robotics
We believe that robotics can teach important skills for any career path, such as collaboration, communication, problem-solving, marketing, and business management, as well as the principles of engineering and computer programming.
Middle School Roboics
The Middle School launched the Bionic Bears Jr. Robotics Team, joining the FIRST™ Lego League robotics community, in 2025. This team is open to all students in the Middle School, grades 5-8. Practices are held during club time and Friday afternoons (when there are no sports practices). Basic robotic curriculum is also introduced into the Middle School STEM classes.
Middle School Robotics students compete in the FLL Challenge, where they will program their robots to autonomously complete missions on a playing field, working to code their solutions before competitions. They will also work on an Innovation Project, where every year they explore a problem related to the new season’s topic, create a solution together, and then present their ideas to a panel of judges. Students are building their skills in problem solving, programming, and working collaboratively as a team.
Upper School Robotics
The Bionic Bears Robotics team started competing in 2023, under FIRST™ Tech Challenge.
Robotics students solve the problem of building the best robot to accomplish all the new tasks required for competition every year. They build and code this robot collaboratively, and must continually test, evaluate, and redesign their work for competition. We offer practice time as club time and as a class elective. This team welcomes you if you are willing to give the commitment!
The Bionic Bears compete every year, with a fall season running from September through the end of January/beginning of February. We have won events and awards, but most importantly, every member of our team learns what it takes to create something as a team, document and discuss their process, and solve challenges as they occur in real-time. These skills will carry benefits long after the team has finished practice, and can be attributed to the kind of critical thinking and work ethic that is needed for any profession.
Robotics in Action
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First Lego League Qualifier for Middle School Robotics Team
The Middle School robotics team, Jr. Bionic Bears, competed in the First Lego League Qualifier at McDonogh in 2025. They were judged on their innovation project, robot design, performance of their robot during the robot games, and their ability to demonstrate the FLL core values of discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun.
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Robotics Team Champions
The Upper School Robotics Team, which started as a club and is now a class in our STEM curriculum, has been winning awards since their first year as a formal team in 2023!
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Students Presenting at International Conferences
RPCS students presented at the 2024 International Coalition of Girls' Schools Conference on “The All-Girls Team: Building a Robotics Community.” The audience loved hearing about our award-winning robotics team and were excited to bring back what they learned to their own schools.