Rochester School District

Last Saturday, our welding fabrication teams traveled to Sierra Pacific in Shelton to compete—and they did an great job!

🥈 2nd Place (very likely headed to State!): Treven Hammack, Zane Sherwood, Dillon Lewis
🥉 3rd Place: Easton Pratt, Collin Murphy, Wesley Dahl
🏅 4th Place: Carson Wallis, Hunter Roberts, Raysen Rozar

Congratulations to all of our students for representing our district so well!

This week is National School Counseling Week, a perfect time to recognize the counselors who play an important role in our schools. They support students academically, socially, and emotionally to help our students be prepared to learn. Thank you to all our school counselors for the important work you do with our students every day!

Students in our Native Education Club at the high school spent a Saturday working with the Chehalis Tribe's Heritage and Culture Program to create regalia that represents personal and community identity. Hannah and Kyler Johnson worked so hard on their projects! Thank you to the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation for providing such a meaningful opportunity for our students.

Game Night at RHS! Tonight marks the last Lady Warriors home basketball game of the season, and it’s a special one! We’ll be recognizing our six senior cheerleaders for their dedication and spirit before the varsity game. Please join us in celebrating these seniors and all they’ve given to RHS!

Your Lady Warriors as they take on our rivals, the Tenino Beavers.

🕠 JV tips off at 5:30 PM
🏀 Varsity game to follow
🎉 Senior recognition will take place just before the varsity game

Let’s pack the gym and show our Warriors and cheerleaders some love!
#WarriorPride #SeniorNight #GoWarriors

Update on Yesenia Carbajal-Mendez: She earned 2nd place at the district level for the Voice of Democracy competition! We are incredibly proud of her dedication, talent, and the way she represented our school and community. Congratulations, Yesenia, on this amazing achievement!

Congratulations to 16 RHS students who maintained perfect attendance throughout first semester. Nice work Brayden Arsenault, Davin Barberg, Madison Baker, Gabriel Encarnacion Tolentino, Jonathn Garrison, Kimber Harris, Jedani Herrera Cisneros, Malakye Hutchings, Evan Jenkins, Gavin Moore, Jayden Ojeda, Katelyn Scheirbeck, Cheyanna Sharp, Ryan Trent, Ethen Torres-Flowers, and Noah Van Lierop.

Your dedication doesn’t go unnoticed—great job staying engaged and showing up every day!

Girls Bowling Champs! The Rochester High School girls bowling team closed out the 2025–26 season with a win over Centralia on Thursday, January 22, and celebrated Senior Night for Natalie Southard. Natalie led the Warriors with a standout 212 game—the highest individual game by any Rochester athlete this season!

With the victory, the Warriors clinched the 1A/2A/3A Evergreen Conference League Championship, taking the top spot from long-time league champions W.F. West.

Next up: League Tournament on January 27, followed by Districts on January 30. Congratulations to our Warriors—well done!

REMINDER! There will be no school on Friday, January 23, due to semester break. We hope our students and staff enjoy the day!

Congratulations to one of our high school students, Yesenia Carbajal-Mendez, for earning 1st Place in the Voice of Democracy competition through the Tenino VFW! Her outstanding speech has now advanced to the district-level competition. We are so proud of Yesenia's achievement and wish her the very best of luck as she moves on. Way to represent our school and community!

The Special Eduation Parent Advisory meets Tuesday (1/20) at 5:00 pm in the District Office.

Today, we honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose work continues to inspire service, equality, and respect for all. This day serves as an opportunity to reflect on his message and the importance of kindness, justice, and community.

School will resume on Tuesday, January 20. We hope our students, families, and staff have a meaningful day of reflection.

RPS proudly celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day by honoring Dr. King’s message of kindness, fairness, and treating everyone with respect and care. Our Warriors explored his legacy through a themed recess, meaningful read-alouds, student artwork, and a special video—all centered on the idea that we are better together.

YouTube video link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU1ekxDl99k

We are proud to recognize the following students who participated in the PLU Northwest Honor Band Festival this past weekend: Violet Wolfe, Hannah “Sam” Johnson, and Sarah Price. These students were selected from nearly 1,000 nominations representing schools from across the West Coast! Congratulations to Violet, Sam, and Sarah for representing our district with talent, dedication, and excellence.

January 16 is Temperance and Good Citizenship Day

Being a good citizen isn’t just something we learn about in class. It’s something we practice. For eligible students, one important step is registering to vote and being ready to participate in future elections.

If you’re 18, or will be by the next election, now is a great time to check your voter registration or get registered.

Register or check your status here: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters/voter-registration/register-vote-washington

Your voice matters. Being informed and engaged is part of becoming an active citizen.

Another clean sweep for RHS! Our Robotics: Search & Rescue teams took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place today at the Regional competition, on top of the Drone Team’s sweep earlier! So proud of these students and Coach Kuss who make this level of excellence possible!

The RHS DRONE team took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Regional Competition. Congratulations!!

Happy New Year, Warriors! We are so proud of everything our Warriors achieved last year, and we’re even more excited for what’s to come. Enjoy the final days of break—we’ll see you soon!

Reminder - School resumes on Monday, January 5.

The District Office is closed from December 22 to January 2. Happy Holidays

Welcome to Our New School Board Members! Please join us in welcoming our two newly elected Rochester School District Board members: Heather Harris – District 5 and Francisco Villanueva – District 1.

Both Heather and Francisco are vested in our community, and we are excited to have their leadership and commitment on our school board. We look forward to the valuable perspectives and dedication they will bring as we continue working together to support our students, staff, and families.

Welcome to the team!

Nothing says “we appreciate you” like coffee, cocoa, and treats served rain or shine! A huge thank-you to Mr. Theonnes and Ms. Lincoln for delivering goodies to staff on this last Monday before Winter Break. The weather didn’t cooperate, but the spirit absolutely did.