English | Español | አማርኛ | 中文 | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | فارسی | اردو

1. Important Dates

March 26 - Track & Field forms are due by 2:30 PM to be eligible to begin practicing on 4/8

March 27 - End of 3rd Quarter, 2 Hour Early Release, No After-School Program

March 30 - April 3 - Spring Break

April 6 - No School (Teacher Workday)

April 7-9 - 8th Grade Finance Park Field Trips

April 8 - Track & Field practices begin

April 9 - PTA Meeting, 7 PM, Library

April 9- Chantilly Pyramid Art Show, 6-8 PM, Chantilly High School

April 10 - No School (School Planning Day)

April 13 - Rising 9th Grade Activity Fairs 

April 21 - No School (Teacher Workday/Elections)

2. A Note from the Principal

Dear Rocky Run Families-

Three quarters down, one to go! We ended the third quarter on Friday with our second annual career day. All students attended 3 targeted sessions that they selected based on a career inventory lesson. We had over 50 community members in attendance to speak to our students. Over the coming days, I encourage you to have a conversation with your student about the sessions they attended and what they took away from the presentations. A huge thank you to Anna Slevin and Halissa Jacobson for organizing the meaningful event.

Looking ahead to next week, all FCPS schools and offices are closed for spring break on Monday, March 30 through Friday, April 3. Monday, April 6, is a student holiday and teacher workday. When students return on Tuesday, April 7, they will attend Blue Day classes (periods 1, 3, 5, 7).

As the calendar flips to April, we begin the Month of the Military Child! Every year we take the opportunity to recognize military-connected youth for their service and contribution to our community. Fairfax County Public Schools is proud to have over 14,000 military-connected youth as a part of our student body. We appreciate the varied life experiences they bring to our school community, and recognize their strength and resilience. 

Thank you for your continued support and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Peter Kownacki
Principal
Rocky Run Middle School
@pakownacki

3. Action Items for Families

Parent Acknowledgment of Course Requests for Next School Year

As the academic advising and course selection period draws to a close, we want to ensure all middle and high school families feel confident about their child's educational path. A new feature in SIS ParentVUE allows parents and guardians to easily review and acknowledge their student's course requests for the 2026-27 school year.

Please contact your child’s counselor for assistance. To access this feature: 

• Log in to your ParentVUE account.
• Navigate to the Course Request module.
• Review your student’s course request list for next school year.
• To complete the acknowledgment, click Student Info in the left menu.
• Click Edit Information.
• In the Course Request Acknowledgment field, update the acknowledgment field to Yes.
• Click Save Changes.

Families have until Friday, March 27, to review and acknowledge course requests via this new feature.

Visit the FCPS SIS ParentVUE account overview webpage for more instructions and screenshots of this process.

For rising 7th and 8th grade families, after reviewing course selections, if you would like to request course changes, please fill out the 26-27 Course Change Request Form. If your child is a rising 9th grader, you will need to reach out to their HS counselor. 

Chantilly Pyramid Art Show

The Chantilly Pyramid Art Show will take place on Thursday, April 9^th from 6-8pm at Chantilly High School. The art show features work from elementary, middle, and high schools in the Chantilly pyramid. There will be food trucks, arts and crafts, henna, and more!

We Want Your Feedback! Principal Evaluation Parent/Guardian Questionnaire

On Monday, April 6, parents and guardians of Rocky Run Middle School will receive an email with a link to the FCPS Principal Evaluation Parent/Guardian Feedback Form. This questionnaire is part of the Performance Evaluation Program and provides an opportunity to share anonymous feedback about our school’s leadership and environment.

Topics covered in the survey include:

✅ Instructional leadership

✅ School climate

✅ Management (human resources and organizational)

✅ Communication and community relations

✅ Culturally responsive and equitable leadership

✅ Professionalism

The questionnaire will be open April 6 - April 19 and will be collected online. When you receive the email invitation, please take a few minutes to complete it. Your input is valuable and helps shape the future of our school. Thank you for your time and feedback!

FCPS CARES Nominations Want a quick way to recognize an employee or team? Share an FCPS CARES! Families, colleagues, and students are all invited to submit. The FCPS CARES is automatically sent to the recipient(s) and their supervisor, and is posted on fcps.edu. Additionally, each month one school in our region wins a staff celebration from HR. Encourage your community to show our staff that their hard work is appreciated!

4. Student Celebrations

Rocky Run Student Advances to the National Spelling Bee Congratulations to Aadhya V. for receiving first runner up in the Fairfax County Spelling Bee!! This means that she will advance to the National Spelling Bee in May in Washington DC! There were 90 participants representing schools across Fairfax County. The event lasted four hours, with 18 students advancing to the finals. Below are the words she spelled correctly during the bee: Genealogical, Slalom, Bilaterian, Megrims, Rond de Jambe, Patriotism, Hygrometer, Avionics, Bisque, Pelmatogram We are so proud of Aadhya and can't wait to watch her compete on a national level! Way to Raise the Ram!

February Rams on a Roll

Congratulations to our February Rams on a Roll! These students were recognized by their teams for consistently demonstrating all of our RAISE traits and being Respectful, Accountable, Inclusive, Safe, and Engaged.

7th Grade: Ainsley Sprowls, Baron La, Firas Elneel, Joylyn George Dondapati, Lindsay Kim, and Cooper Kownacki

8th Grade: Nalan Praveen Kumar, Addison Ayala, Jenna Taouil, Grady Gilbert, Aarthi Sabapathy, and Walter Diaz Quinonez

Congratulations- way to Raise the Ram!

RAISE the Ram Card Winners

At Rocky Run, students can earn RAISE the Ram cards for exhibiting our RAISE attributes: Rams are Respectful, Accountable, Inclusive, Safe, and Engaged. At the end of each week, we randomly select one winner from each team.

Congratulations to this week's RAISE the Ram card winners:

Meteors: Rhys Polakoff (Respectful, Accountable, and Engaged)

Platinum: Dillon Stoffer (Engaged)

Emerald: Lincoln Niblock (Respectful and Engaged)

Kryptonite: Abraham Lim (Safe)

Tiger's Eye: Sophia Paun (Engaged)

Sapphire: Aillen Gomez (Respectful and Inclusive)

Great job Raising The Ram this week!

5. Student Services Updates

Summer 2026 Online Campus Courses

Registration for the Summer 2026 Online Campus courses is available until Friday, June 5. Courses are open to middle and high school students who meet prerequisites. The Online Campus provides an opportunity for students to take one high school level course for new or repeat credit over the summer.

Students need to have a computer and make sure their computer is ready for the online course. Students will not be able to take online courses using tablets and smartphones.

Course and assessment dates cannot be adjusted for vacations, travel, etc. Students must complete course work and assessments as they are scheduled.

Online Campus courses and classes may be cancelled if they are under enrolled. If a course or class is cancelled, students will be notified using the registration contact information, and a full refund will be given.

Please note that students wishing to enroll in a summer course must notify their counselor in order to ensure a seat in the desired course for 26-27 school year. 

Summer FCPS CTE Camps

Registration is open for the Career and Technical Education (CTE) summer camps offered by Fairfax County Public Schools for all students! Watch this video about CTE camps. Registration is now open through Friday, June 5.

CTE summer camps will be held in July at Robinson Secondary School from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bus transportation will be available from select FCPS schools. Tuition assistance is available to FCPS families eligible for free or reduced meals.

•  Tech Adventure Camp (TAC) is a week-long exploratory camp that allows current K-5 students to explore STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), culinary, health, trades, and business and marketing areas.

•  CTE Summer Academy (CSA) is a week-long enrichment program that allows students in grades 6-11 to dive deeper into CTE program areas, develop skills, and begin career exploration.

New this year: Students in the above camps can also register for aftercare, which is available from 2 to 5 p.m.

