It’s elementary. As a community grows, so does its schools. Rachel Carson opened its doors in 1990 to 436 students, grades K through 6. Twenty-five years later this Aug. 31, an estimated 1,025 students in grades K through 5 will stream through the school’s doors.

The annual Rachel Carson Back-to-School Picnic on Sept. 3, 5 p.m., on the Rachel Carson upper field will celebrate the past, present and future of the Maryland Blue Ribbon School. The picnic also will link the growth of the school to the 25-year-old community it serves with activities organized by the Kentlands 25 (K25) committee.

For RCES art teacher Patti Connell, the 25th anniversary of the school has special meaning. She is a F.I.S.H. or “first in, still here,” she explained, a smile in her voice. She remembers the staff’s enthusiasm that first year, and how they went on a weekend retreat before the school opened to work on team building and their mission statement. The school’s mission “started evolving about Rachel Carson, to teach kids about Rachel Carson. For years and years, this is what we have always taught. … In art, Nannette (Horan) and I use her as a topic for different art lessons.”

Some constants through the years are the number of volunteers at Rachel Carson—“It’s phenomenal,” said Connell—the school’s expert teaching and how it runs very well. A big difference is enrollment, predicted by Montgomery County Public Schools to reach 1,025 students this year. “It’s packed, but we manage it incredibly well,” said Connell.

Connell is also a longtime Kentlands and now Lakelands resident. She said that she enjoys biking to school, and that she has seen the community mature from the early days when the hill neighborhood was not yet completed to today.

How the school and community have grown together will be the special focus of the K25 committee, and activities begin the first week of school and culminate at the picnic. During the first week of class, Rachel Carson teachers and students will explore the theme “Then and Now: Growing Together,” or how the histories of the school and community intertwine. The tenets of new urbanism will be emphasized. Principal Lawrence Chep told the K25 committee that activities may vary and be at the discretion of each teacher.

Art projects suggested by the K25 committee for that first day of school include creating a 2040 yearbook of drawings and messages from students that describe life at the school today; a group drawing that envisions the ideal community and school 25 years from now; or a large poster or mural created by the entire school to depict what the school might look like 25 years in the future.

Jarrod Borkat, co-organizer of K25 activities with Rebecca Bixler, Lynn Longley and Shihoko Goto, said that when students return to school, their walk down the media center hallway also will be a journey down memory lane. Hallway display cases on either side of the library will feature photos of Rachel Carson and the Kentlands community from 25 years ago and today, yearbooks from the school’s early years and today, examples of technology in use when the school opened, and three jars full of jelly beans with beans signifying the number of students attending RCES during years 1, 10 and 25. Borkat said that students will be encouraged to guess the number of jelly beans in each jar.

At the back-to-school picnic, mastery of material will earn students the opportunity to dunk an official in the dunk tank. Kids will complete a learning activity at the K25 table, reviewing a fact sheet on new urbanism and then drawing one element that they like on a community mural. Then they can dunk the official, possibly a member of the school faculty, an elected official or a parent.

RCES Back-to-School Picnic activities, DJ music and food that Rachel Carson families know and love also return this year. Ellie Hitt, picnic co-chair with Jen Chacon, said that activities include the popular moon bounce, hairspray in Rachel Carson colors, an obstacle course, cornhole toss and an art project. Families can bring their own picnic or purchase food from Potomac Pizza, Chick-fil-A and Ben and Jerry’s. The rain date for the picnic is Sept. 4.