Weekly Wildcat Updates

This is Principal Johnson with your Weekly Wildcat Updates:

Amharic, French and Spanish translations at the bottom of the newsletter

What a fun, high-energy instructional leadership week we had July 14-17th! As we gear up for the new school year, our theme this year is "Reaching for the Stars: Excellence in Every Dimension." Honestly, seeing everyone’s enthusiasm during summer leadership week has made us even more excited for what’s ahead.

Our team spent the week connecting, planning, and laying the groundwork to make sure this year is top-notch for every single child who walks through our doors.

We want to give a huge shoutout to the parents and students who took the time to sit down with us and help draft our School Improvement Plan. Your honesty, ideas, and unique perspectives mean the world to us. Rocky Hill is at its best when we’re building it together, and having your voices directly shape our goals sets us up for real success.

We have just a few short weeks before the official countdown ends and school kicks off! The energy is already buzzing, and with a community as supportive as ours, there’s no limit to what our students can accomplish.

Let's aim high, support one another, and make this year truly EPICC!

We have some exciting news to share! Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) recently released a story and video highlighting the IGNITE Summer School Program, and our very own Rocky Hill Middle School students were featured front and center!

Instead of sleeping in, our students spent their summer mornings diving headfirst into science experiments, tackling math puzzles, exploring cool future careers, and connecting with their peers. Offered across six regional middle schools, the IGNITE program mixes hands-on, project-based learning with real-world experiences to help kids sharpen their skills in Math, English, and STEM—building total confidence for the upcoming school year.

In Their Own Words: What Our Students Loved Most

It was amazing to hear our students share what made their mornings so engaging:

• Hands-on & Group Activities: "I really enjoy the fun activities we do with partners and groups," shared rising 6th-grader Camila.

• Excitement for Science & History: Rising 6th-graders Isabella and Ava loved diving into new topics, with Ava noting she enjoyed learning about "science and the history of Ancient Greece and Rome."

• Leveling Up in Math: Rising 6th-grader Aabha shared, "I'm learning about multiplication and ratios."

Connecting the Classroom to Future Careers

From virtual reality headsets to career exploration, students got a firsthand look at where their learning can take them.

• Aspiring Doctors: Rising 7th-grader CJ, who dreams of going into medicine, got to explore medical fields, study treatments for venomous snake bites, and dive into hands-on anatomy lessons.

• Creative Learning: Rising 7th-grader Neva used playdough to build models of blood vessels, illustrating how blood flows and how conditions like sickle cell disease cause blockages.

Whether they were sculpting blood cells, solving math challenges with friends, or testing out VR technology, our IGNITE students proved that learning by doing is the best way to grow. We are so proud of their hard work and can't wait to see that same curiosity and energy carry into the new school year!

Check out the MCPS Ignite Middle School Academy Video to see our students in action and hear how this program sparked their enthusiasm for learning! You can also read the article in the MCPS Newsletter.

We are looking forward to an EPICC year at Rocky Hill! Thank you for your support! We are Rocky Hill Middle School Reaching for the Stars-Excellence in Every Dimension!

With Wildcat PRIDE!

Darryl V. Johnson

Principal

(English, Amharic, French and Spanish copies of the Weekly Wildcat Update are attached to this message)

#BeEPICC@RHMS!

Excellence*Professionalism*Integrity*Children*Community