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Rachel Carson Middle School is a middle school in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Herndon. The school is part of Fairfax County Public Schools. Its principal is August Frattali. Opened in the 1998-1999 school year, it is named after the biologist Rachel Carson and was a School To Watch in Virginia in 2004, 2007, and 2010.
Due to its location and the fact that it has an AAP (Advanced Academics Program) program,students come from an assortment of elementary schools, and graduate to a variety of high schools. Students attend either Westfield High School, Chantilly High School, Oakton High School, South Lakes High School, or other private schools as their high school. For students who qualify, Carson also consistently sends more students to TJHSST than any other school. Elementary school feeders include Floris, Crossingfield, McNair, Fox Mill, Hunters Woods, Coates, Poplar Tree, and also Lee's Corner, Oak Hill, Waples Mill, Navy, and Dogwood as part of its AAP program.
In November 2008, volunteers helped plant more than one thousand trees around the school.Carson also has an array of 11 solar panels which help provide the school with electricity, installed in 2010 by its Going Green club.
There are a handful of electives offered at Rachel Carson, with most varying slightly by grade. Current electives include technology exploration, drama, men and women's chorus, career search, creative writing, orchestra, band, art, a computer solutions class and home economics classes. For 8th graders, Spanish, French, and Japanese are available as high school-level electives. Introductory electives to both Spanish and French were introduced in 2011, and are open to both grades. However, these are very basic courses with students learning little more than basic language use and culture. There is also a Media Communications course that allows students to participate in the school's newspaper and morning announcements.