Congratulations to all Rachel Carson students that participated competitions throughout the school year.

1. US Figure Skating – 2011 South Atlantic Region Championship Juvenile Girl Group B - +2 Award –student earned Certificate of Achievement;
2. First Lego League Competition – Chantilly HS: an RCMS team won regional title;
3. Virginia Theatre Association’s Young People’s Theater Festival – RCMS Drama students received Gold rating; individual students recognized with Excellence in Acting awards for their performances; another student was honored for her work as director of the production;
4. American Academy of Pediatrics Children’s Art Contest – an RCMS student won 2nd place among over 600 entries;
5. First Lego League  – a student’s team earned first place at the regional competition and advanced to State tournament;
6. First Lego League – an RCMS team won Best Team Work at the regional competition and advanced to the state level;
7. Arena Stage’s 10-Minute Playwriting Competition – two RCMS students were Grand Prize winners for their plays;
8. Music Teacher’s National Association 2011 Regional String Performance Competition – an RCMS student earned 1st place in the junior division becoming regional champion, moving on to compete in the national championship;
9. Scholastic Art Awards – 2011 Regional winners: 3 RCMS students won gold key awards, 1 student earned silver key award and 2 students were awarded certificates of merit; gold key winners advanced to the national competition;
10. We the People District Finals – District Finals – 1st Place; State Finals – 2nd Place;
11. Math Counts Fairfax Chapter Competition – RCMS team won 2nd place; individual students won 4th place and another placed in the top 6th-10th places (this category didn’t give specific placement to students);
12. Dance Competition at South County Secondary School – RCMS Dance team won 1st place in the middle school jazz category; one student earned 2nd place individually in junior jazz category and another placed 3rd in the junior contemporary category;
13. District XII Middle School Band Assessment – RCMS instrumental groups received Superior ratings;
14. Technology Student Association Regional Fair – RCMS team members earned five 1st , one 2nd and two 3rd place trophies;
15. District XII Middle School Orchestra Assessment – RCMS groups received Superior ratings;
16. 2011 Science Olympiad Regional Competition- RCMS team won 1st and 2nd place trophies;
17. DC Urban Debate League – RCMS team won 1st place in regional middle school tournament; two teams placed in the top ten; two individual students were awarded medals for being among the top 20 speakers: one received 4th place and the other won 11th); RCMS team as a whole won second prize for its total number of wins in the various rounds;
18. Science Bowl – RCMS team won the afternoon events earning a cash prize;
19. Odyssey of the Mind Regional Competition – many RCMS teams competed with many teams winning 1st place awards in their categories advancing them to the state competition, one earned 3rd place, and one earned 8th place;
20. Virginia State Chess Championships – a team of RCMS students competed and placed 2nd; two individuals placed in the top 10 – one earned 1st place and the other earned 7th;
21. Chantilly Jazz Festival – RCMS Jazz Ensemble were awarded 1st place;
22. 2011 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards – an RCMS team earned an honorable mention for their project;
23. 2011 State Science Olympiad Competition – RCMS team won 4th place;
24. Modern Foreign Language Tournament – many RCMS students competed in various categories in French, Japanese & Spanish earning three individual 1st place, two 2nd place and one group 3rd place award;
25. District of Columbia Urban Debate League – RCMS team finished in 8th place, with several students being recognized among the top 20 speakers, including one student who was named #1 speaker;
26. Junior Olympics National competition – an RCMS student qualified to compete;
27. Technosphere Competition – RCMS TSA team earned 15 trophies and won 2nd place Outstanding Achievement Award for the state;
28. National Junior High Chess Championship – an RCMS student was named K-8 National Co-Champion;
29. Odyssey of the Mind State Competition – RCMS team was awarded the OMER® award (awarded to anyone who is “an outstanding example of Odyssey spirit through their words or actions”)
30. DC League Championships – RCMS Debate League team finished with 3 teams in the top 10: 4th, 8th & 9th and six students among the top 20 speakers – 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th 9th and 11th; the team also got 2 trophies for their winning record throughout the year’s tournaments – 3rd place for total number of wins and 3rd for the percentage of wins.
31. Creative Communications Publications – numerous students had written poetry and essays published;
32. Falling for the Story - student writing to be published in the NVWP anthology which is published by GMU
33. Japanese Nengajo (new year greeting card) Contest -  One student placed 1st in original category and another student placed 1st in comical category;
34. Four Frame Manga Contest  - 1st place in historical category; 1st place in cultural category;  1st place in comical category
35. Haiku contest – RCMS student placed 1st
36. American Mathematics Competitions (Mathematical Association of America) :

• AMC 8 – School certificate of honor (team score of 66 or better); one student with one of  5 perfect scores in Virginia; 231 students participated; 20 students received Distinguished awards (scores in top 1% in country); 53 students received Honors awards (scores in top 5% in country)
• AMC 10 – 72 students participated; 24 received certificates of Achievement (score >90); one student qualified for the AIME test and received an Honor Roll of Distinction award.
• AIME – one student who took the AIME  received a certificate of distinction and qualified for the USJAMO
• USJAMO – one student took the exam. He was only one of 250 in the country to qualify and participate in this high level competition;