Rising 9th Graders HS Activity Fair on April 13

High School Activity Fairs on Monday, April 13

• 8th graders received information and a permission slip from their science teacher this week. Information was also sent via an e-notify email on 3/9. 
• Be sure to sign the permission slip and have your student return it to their science teacher by Monday, March 23.

Sports Interest Meetings

• Interest meetings will be scheduled through the After-School Program as Mrs. Campbell hears from the high school coaches.  Watch for updates!

6. Instructional Updates

Library Happenings

This week, both Mr. Linck’s history classes and Mrs. Ura’s French 2 classes visited the library. Mr. Linck’s students worked in small groups to work on a Roaring Twenties escape room. They benefited from the large library space and spread out to keep their answers secret from the other groups!

Mrs. Ura’s French 2 students visited on both Tuesday and Thursday to work on a choice summative project to demonstrate their mastery of directional phrases. Choices included a Google Maps Guide, a Lost Tourist, and making a 3D map of a neighborhood. By selecting their preferred project, students took ownership of their learning and showed off their French directional skills in a way that was best for them!

7. After School Program Information

After-School Schedule for the week of 4/6

**NEW CLUBS**

• Chess Club sign-ups opened on 3/19. Spaces are limited to 20 students who can commit to attending on Thursdays from 2:30 - 3:15 from April 8 - May 21. Students must be logged into their fcpsschools account to access the sign-up form.
• SciFi Creative Writing - open enrollment.  The first club meeting is Tuesday, April 7 from 2:30-3:15.

KUDOS to our Science Olympiad team who earned 11th place out of nearly 30 teams in their state tournament last weekend.  We appreciate all of their time, hard work, and commitment to our team! 

ASK - 

• Our Crochet Club is looking for yarn donations.  If you have yarn that you are willing to pass along to the club, please drop it off in the main office for Ms. Harrington.  

Current after-school club offerings - More clubs will be added throughout the year so check back frequently.

Review the late bus routes that are posted on the After-School Schoology Course

For now, here are some steps to complete:

1. Review this general After-School Information.
2. ALL families must complete the After-School Consent Form (via the Parent Digital Consent System).  Students cannot stay after until this is submitted.  Almost all of our Rocky Run students will stay after at some point this year, so please make sure the form is completed ASAP so your student has the flexibility to participate.

Questions?  Contact Shannon Campbell, After-School Program Specialist, at SLCampbell@fcps.edu. 

VIP Summer Camp

What are your rising 7th and rising 8th grades doing this summer?!  The FCPS Middle School After-School Program & Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services are again teaming up to offer our 5 week camp. Students will be engaged in sports/games, fitness, art, STEM, field trips, and plenty of other activities. 

• VIP Camp information can be found here. Registration opened on 3/17.
• Western Fairfax VIP is full with a waitlist.  Families who registered will be notified of acceptance by 4/17.
• July 1 - July 31, 8 AM - 4 PM (no camp on July 3)
• This year, the Western Fairfax VIP Camp will be held at Liberty MS.  Transportation will be provided.
• Email Shannon Campbell (SLCampbell@fcps.edu) with any questions.

Spring Track & Field

• A student interest meeting was held on Monday, March 9.  Here are the meeting slides and important dates. 
• Track & Field Registration Google Form 
• Middle School Sports Physical- one page requires a doctor's signature, so do not delay!  If your student submitted a sports physical packet for Cross Country or Basketball, that same packet will work for Track & Field.  Not sure if you submitted one this year?  Email Shannon Campbell to check your student's status.

8. Community Corner

RRMS PTA No-Fuss Fundraiser – Let’s Keep It Rolling!

We’re 21% to our $15K goal, that’s $3,213 raised so far!  Strong start… but we’ve got more to go!

• Deadline extended to April 3
• Goal to unlock TEAM prizes: *We need at least $5K

Whether you need to register your student or make a donation, start here: https://app.givebacks.gives/rrmsnofuss

What’s at stake?

• Top student on each team scores a gift card
• Top team wins a Chick-fil-A Party* 
• 1st Runner-Up Team wins a Donut Party*

Every dollar helps your team climb the leaderboard—let’s go!