General

Greetings all,

So our TARC team needs to get any potential national finals travel and lodging pre-approved by our school committee. I know quite a few members of this organization have volunteered at the finals and I would like to pick your brains for some basic information that is essential to our field trip proposal. I'm looking at proposing this to our school committee for approval next week.

How much did transportation cost and what method did you use to get to the Plains VA?

What is the most cost effective method to get there for a TARC team (let's assume 5-10 students)?

How many days do most teams spend there?

In which towns/hotels do teams stay? And what was/is the cost per night?

How do teams get from their hotel to the finals in the Plains and back? Are rental cars necessary? Are there shuttles?Does ARC provide shuttling?

What is the total cost for a team of 5-10 students?

What do most teams do to address these logistics?

Does anyone have the contact information of team advisors that have qualified for TARC in the past that might be willing to answer these questions? If so could you please send it to me?

I have emailed the organizers of ARC (@rocketry contest) multiple times over the past two months and have yet to receive a reply.

Just for some context:

Unfortunately, rocketry doesn't fall on any school committee's list of priorities. If we were to qualify, by the time we notified our school committee to approve the trip, the contest would be over. They only meet twice per month and they are known to drop things from the docket or for delaying topics to the following meeting. I was warned by many colleagues that any potential travel (qualifying or not) would need to be approved many months in advance because this has happened with other field trips.

Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated!

Thank you all in advance.

-Ryan

Hi Ryan,

A quick reply with a few answers. I will follow up with more later.

Teams need to be at the Metz Middle School Menassas VA at 6pm the Friday of

the contest weekend. The contest day is Saturday, and goes from 6:45 am until

8 pm. If Saturday weather is bad, the contest will be held Sunday. Travel plans would need to accommodate this schedule. There are activities that teams can get involved in on Friday before 6pm.

I travel to and from with my own personal vehicle. I usually arrive Thursday afternoon as I volunteer for range setup on Friday. I book a room thru Monday morning and leave on Sunday if there is no weather delay.

The following is from 2026 finals info:

TRAVEL

Travel expenses to attend, are the responsibility of each team. The entire team is

not required to attend the Finals, but for a team to compete, at least one member

plus a supervising adult must be present.

The nearest major airports to the launch site are:

 Washington Dulles (IAD): 17 miles away

 Reagan National (DCA): 35 miles away

 Baltimore-Washington International (BWI): 70 miles away

Teams must provide their own transportation to get from the hotel to the launch

site, and to/from any airport. In planning your travel, please keep in mind DC

rush hour: I-66 westbound from the DC area to Manassas and beyond is very

heavily congested and very slow-moving by 2:00 PM on Fridays.

Teams are responsible for making their own lodging arrangements. The primary

location for hotels that are convenient to ARC activities is at Exit 47 on I-66 in

Manassas, VA. All of the hotels are within the first two blocks after the exit, either to the south or to the north. All the hotels are within a few blocks of each

other and are surrounded by restaurants and shopping.

Hotel Exit Address Phone Number

Quality Inn Manassas I-66 Exit 47AI-66 Exit 47A

10653 Balls Ford Road, Manassas, VA 02109 (703) 368-2800

Days Inn 7249 New Market Ct., Manassas (703) 659-9023

Red Roof Inn Manassas I-66 Exit 47A 10610 Automotive Drive, Manassas (800) 733-7663

Comfort Suites Manassas

Battlefield Park

I-66 Exit 47A 7350 Williamson Blvd., Manassas (703) 686-1100

Courtyard by Marriott Manassas

Battlefield Park

I-66 Exit 47B 10701 Battleview Pkwy., Manassas (703) 335-1300

Hampton Inn Manassas I-66 Exit 47A 7295 Williamson Blvd., Manassas (703) 369-1100

Best Western Battlefield Inn I-66 Exit 47A 10820 Balls Ford Road, Manassas (703) 361-8000

LaQuinta Inn & Suites Manasses

Battlefield

I-66 Exit 47B 6950 Nova Way, Manassas (703) 393-9966

Holiday Inn Manassas Battlefield I-66 Exit 47A 10424 Balls Ford Road, Manassas (571) 292-5400

Wyndham Garden Manassas I-66 Exit 47B 10800 Vandor Lane, Manassas (703) 335-0000

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

Manassas

I-66 Exit 47B 10810 Battleview Pkwy, Manassas (703) 393-9797

Guy.

Guy, thanks for all the info. This was very helpful.

Do you know how teams usually handle transportation from the middle school to the event and back? I’m looking into this and it’s a legal nightmare for teachers. It seems that renting a car is the ideal solution, but no teacher in their right mind would dare drive students. Renting a bus is insane and expensive, Ubering seems like it’s not a cheap option. I heard that one of the best workarounds is to have parents drive a rental car, but that requires parent chaperones to be part of the trip which is its own can of worms. I also have some students that are old enough to drive and have their license, but they would have to drive their own car all the way to VA.

Thanks again.

Ryan

How the teams teams arrange local transport I have not a clue.

I spend either 5 (or in case of weather on Saturday) 6 days total. My average

per night hotel charge for 2026 was around $140. Adding fuel and food I try

to keep total expenses for the entire trip under $1000.

Guy.

Perhaps a parent can rent a van or a SUV that can hold six or more people. A parent may work for a company that offers an employee discount.

start thinking about raising money. This time of year people need leafs raked and other yard work. Mow lawns. Run a car wash on a Saturday. Shovel snow in the winter. Charge for tutoring. Get sponsorship. Start a Go Fund Me page. Have yard sales.

Frank DeAngelo

In the case of the Parker Charter School teams, the parents and the mentor drove the kids from Boston to DC, using multiple cars. We drove down very early on Friday, checked in to our hotel, had an early dinner, and were off to the Friday evening check-in. Parents and the mentor ferried the kids around from the hotel to the middle school check-in and from the hotel to the flying field. Watching the TARC Finals was fun, bring lawn chairs for the parents.

We drove back to Boston on Monday, so that we could handle a rain delay. In the eight years that we went, we never had a rain delay to Sunday. Our plan was to use whichever day was free to sight-see in DC. Over the years we did the National Air and Space, the Udvar-Hazy, and the Spy Museum. Since we had multiple cars and drivers, the option was available to split the group and do separate activities, but I don't recall that happening.

While we did do some fundraising, it was mostly to fund the costs of the construction materials and rocket motors. Parents funded the kids trip to the finals. I think the school had a fund to cover kids where this was a hardship for the family.