December 19, 2014 - Week 16

Dear Roderick Families,

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referrals!  These students were recognized for going above and beyond, making good decisions, and being super productive.  Well done!  Keep up the great work!

This week in our 6^th grade students donned their fancy attire for an afternoon at the Hanover Theater to see the production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carole.  The students had the opportunity to compare the performance to the original work of Dickens that they just finished analyzing in their classrooms.

Congratulations to the 2014 - 2015 Roderick School Geography Bee finalists.  Our school-wide assembly to determine the Roderick school champion will take place when we return from winter recess.  Good luck!

Harry, Nick, Brendan, Matt, Brice, Geoffrey, Olivia, Randy, and Michael
Missing from photo - Kyle

Thank you to all of the students and their families for creating cards to spread some holiday cheer.  On Tuesday, members from the Student Council met with Roderick parent and Children's Hospital nurse, Mrs. Eileen DeWitt to deliver cards that will go to children at Children's Hospital.  On Friday, members of the Student Council visited the Maples Nursing Home to deliver cards to the residents. 

Today in our Grade 4 classrooms students and staff celebrated the holiday season with 'Grinch Day'.

Come join us on Wednesday, January 14th at 5:30 p.m. for our school's Fine Arts Night.  Following our Fine Arts Night, our Advanced Band will showcase their talents beginning at 7:00 p.m.  Both of these wonderful events will take place in the Gibbons Gym.  

I am pleased to announce the winners from each grade from Mrs. Fox's Minute to Win It Challenge.  These are the top three finishers in each grade level.

Grade 4 - Abigail, Braden, and Samantha
Grade 5 - Lily, Rachael, and Michael
Grade 6 - Lindsey, Meiju, and Angelia (not pictured)

The PTO has scheduled to begin Reading Across Wrentham (RAW) on January 12 and have it run for 5 weeks ending on February 13th.  The Roderick School is in need of a chairperson. The students truly look  forward to this event, but the PTO does need parent participation to make it work.  Any parents that are interested can email the PTO at wrenthampto@gmail.com for more information.  Thank you!

As a reminder, winter break will begin on Wednesday, December 24th.  Students will return to school on Monday, January 5th.   

I want to wish all Roderick families every happiness this Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year!

Warm regards,
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

December 12, 2014 - Week 15

Greetings Roderick Families!

It's hard to believe that another week has passed so quickly! Between the cold weather, a little snow, and the holidays, the school is buzzing with excitement. Please keep in mind that we will be in school a full week next week and just Monday, December 22nd and Tuesday, December 23rd the following week.  

On Tuesday, our school held a dedication ceremony in honor of the newly refurbished Wrentham Wildcat Cafe.  Thank you to all who attended.  If you have not had a chance to see the cafeteria, please stop in and take a look.  Here are some photos from the dedication ceremony.  

It feels like winter and brrrr, it’s cold!  Please be sure that your children are wearing appropriate, seasonal clothing (i.e. no shorts) and have coats, hats, mittens, boots, etc… as they will be going outside for recess.  Only students who have winter boots will be allowed to go on the snow.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Positive Referrals

Congratulations! These students showed a wonderful work ethic and were recognized for being wonderful role models in both their classroom and the school community.

From the Mrs. Fox, Roderick Technology Teacher

I recently started teaching students in grades 4-6 about Internet Safety. We discussed how the Internet is a wonderful and amazing tool for researching, learning, communicating with family and friends, shopping, playing games, watching videos, and listening to music. It was also stressed that along with all the positive components, the Internet offers many negative and dangerous risks. These negative risks include viruses, hackers, scams, cyberbullying, and exposure to inappropriate images and language. Most importantly stressed were the dangers of online predators and being public on many social networks. It was strongly stressed that students should never enter a public chat room with strangers and never reveal personal information.

Below are a few excellent Parent Internet Safety Sites:

http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

http://www.kidsmart.org.uk/parents/parentalcontrols.aspx

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

This holiday season brings new gifts and perhaps new technology devices to your child.  Please discuss Internet safety with your child and review your online family rules by stressing the importance of being safe and smart when entering the World Wide Web.

Today, I had the opportunity to attend a quarterly update meeting with Police Chief Anderson and our school resource officer, Mr. Steve Hearon.  We talked about what has been going well and what we still want to work on.  Please email me if you have any questions, comments, and/or suggestions regarding our school resource officer.

Project Mitten

Every year, the Wrentham Public Schools’ staff, community members, organizations, and businesses combine forces to help school families in need. This year, 28 families will receive help for the holidays. Mrs. Toni Rando, Delaney School Secretary, with the assistance of Mrs. Kerry Richardson Delaney School Nurse & Mrs. Julie Cashman Roderick School Nurse, work tirelessly to organize this endeavor. Thank you to these ladies and to all those listed below who helped to make the holidays special for our children.

Lions Club

McCombs Family & Neighbors

Wrentham Developmental Center

Wrentham Cooperative Bank

Wrentham Elementary Staff

Wampum Corner Wine & Spirits

The Pond Home

The Holly Club

Anonymous Donors

The Wrentham Police is seeking your help to assist in decorating their Christmas Tree.  The Wrentham Police Department is asking that families decorate one ornament, that the ornament not be too big, and that the ornament be creative.  In addition, the Wrentham Police Association will be taking donations of non-perishable food items to give to families in need.  There will be a box set up next to the tree (on the second floor of the Wrentham Public Safety Building) to place donations.  

As always, thank you for reading.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

December 5, 2014 - Week 14

Dear Families,

It's been a great week at the Roderick School!

Thank you to all the families who were able to join us for the first Positive Referral breakfast of the 2014-2015 school year.  The Food Service department provided coffee, juice, and a variety of delicious treats for everyone to enjoy.  Thank you to them for all of their hard work organizing this event.  Lastly, a huge thank you to all of the students who continue to demonstrate outstanding character.  We are so proud of you for making such great choices each and every day!

Positive Referrals

Congratulations! These students showed exemplary behavior and were recognized for being wonderful role models in both their classroom and the school community.

Today, math coach Dr. John Ribeiro visited Mrs. McGee's fifth grade classroom.  He stopped by to assist students with common denominators.  

That the PTO has decided not to have their monthly meeting on Dec. 16th, but look forward to seeing everyone for their meeting of the New Year - Tuesday January 13th 2015!


Thank you to Derek Breen who visited Mrs. Fox's computer lab on Wednesday.  Mr. Breen (uncle of Ryan in Mrs. Kane's class) took some time to work with classes on the computer program Scratch.  

Vision screening for grades 5 & 6 will be occurring over the next few weeks, if you have any questions please contact Mrs. Cashman at 508.384.5435. 

We will host a Roderick Cafeteria dedication Tuesday, December 9th at 9:30 am in honor of the newly refurbished cafeteria.  All are welcome to attend.  If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Mrs. Chambers at 508.384.5435.

It is time to mark your calendars! We are very pleased to announce dates for the upcoming summer of 2015 for our DARE to Dream Summer Day Programs!

*Please note that the program dates are listed by the current (spring 2015) grade of your child.

Current grade 6                 June 29 - July 3

Current grade 3                 July 20 & 21

Current grade 7                 July 27 - July 31

Current grade 4                 August 3 - August 7

Current grade 5                 August 17 - 21

Look for the registrations to go home in April with students.  Please visit our website at www.daretodreamsummer.com for additional information. We look forward to seeing you back with us in 2015!

Mark Your Calendars

December 24th - January 2nd - Winter Break

January 13th - PTO Meeting

January 14th - Fine Arts Night - 5:30 PM Gibbons Gym

January 14th - Advanced Band Winter Concert - 7:00 PM Gibbons Gym

January 19th - No School (Martin Luther King Day)

January 20th - No School (Professional Development Day)

Thank you for reading.  Enjoy your weekend.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal