May 2, 2014

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.

A BIG “Thank you!” to all of our students and families who contributed to the JDRF Kids Walk fundraiser.  To date, we have raised over $15,000!!!  We are so grateful for your support in making this a huge success!

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 cherry 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 seedlings for each one of of fourth graders again this year.

 From the Health Office

Dear Parents of 4^th Graders:

4^th grade physicals are due.  Please send in a copy of your child’s physical (dated 3/1/13 or later) to Mrs. Prew in the Health Office as soon as possible.

Thank you for your cooperation!

 


Some of of sixth grade classrooms visited the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University.  Using the concept of simulation as an instructional tool, the Challenger Center program created an exciting, cooperative learning environment for students of Wrentham to better understand the challenges of teamwork, problem-solving, communication, and decision making.  Every crew member (student) was assigned to, and trained for, a specific role. They took their positions in either Mars Control or the Spacecraft and assumed control of an exciting two hour mission simulation to Mars.  A very big thank you to WEST for funding this outstanding trip!  We are extremely appreciative! 

Norfolk police officer Steve Plympton visited our school on Wednesday to share information about

the 2014 summer DARE camp.  If you would like more information regarding the Summer DARE program click here.

On Monday, 17 teachers from the Delaney and Roderick Schools attended a full day workshop on Fountas & Pinnell.  The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems are tools that can be used to identify the instructional and independent reading levels of all students and document student progress through one-on-one formative and summative assessments.  These teachers will be training the remaining teachers at their grade and subject levels in the near future.

Thomas Evans, from IBM visited our sixth grade classrooms this week. Mr. Evans visit was part of the DIGITS program.  DIGITS is part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiative.

Parental Input Letter

As a reminder, parental input letters are due on Friday, May 9th.  E-mails were sent to all families (Grades 4 and 5) on Monday, April 26th 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. 

PTO News

Spring Clean Up

It is hard to believe it is May 1st.  We hope the weather turns warmer quickly.  The forecast is looking good for this Saturday, May 3 which is the Spring clean up day.  There will be teams of local professional landscapers who will be cleaning up the grounds in the morning utilizing their equipment.  Once they are finished with their equipment around noon (12 PM) we are in need of volunteers to help with weeding, mulching, planting, etc.  Please come even if you can only give an hour!  A detailed flyer is attached.

Trex Plastic Bags Contest

We were overwhelmed with the amount of bags brought in before vacation!  We are happy to report that we once again won the bench from Trex.  It should arrive soon!  Just because our contest is over, you can still recycle plastic bags at Target, Lowe's and Stop&Shop.  Thanks again!

Staff Appreciation Luncheon

Luncheon is set for May 16th.  We have collected about half of the amount we need to fund the lunch.  Please send in your $1 per child or $3 per family if you have not done so.  Children may put it in the PTO box in their classroom.  We are in need of helpers; the morning of, during the lunch and clean up, so please let us know if you can help on Friday, May 16th.  E-mail us at wrenthampto@gmail.com.  Thank you!

Please tune into the TV show Wheel of Fortune this evening at 7:00 PM.  Former Grade 4 teacher Mr. Sam Cederbaum will be a contestant on tonight's show.  Good luck, Mr. C!!!!!

May 6 & 7 - MCAS Grade 5 {Science and Technology/Engineering}

May 7 - Grade 6 DARE Graduation 

May 8 & 9 - MCAS Grade 4 {Mathematics}
 May 9 - All Parent Narratives Due

May 13 & 14 - MCAS Grade 6 {Mathematics}
 May 15 & 16 - MCAS Grade 5 {Mathematics}
 May 13 - School Council Meeting - 3:00 PM Delaney Teachers Room

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

Enjoy the weekend,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal