November 30, 2012

Hello Roderick Families:

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  I don't know about you, but I cannot believe that we enter the month of December tomorrow.  The students and staff at the Roderick had another busy week this week.  Here are some of the highlights:

On Wednesday, Roderick teachers used their weekly common planning time to work with math specialist John Ribeiro to go deeper with the conceptual understanding of the mathematics.  Teachers in grades 4 - 6 worked with the "Ten Principles of Thinking Mathematics" as well as flexible strategies for division of whole numbers and concepts regarding mean, median, mode, and range.  

    

Today in Ms. Frizzell's fifth grade class students crated a model of an Ancient pyramid, similar to what the Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas built.  Students used sugar cubes to create the pyramid with specifications as to the area and perimeter of certain levels.  You may notice that the students dressed up in attire as was the culture during Ancient Civilization. 



Congratulations to the students who were recently nominated as Positive Referrals.  Both of these individuals were recognized for their kind and caring demeanor towards others.  We are very proud of them!  

Earlier this month, Mrs. Haughey's sixth grade students wrote letters to family members and friends who served or are currently serving in the military.  They have received several responses and they continue to come in.  The veterans wrote that they are extremely appreciative for the thoughtful letters. 

Some members of the Roderick staff recently participated in an after school conference call with the Department of Education.  During the conference call, teachers had the opportunity to have a discussion about the expectations of the state with this year's MCAS testing.  The phone conference was very beneficial and very informative. 

On Thursday, students from Mrs. Hall's fourth grade classroom had the opportunity to work with curriculum coach, Mrs. Hanewich.  The students in Mrs. Hall's class worked hard and persevered to find information about the largest chocolate bar.  The problem: On October 7, 2011, the largest candy bar ever was made by Thorntons in Alfreton, Derbyshire, UK. It weighed 12,770 pounds 4.48 ounces and measured 13'1" wide and 13'1" tall. If it was made into 16 squares of equal size, how long and how wide was each square?

Thanks for reading and be sure to check in next Friday.

Sincerely,
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal 

November 21, 2012

Dear Roderick Families,

Thank you to all of the Roderick School families who were able to attend this week's parent/teacher conferences. The lines of communication between home and school must always remain open and strong. If at any point in the school year you feel that there is an area in your child's education that needs to be addressed, please to not hesitate to contact your child's teacher. We strive to do our best to support the academic, social, and emotional development of your child.

 

Grade 4 - Thanksgiving Feast

Members of our fourth grade held their annual Thanksgiving assembly and Thanksgiving feast.  Each of the eight classes presented either a song or poem.  Following their presentations, the students enjoyed all the fixings of a traditional Thanksgiving day meal.  A special thanks to all of the families who supplied food for the feast and to the parents who helped serve food.

  



On Monday, members of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation stopped by our school to pick up the donated items collected to date.  In the pictures below, members of Mr. Cederbaum's grade 4 classroom and Ms. O'Connell's grade 5 classroom are shown separating coats before they are sent over to Gillette Stadium.  The Cradles to Crayons drive at our school will continue until Friday, December 21st.  Thank you to all who have donated items.  The individual from the Patriots said that there were 17,000 boys and girls in need of winter coats this year.  

Members from the King Philip DECA program, Kristen Aucoin and McKenna May have invited all Grade 4 students to the Fiske Public Library on Tuesday, November 27th for a financial literacy presentation in support of Financial Literacy Week.  These two students will be at the library from 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM hosting presentations, playing games, and teaching important skills.  

 

   On behalf of all of us here at the Roderick School, best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Have a beautiful day with your family and friends! 

Enjoy the time off,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

November 16, 2012

Hello Roderick Families:

Although it was only a four day school week, there was still a lot going on here at the Roderick School.  Please read below to see some of the great things that took place at our school this week as well as some important upcoming dates.

Picture Re-Takes

Laprade Studios will be back at the Roderick School on Tuesday, November 20th for picture re-takes. Students who were absent on the October photo day or those in need of a re-take can get their pictures taken. Please note: original picture packages must be returned. Mrs. Chambers has extra picture envelopes in the office if needed.



Our students are working exceptionally hard with Reflex Math.  In just two and a half months, the students in the Roderick School have mastered many facts.  In Grade 4, 452,892 total facts have been answered.  In Grade 5, 451,638 total facts have been answered.  In Grade 6, 460,268 total facts have been answered.  The students really like the program!  Thank you to all the families for taking time to support the program.  It is certainly paying off!

This morning our school celebrated its first term Positive Referral recipients.  All Positive Referral recipients were invited to a breakfast to celebrate their accomplishment.  Special thanks to Mrs. Judy White and the Wrentham Public Schools's kitchen staff for providing a delicious breakfast.

Spirit Day Update

Thank you to everyone who donated items for the Term I Spirit Day. The response was fantastic! The Wrentham Food Pantry is excited and extremely grateful for the generosity of the individuals at the Roderick School.



Grade 5 students in Ms. Frizzell's class and Mrs. Cloutier's class worked on a lesson titled "Edible Simple Machines Exposition Expectations."  During this lesson, student groups brainstormed models, collected materials, built models, completed a vocabulary map, and presented their models.  What a fun and tasty way to learn!

 

Members from the high school DECA program visited our school on Thursday to launch a community service project.  Some classrooms at the Roderick School will be writing letters of gratitude to the men and women of our armed forces.  These letters will be accompany care packages that the DECA students are assembling for the soldiers.  All letters should be returned to the Roderick School by Wednesday, November 28th. 



Grade 6 Ski Club

Informational packets were sent home yesterday detailing this year's Grade 6 Ski Club.  All paperwork needs to returned to school by Monday, November 26th.  Please email Ms. Kathleen Maloney if you have any questions regarding the 2013 Grade 6 Ski Club.

As a reminder:

• Term I report cards were sent home today.
• There will be half days of school on Monday, November 19th, Tuesday, November 20th, and Wednesday, November 21st.
• Conference times have been scheduled for Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening.

 
Until next week, thanks for reading.

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

November 9, 2012

Hello Roderick School Families:


Today our school celebrated its first Spirit Day of the school year.  Students and staff brought in non-perishable foods that will be collected and donated to the Wrentham Food Pantry.  Thank you to everyone who donated.  You can also see from the photo below that our Spirit Day also included students celebrating their favorite sports team.



Thank you to all the people who attended this morning's Principals' Coffee.  We enjoyed the opportunity to go through the 2012 MCAS scores and the upcoming fall conferences.  If you were unable to make it to today's coffee, the PowerPoint that was used can be found by clicking here.  Our next Principals' Coffee will take place on Friday, January 18th at 8:30 AM in the Vogel Auditorium.  The topic for this time will be the newly implemented Reading Street reading program.  We hope to see you there!   

Congratulations to Caroline W. (above) for being asked to sing the National Anthem at Scott Brown's pre-election rally on Monday night!  Caroline did a magnificent job! 

Our school celebrated Grandparents'/Special Person's Day on Thursday.  Although we had some foul weather the night before, many Grandparents and Special People visited the Roderick School.  Special thanks to Alisa West and members of the PTO for the support on this day.  Take a look at some of the activities from this day.

Outdoor Recess in the Winter

Although the next few days are supposed to be relatively warm, the cold weather is coming.  We try and have the students go outside for recess as much as possible throughout the school year. Please send children to school prepared for the day. The students were reminded with the snow this week that snow pants and boots are required if they want to go into the snow. Thank you in advance for your help.

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referral recipient. This individual was recognized for being a kind and helpful student. Thank you for displaying our Core Value of Responsibility. Keep up the great work!

Parent/teacher conferences are just around the corner. Conferences are a wonderful time to check in with your child's teacher about their academic and social/emotional growth. Conference dates are set for Monday, November 19th (afternoon conferences) and Tuesday, November 20th (evening conferences). Both days are half days for the students with dismissal being held at 12:00 PM. Please note that report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 16th.   

As a reminder there will be no school on Monday, November 12th in observance of Veterans' Day. 

Thank you for reading and have an awesome weekend!

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

   

November 2, 2012

Greetings Roderick Community:

As I am sure you can imagine, Halloween week was extremely busy.  There were a lot of great things that took place throughout this past week.  Here are some of the highlights:

Grade 4 Pumpkin Parade

On Tuesday, October 30th, our fourth grade students participated in the annual Pumpkin Parade.  Grade 4 students had the opportunity to decorate a pumpkin into one of the following categories: animal, food, alien/space, holiday, sports, famous person, book/cartoon/television character, inanimate object, vehicle, or craziest.  Members of the Grade 4 Team served as the judges and ribbons were awarded.  The students did a remarkable job and their creativity was unbelievable.  Special thanks to Mr. Cederbaum for acting as the Master of Ceremonies.  Here are some of the pumpkins:

Election Day 2012

Today, students in grades 3 - 6 participated in a mock election.  Grade 6 students worked the election to provide a real-life voting experience for the students.  As you can see from the pictures below, the students had a wonderful experience.  Special thanks to Heather Fox, Becky Stockbridge, Robin Panchuk, and Sue Traversi for making this day possible. 

And the Roderick School winners are:

Mitt Romney for President of the United States

Scott Brown for United States Senate



Curriculum and Instructional Coach, Mrs. Debbie Hanewich (pictured above) visited Mr. Cederbaum's fourth grade classroom this week.  The math lesson on this day had students using multiple problem-solving strategies.  The task for this specific lesson:  Takeru Kobayahsi of Japan ate fourteen Twinkies in one minute.  About how many seconds did it take Takeru to eat each Twinkie?

Students in Mrs. Moon's, Ms. Maloney's, and Ms. White's sixth grade classrooms used six colors of Koolaid playdough (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) to create each layer of the Earth.  They worked with a partner from a different class to create one Playdough Planet Earth.  The continents needed to be formed out of the green playdough and placed on the “water”/blue playdough.  Once it was created, they cut through the center.  They were able to see each layer of the Earth, and they got to each take home a half of the Earth.

This week, members of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education were at the Roderick School conducting a Coordinated Program Review (CPR).  This review (which is conducted every 6 years) assesses our school's compliance with state and federal laws and regulations in Special Education, English Learner Education, Civil Rights, and Title I.  The initial feedback from the CPR team has been very positive.  We will receive a full report in a few months. 

Spirit Day - Food Drive/Team Pride Day

On Friday, November 9^th, the Roderick and Delaney Schools will be having our first official spirit day of the 2012-2013 school year.  Children are asked to show their spirit by bringing a non-perishable food item to their classroom. Donations will benefit the Wrentham food pantry and the families of the Wrentham Public Schools.  In addition, students are asked to celebrate their favorite team by showing that team’s spirit.  We hope you choose to join us; however, participation in Spirit Day is always voluntary.

Principals' Coffee - Friday, November 9th

On Friday, November 9th we will be hosting our first Principals’ Coffee of the year.  During this time, we will go over the recently released MCAS data and preview the upcoming parent/teacher conferences. This Principals’ Coffee will be held on Friday, November 9th at 8:30 AM in the Vogel Auditorium.  Please note that if you are stuck for child care, please feel free to bring your little ones.  We hope that you will be able to stop in after you drop off your child(ren) on this day.  Food service director, Mrs. Judy White Orlando and her staff will be providing refreshments for this presentation.

Cradles to Crayons begins - Monday, November 5th

No School - Tuesday, November 6th

School Council Meeting - Wednesday, November 7th

Grandparents/Special Person Day - Thursday, November 8th

Well, I think that is it for now.  Thanks for reading and be sure to come back and visit next Friday.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal