Roderick School Blog

Thanks for visiting the Roderick Elementary School Blog! Blogging is a great way to share some of the exciting things happening in our school with families and the greater school community. The Blog will be updated weekly with pictures and news from the school. Come back and visit often!

Friday, May 1, 2015

May 1, 2015 - Week 32

Greeting Roderick Families:


The students and staff had a very busy week the first week back after vacation.  Please take a minute and see some of the great things that took place this week and please make note of some important upcoming dates.




Norfolk police officer Steve Plympton visited our school on Tuesday to share information about the 2015 summer DARE camp.  If you would like more information regarding the Summer DARE program click here.



On a visit to Mrs. Bevilacqua's class this week I had the opportunity to see the students working on opinion writing.  Students were writing letters to Dr. Cameron explaining why April vacation should be kept or eliminated because of the days missed this year due to snow.  The children did a marvelous job!






On Thursday, our sixth graders visited the KP Middle School.  During their hour and a half stay, students received a message from the principal, went on a student-led tour, heard from the school's guidance staff, and learned about the opportunities that students have in middle school.  In early June, the principal of the Middle School and three former Roderick School students will visit our school to answer any questions students may have regarding their transition to the Middle School.








Mr. Ray Rose from the Department of Public Works was at our school today to celebrate Arbor Day with our fourth grade students. Members of the Wrentham Holly Club again generously donated the tree for this celebration (a beautiful Thunder Cloud Plum Tree).  Along with Mr. Rose and the Wrentham Holly Club, the Roderick School is grateful to Ron Cluff (Department of Conservation and Recreation) ) for again participating in this great event.  Mr. Dave Donahue from National Grid donated hackberry seedlings for each one of our fourth graders again this year.












On Wednesday evening, our sixth grade students celebrated their DARE graduation.  This was a very exciting night as it was the culmination of a very important program.  Special thanks to Master of Ceremonies, Wrentham Police Sergeant Jeffrey Smith for running a fantastic program.  Please click here to learn more about the DARE program.






Brice, Nicholas, Seth, Stephen, Sarah, Neha, Marin, and Allison did a remarkable job reading their DARE essays.


Thank you to Ian in Mrs. Sabitini's third grade class.  Ian wrote me a persuasive letter stating why we should use a monorail to get to school.  Ian's letter included super supporting arguments and was extremely well written.  I will be sure and pitch this idea to Dr. Cameron!  



On Thursday, Miss Phipps’s class dissected owl pellets in order to better understand the flow of energy through forest ecosystems. This activity also helped the students make connections with the novel they are currently reading, Poppy, in which a Great Horned Owl and a deer mouse face-off in a battle of wits and adventure.







SAVE THE DATE…

The 10th annual S.W.I.S.H. (Student with Illnesses Score Help) Charity basketball game will take place on Thursday, May 28th @7:00 P.M. in the Gibbons Gymnasium. Over the past 9 years the community has raised over $50,000 for Wrentham students dealing with serious illnesses.

There will be a few changes this year:

• Families will order tickets online ONLY.
• Students will also have an opportunity to fundraise using the new website to help support this great cause.
• Students will earn prizes as they fundraise: VIP Seating, Guaranteed Foul Shots, Red Sox tickets and more!
• The S.W.I.S.H. website will be up and running on Tuesday, May 5th.
• Directions regarding how to use this website will be sent home with students on Tuesday and via email to families.



Parental Input Letter


As a reminder, parental input letters are due back by Friday, May 8th.  E-mails were sent to all families (Grades 4 and 5) on Monday, April 27th that included the guidelines for the letter.  If you did not receive the email or need an additional copy of the letter, extras are available in the offices. 



This week, 4th graders in Mrs. Poirier's and Mrs. Thornton's class built their very own terrariums to observe the water cycle over the next few weeks. The students had fun planting their mini pumpkin seeds and look forward to watching them grow. They won't even need to add any water! Using their observation journals, students will be able to record what their terrariums look like each week. Thanks to the water cycle, these kids will have plenty of pumpkins for Halloween!










Next week begins the Math and Science, Technology, and Engineering MCAS Administration for our fourth, fifth, and sixth graders.  Grade five will begin on May 5th.  Thanks for making sure the students are well rested, in school on time and ready to take the MCAS test on their MCAS days!  Please refer to our district calendar for grade-specific dates.  


As always, thank you for taking the time to check in and read the Roderick School Blog.

Enjoy the weekend,
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal


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