This information is for rising 6th Graders and current 6th and 7th grade student.

Registration Video Coming in December.

What can I expect my child to learn?

You can expect your child to receive instruction that is based on North Carolina's Standard Course of Study. Click on the following links to review the standard goals and objectives that your child's teachers are expected to teach

How can I expect my child to learn it?

• Rockingham County Schools has made great strides in an effort to improve instruction through the use of 21st century technology. All middle school students have access to a Chrombook and utilize Canvas as a digital educational delivery platform.  Classroom teachers have daily access to an Active Board or Interactive Projector, digital tools and Streaming Video. 

• Integration of subject matter is key to understanding. Middle school teachers create lessons that are designed to help students apply math and reading skills in all subject areas.

• You can also expect your child to learn in a safe and orderly environment. Our teachers and administrators understand that very little learning occurs when a child feels unsafe. Our school's efforts to maintain a safe and orderly environment are outlined in our Crisis Response Plan and within the RCS Student Handbook. 

• Character Education supports student learning. Such virtues as Responsibility, Self Discipline, and Perseverance contribute greatly to a child's success in school and throughout life.

How will I know if my child learned it?

• End of Grade Tests is the assessment used by the district and state to determine how much progress your child has made over the course of one year. The End of Grade Test is administered in reading and math during the month of May each year. An End of Grade Test in Science is administered for all 8th grade students each year. Grade eight students who are enrolled in Algebra will take the Algebra End of Course exam in addition to their 8th grade EOG test.

• You can also track how your school is progressing as a whole. Click on NC School Report Cards, and locate your child's school by following the links. 

• Student Report Cards are issued at the conclusion of each quarterly grading period of instruction. You can expect a report of you child's progress one week after the conclusion of each grading period. Grading period ending dates are listed near the bottom of the Rockingham County Schools Calendar.

• Benchmark Exams are administered throughout the fall and spring of each year. The benchmark exams are used by teachers to determine which skills in math and reading you child may need to work on before the End of Grade Test.

What help will my child receive if he/she did not learn it?

• All middle school teachers are expected to frequently test student performance. Teachers use this information to determine the effectiveness of their instruction and to identify students who did not understand the information. Teachers are expected to collaborate with other teachers in an effort to devise strategies for those students. Strategies may include: regrouping, reteaching, small group remediation, and after school tutoring.

• Programs designed to assist students who are reading below grade level include, Intervention and Enrichment times, specialized grouping, and Wilson Reading.

Healthy competition is an important part of our Middle Grades Program in Rockingham County. Our students have the opportunity to compete in a total of eleven sports. The sports include: football, basketball, softball, baseball, cheerleading, tennis, soccer, golf, volleyball, track, and wrestling.

We believe that athletics can play a role in the capacity of our students to work together as a team and to develop habits of good character and sportsmanship in the process. 

The following links outline rules of participation and student expectations that guide our district's athletics program: 

Click HERE for the RCS Athletics Page

• Pacing Guides

• Math Placement Guidelines

• Math Placement Appeal/Waiver Form

Middle School Math Placement

In an effort to ensure that all students are receiving the best and most appropriate mathematics instruction, our district has worked to collaboratively create criteria that we feel will help students be placed in the appropriate math course for the school year. As a district, we believe the ultimate goal is to provide the most academically challenging curriculum for our students and we also believe that students will continue to learn, grow, and change over the next several years. The criteria developed means that all students will have access to higher-level math courses, as we will place students based on objective criteria, predictive data, and assessment data. Below is our criteria and more information can be found on the Rockingham County Schools website under Curriculum.

We will offer the following math courses in all of our middle schools during the 2020-2021 school year:

• 6th grade math

• 7th grade math

• 7th grade Advanced Math (pre-Math I)

• 8th grade math

• Math I in 8th grade for students who meet the criteria

1. Students must meet 3/5 criteria for placement in Advanced Math courses or score a level 5 on the previous years math EOG.

2. At any time, if a student meets the criteria for placement into an advanced course, that student will be considered

3. If a student fails the previous course and scores a Level I or Level II on the current year EOG, the administration shall revisit placement into the accelerated pathway through a conference with the parents and the students’ teachers.  

4. Once the current year EVAAS report becomes available, the administration shall revisit math placement for all students to ensure they are placed based on the criteria according to the new EVAAS scores.