Welcome to Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School—a California Distinguished School and National Blue Ribbon School. RSM is a prized school with students that are Ready, Responsible, and Respectful as we focus on “making today our masterpiece.”

Aligned with district priorities of Innovative Practices, Intentional Lesson Design, and Engaging Strategies, RSM teaching staff have been hard at work pursuing student engagement where we have developed the RSM 8: Eight areas of engagement that we consistently work toward learning, trying, and thoughtfully implementing within our instruction. Our concentration, as a staff, is to learn through collaboration and to engage in the work of Professional Learning Communities, or PLC’s. Subject alike and grade level teams meet every Monday to work on our instruction and to use data to drive our instructional decisions. RSM began as a technology rich school back in 1993 and 25 years later we continue to push forward using technology for our instruction in a 1 to 1 chromebook environment. The teachers of RSM have been hard at work teaching the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics, as well as launching the Next Generation Science Standards in Science and our History colleagues are continuing work on their new framework. The National Arts Standards, CTE Model Curriculum Standards, and Model Content Standards in PE and Health drive our efforts in the non-core areas. Writing is incorporated in all subject areas, as we continue to focus on argument writing—a skill that cuts through all standards no matter the subject area. Students learn pre-writing, argument formulation, and follow the CER process of claim, evidence, and reasoning. Strong editing practice, peer feedback, as well as collaboration with fellow students and teachers in the writing process, prepares our students to be many of the best writers in SVUSD. Which leads me to share our instructional mantra:

“Engaging Students through Literacy and Technology!”

RSM boasts about our robust elective program. We have two CTE pathways in Industrial Technology and Digital Film, where our programs are County, State, and National Award Winning. Our Visual and Performing Arts programs in music, choir, visual art, and drama provide lasting skills and appreciation that will take you into high school and beyond. Who can neglect to state our incredible Spanish World Language program, which turns out high school language credit for over 150 8th graders each year. Other elective offerings include Model United Nations, Public Speaking, and Reading Enrichment. Additionally, we are launching into the new academic year of 18-19 as an AVID school, as our first AVID Elective group begins.
Middle school can be a bit daunting, but I always tell incoming students, “It’s nothing like the movies!” This is where our great school culture truly shines. Although we are a large school, there are so many ways to get connected and to be a part of what we do at RSM. Whether it is through involvement in clubs, through lunch time sports or lunch time options, experiencing fun-a-ramas, or through homeroom competitions such as trivia on KRSM or if you dare—enter your name to be on your homeroom’s crossfire team. Performances abound at lunch time and in the evening for our community—see our spring musical, band concerts, Rockfest, So You Think You Can Dance, and Encore performances. Students have so many ways to connect and enjoy their time at RSM.
Students of RSM do not just focus our efforts internally, they also are involved in community efforts each year through food drives, local fundraising efforts, and the Pennies for Patients, where we were a top raising school last year.

RSM is a great place for learning and we thank you so much for taking the time to learn about RSM Intermediate School. We end each morning on KRSM the same way as we launch our students into the day:

Be Ready, Responsible, and Respectful RSM and Make Today Your Masterpiece!