCPS Announcements
Community Opportunity

1. Outdoor Education (Grade 6)

This year’s trip is quickly approaching. 🙂

The deadline to submit permission slips and payments has already passed. Please be on the lookout for personal communication, both emails and papers sent home with students, about items that may be missing. If missing items are not turned in before the start of our trip, your child’s ability to join us for this memorable experience may be affected.

To access a detailed packing list, please refer to our Outdoor Ed website (linked here). For additional trip information, please refer to our parent night presentation (linked here).

Here is a message from our school nurse about how student medication is handled during the trip.

2. Eastern Region High School Programs Showcase (Grade 8)

Current 8th grade students and their families are invited to learn about the new MCPS Regional Center Programs and explore the high school options available in the Eastern Region.

The Eastern Region consists of Sherwood, Paint Branch, Blake, and Springbrook High Schools. You can find details about the four high school's showcase events by clicking this link.

3. Open House

Please join us for our annual Open House event on Monday, October 12, 2026. This is an opportunity to observe classrooms and instruction. As teachers are actively delivering instruction, they will not be able to engage individually with parents. Our parent/teacher conferences will be held November 23 for one-to-one engagement or you can email your child's teacher any time.

To expedite your sign in process on the day of open house, please know your child's schedule and pre-register to visit our building.

We are offering two windows to visit, a morning session during periods 1 through 3 (8:47 to 10:45a) and an afternoon session during periods 6 and 7 (1:26 to 2:30p). We are offering times outside of arrival, lunch, and dismissal to ensure a positive, orderly, and safe experience for all. We also ask that if you park in our bus loop, you remove your car from the bus loop between 10:45a and 1:26p so that our students can enjoy recess during lunch.

You can register at this link. Please email Mr. Reck with any questions about this event.

4. PSAT Testing (Grade 8)

MCPS is mandating that on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, all students in Grade 8 will take the PSAT 8/9 exam during the instructional day. The PSAT 8/9 exam:

Acts as a national and external common academic measure that may be considered (alongside other measures / indicators) as part of the comprehensive review process for MCPS criteria-based regional academic programs,
Provides students with early access to College Board college and career planning resources,
Establishes an early academic benchmark to support instructional planning and high-school course planning,
Establishes longitudinal baselines for measuring student reading, writing, and math growth throughout high school.

Prior to taking the exam, students in Grade 8 will participate in a “Digital Readiness Check.” During this check, basic student information (student name, school, state, grade, date of birth, etc.) will be provided to College Board, the provider of the PSAT. Also, during this check and with prior consent from a parent/guardian, students may complete an optional College Board Student Survey. Information collected through this survey is used for group reporting, research to ensure the assessment is fair for all student groups, and more.

If you would like your student(s) to complete the optional student survey, please provide your consent by filling out this Google Form before 3:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026. If you have more than one 8th-grade student at RPMS and you would like each of them to complete the optional student survey, then please fill out the Google Form above multiple times (once for each student). Whether or not you provide consent for your student(s) to complete the optional student survey, MCPS is requiring your child to take the PSAT 8/9 exam on October 14th.

If you have any questions about this exam, please contact Caitlin Street, Assistant Principal.

5. Philadelphia Field Trip (Grade 8)

Students received a Field Trip Packet on Thursday, September 3rd. There is a lot of good information in it. If you have not seen it and you are a parent of an 8th grader, please ask your child. We will be visiting Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, November 11th. There are so many great things to see in this city that correlate with our U.S. History curriculum this year.

The entire packet is attached above as a PDF. Students must return pages 3 and 4 in order to attend. Please email Mrs. Woodward (gina_p_woodward@mcpsmd.org) with any questions.

6. Parents' Night Out

The 8th grade is holding a fundraiser to offset field trip costs. This Friday, students from Belmont, Greenwood, and Olney are invited to have a fun evening at RPMS. And their parents are invited to have some time to themselves! See the graphic for details.

8th Grade Students are invited to volunteer by clicking this link.

7. MCPS School Closures and Consolidations Study

This school year, MCPS will review elementary and middle schools across the county. The goal is to review schools and determine whether — and which — school closures or consolidations should be recommended by the superintendent to the Board of Education.

An MCPS-directed community engagement session will be hosted at RPMS on October 21, 2026 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. This is our opportunity as a community to have their voice heard before any recommendations are provided to the Board of Education. If you cannot attend in person on this night, you are welcome to attend any other in-person session or one of the virtual Zoom sessions.

For more information about this initiative and the dates/times of all information sessions, please read more by clicking this link.

8. Athletics

The girls’ softball team dominated and came away with the win yesterday against Loiederman MS, 26-5. Meanwhile, both the girls' and boys' cross country teams defeated Loiederman this week. Congrats to all of our Dolphin athletes!

Coed Cross Country Schedule 2026

Thurs., Oct. 1 @ Parkland MS

Tues., Oct. 6 vs. Farquhar MS

Tues., Oct. 13 @ Argyle MS

Wed., Oct. 28 @ Forest Oak MS

Girls’ Softball Schedule 2026

Thurs., Oct. 1 @ Sligo MS

Tues., Oct. 6 vs. Gaithersburg MS

Tues., Oct. 13 @ Loiederman MS

Wed., Oct. 21 vs. White Oak MS

Wed., Oct. 28 @ Forest Oak MS

Boys’ Softball Schedule 2026

Tues., Oct. 1 vs. Sligo MS

Tues., Oct. 6 @ Farquhar MS

Tues., Oct. 13 @ Gaithersburg MS

Wed., Oct. 21 @ White Oak MS

Wed., Oct. 27 vs. Gaithersburg MS

Also, Winter registration for boys' or girls' basketball opens October 27, 2025, at 12:00 noon

9. Attendance Reminders

DID YOU KNOW? This year, over 80 RPMS students are already classified as chronically absent by the state of Maryland's metric of missing over 10% of school days. As a reminder, whether an absence is excused or unexcused, it counts the same--as a missed day of instruction--in the eyes of MSDE and MCPS.

School attendance is one of the biggest indicators of student success. However, RPMS understands that illness and family obligations are unavoidable. If your child is absent from school, you can submit an excuse note here. If you are looking for help in improving your child's school attendance, our counseling team is available to help.

10. SSL Updates

STUDENTS! DID YOU KNOW? You need 75 SSL (Student Service Learning) hours to graduate in the state of Maryland.

Middle school and high school students should continue earning SSL hours toward their SSL graduation requirement by engaging in SSL opportunities during the 2026-2027 school year, including traditional in-person opportunities and select virtual/remote opportunities that follow the SSL guidelines posted on the MCPS SSL webpage (www.mcps-ssl.org).

NEW! MCPS has updated the SSL verification form for 2026. Older forms will be accepted through September 25, 2026. After this date, supervisors and students should make every effort to use the new form, which you can find here: tinyurl.com/SSLHoursForm

SSL verification forms for service completed during the summer should be submitted by Friday, September 25, 2026.

Please review further information from MCPS and Mrs. Sarah Lewis, the RPMS SSL Coordinator, here: https://tinyurl.com/AugSeptUpdates

11. Grade Level Assignments Summary

This year, we streamlined this communication to one document for all 3 grade levels. Clicking on the links of interest on the first page will take you directly to a specific grade.

Weekly Assignments at a Glance

12. Upcoming Important Dates and Events

Oct 05 to 07 - Outdoor Ed for Group 1 Students, 6th grade only

Oct 07 to 09 - Outdoor Ed for Group 2 Students, 6th Grade Only

Oct 12 - Open House

Oct 16 - School Closed for Professional Development

Oct 29 - Make Up Student Picture Day

Nov 02 - End of Q1, School Closed for Grading Day

Nov 03 - School Closed, Election Day

13. PTSA Updates

We are in need of a NAACP liaison for PTSA. If you are interested please email christina_h_sessa@mcpsmd.org

Restaurant fundraisers:

October 14- Jersey Mikes all day
November 16- Brew Belly 5-9pm
March 10- Sardis/Olney Station
May 12- Playa Bowl 5-8pm

Please join the PTSA! Just follow this link to create your free Givebacks account:

https://www.givebacks.com/causes/rpmspta

14. MCPS Announcements

Get Involved: Closure & Consolidation Engagement Meetings Begin in October
MCPS will hold engagement meetings across the county this fall for upcoming school closures and consolidations. No decisions have been made, and community input is an important part of the process before developing any recommendation. With multiple in-person and virtual meetings offered in two rounds, families can choose the location and time that works best for them. You do not need to attend every meeting, as sessions within each round will cover the same information. Interpretation and language support will be available. We encourage families, staff, students and community members to participate and make their voices heard.
Learn more and see the schedule here.

Regional Center High School Center Programs: Fall Showcases Begin in October
MCPS is expanding access to specialized regional high school Center programs, giving 8th grade students more opportunities to pursue programs connected to their interests while continuing to offer rigorous programming at every local high school.
Center programs span five areas: Medical Science; International Baccalaureate, Humanities & Languages; Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM); Leadership & Public Service; and Visual & Performing Arts. Additional Middle College dual-enrollment opportunities are being explored in partnership with Montgomery College.
Eighth grade families can start exploring this fall! High schools across all six MCPS regions will host Fall High School Showcases throughout October, beginning Thursday, Oct. 1. These events are a great opportunity for students and families to visit schools, learn about programs and courses, meet staff and begin thinking about the high school experience that best fits their interests and goals.
As a reminder, the six regions Showcases are scheduled at schools throughout the Southern, Eastern, Central South, Central, Central North and Northern regions.
Learn more and get ready:

Watch: Now You Know — Center Programs: The Basics
Watch: MCPS High School Opportunities Presentation — available in English and Spanish
See the full Fall High School Showcase schedule and find the event near you.

Now You Know (Video Series)— Attendance Matters Every Day
There’s nothing more important than being in school every day. Being at school every day gives students opportunities to learn, build friendships, connect with trusted adults and get involved in activities they enjoy. Most importantly, being present helps them feel like they belong — and gives them opportunities to reach their potential. Parents and families, please ensure your student is in school every day, ready to learn.
Learn more: English | Spanish | Amharic | Chinese | French | Korean | Portuguese | Vietnamese

Family Quick Guide: Social Media — Think Before You Post
Social media can be a great way to connect and share—but what happens online can quickly become very real. Help your child make smart, safe choices.
Before they post, encourage them to pause:

Is it true? Don’t spread rumors.
Is it helpful? Words have an impact.
Is it necessary? Not everything needs to be shared.
Would I be OK if everyone saw it? Screenshots can last.

Keep the conversation going: Ask what your child is seeing online, what makes them uncomfortable and what they would do if something feels wrong. Remind them to block, report, save the evidence and tell a trusted adult.
Find more practical resources for families on the MCPS Family Quick Guide page.

Discover Enrichment, Acceleration and Gifted Education Opportunities
Families are invited to join the Accelerated and Enriched Instruction (AEI) Family Webinar Series this fall. The four-part virtual series will provide families with information and resources to better understand enrichment and acceleration opportunities, gifted and talented identification, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and parent advocacy.

New SSL Forms Are Here: What Students Need to Know
All MCPS students need 75 Student Service Learning (SSL) hours to graduate. MCPS has updated its SSL forms, with critical new deadlines and revised links.

Key Form Changes

MCPS Form 560-51 (SSL Activity Verification Form)

In the updated form, organizations must provide academic preparation and service action details. Additional space is available for more thoughtful student reflection.

MCPS Form 560-50 (Individual SSL Request)

Required for students to complete service with any community organization that is not listed as an MCPS SSL organization on the Montgomery County Volunteer Center website. Organizations must provide academic preparation and service action details.

SSL Coordinators will accept the old SSL forms for service completed through Friday, Sept. 25. Any service completed after Friday, Sept. 25, should be documented using the new forms.

15. Community Opportunity

Friday Night Olney Volleyball is taking place at the other middle school in town starting October 9. This opportunity is available to Rosa Parks students. See the attachment for more information.

For the Week of September 28, 2026 For the Week of September 28, 2026

1. Outdoor Education (Grade 6) 1. Outdoor Education (Grade 6)

2. Eastern Region High School Programs Showcase (Grade 8) 2. Eastern Region High School Programs Showcase (Grade 8)

3. Open House 3. Open House

4. PSAT Testing (Grade 8) 4. PSAT Testing (Grade 8)

5. Philadelphia Field Trip (Grade 8) 5. Philadelphia Field Trip (Grade 8)

6. Parents' Night Out 6. Parents' Night Out

7. MCPS School Closures and Consolidations Study 7. MCPS School Closures and Consolidations Study

8. Athletics 8. Athletics

9. Attendance Reminders 9. Attendance Reminders

10. SSL Updates 10. SSL Updates

11. Grade Level Assignments Summary 11. Grade Level Assignments Summary

12. Upcoming Important Dates and Events 12. Upcoming Important Dates and Events

13. PTSA Updates 13. PTSA Updates

14. MCPS Announcements 14. MCPS Announcements

15. Community Opportunity 15. Community Opportunity