September 26, 2014 - Week 4

Hello Roderick Families,

It's hard to believe but almost a month of school is already behind us.  Where did September go?  This week's blog is filled with news and important dates for upcoming events. Please enjoy.

Summer Reading Program - Closing Ceremonies

On Wednesday, our school got together to celebrate the closing ceremony of our Summer Reading Olympics reading program.  As it is in the Olympics, our students came together to celebrate the reading that took place over the summer and recognize the great efforts made by the students.  I am thrilled to announce that 95% of the students in the Roderick School fully participated and completed  the program requirements of the Summer Reading Program!  Thank you to all who participated! We look forward to having even more readers join us next summer.

The Science National Honor Society visited Mrs. Clutterbuck’s classroom to explore the three types of plate tectonics. Using tasty treats, the students identified a transform fault boundary, convergent boundary, and divergent boundary, while also discussing how the movement of the plates changes the earth’s landscape.   

WTA Softball Game Fundraiser 2014 

Wrentham Staff vs. Wrentham Police 

When:  Thursday, October 2nd @6:00 P.M.

Where: McMorrow Field (behind Roderick School)


In accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 90 Section 7B, our school participated in a bus evacuation as they arrived at school on Wednesday.  Students who did not take the bus to school were placed on a bus to go through this important exercise.  Special thanks to bus coordinator, Donna Burt for her assistance with this bus evacuation. 

Our school will host Grandparent's/Special Person's day on Wednesday, October 22, 2014.  Buses will be available beginning at 8:30 AM from Luciano’s at Lake Pearl Park to the Delaney/ Roderick School bus circle.  Grandparents/Special People are welcome to visit classrooms between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM.  We ask that all guests sign in with a PTO volunteer before moving throughout the buildings.  Buses will return visitors to Luciano’s at Lake Pearl Park starting at 10:30 AM.  Although there will be volunteers to assist on this day, it will be helpful for guests to know their school designation and child’s teacher’s name before arriving at the school. We hope that you can join us on this very special day.

Please join us for a DI Informational Meeting

Monday October 6th

6:00 - 7:00 PM Drop In for Information

at the Vogel Auditorium

Have a great weekend and thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

September 19, 2014 - Week 3

Hello Roderick Families,

It's been a busy week here at the Roderick!  Open House was very successful and it was great to see all of you in attendance.  On behalf of the entire Roderick staff, we would like to thank you for coming and we look forward to working with you all throughout the school year. 

On Monday, one of our former students Will Sanislow was recognized for his efforts in rehabilitating the Vogel playground.  Will completed this project as part of his Eagle Scout requirements.  Will helped raise funds to restore the fence and put a safety bumper on the top of the fence.  He also assisted in spreading 120 cubic yards of wood chips!  Some of the people in attendance on Monday were Senator Richard Ross, Representative Dooley, Superintendent Cameron, Selectman Botaish, and Will's mom and Dad.  Thank you Will!

On Wednesday, Mr. Derek Breen (uncle of Ryan in Mrs. Kane's class) visited our school to teach the children about the computer program Scratch.  Mr. Breen is in the process of writing Scratch for Kids for Dummies.  Thank you Mr. Breen for taking the time to visit the Roderick!  

  

 This week, Mrs. Thornton's fourth grade class explored with magnets. They also got to practice attracting and repelling poles on Magnet Battleship.  Cool!

Congratulations to this week's Positive Referral recipients.  Mrs. Poirier's class recognized for embodying or school's Core Values.  We are very proud of them!

What happens to a vernal pool in summer? Quite a lot actually. On Thursday, students from Miss Phipps’s Grade 5 class hiked out to the vernal pool at Trout Pond in order practice the art of scientific observation. Their biggest finding was that at the end of a cool, dry summer a small vernal pool will completely dry out. The only evidence that water had ever been there was a damp patch of rich soil. Other observations made in their journals included: that the trout pond vernal pool is a closed canopy pool, vernal pools are found in lowland depressions surrounded by upland forests, and that when water runs down hills into these lowlands, it leaves a mark on the landscape. Sightings included three varieties of amphibians, several bird species, and several squirrels who were working over the abundance of acorns that are falling this year. The class will now begin a study of geology to determine how this kind of landscape even formed in the first place.

Mrs. Moon's class invited me in this morning to watch their student-created 'talk show.'  Students used this activity as an extension after reading Autumn by Sterling North in class.  The students did an unbelievable job!

  

Dr. Ribeiro visited Miss Maloney's Grade 6 class today to work with comparing, ordering, and decomposing fractions and mixed numbers. 

Under the guidelines of The Education Reform Act of 1993, public schools must organize a school council to develop annual School Improvement Plans. This council is comprised of an administrator, parent representatives, teacher representatives, and community representatives. The council members are elected and serve for a two-year term. The greater school public is invited to attend all meetings. This is a great opportunity for parents, teachers, and community members to get involved in decisions and initiatives at Roderick Elementary School. If you are interested in being a part of this council, please contact Steve Grenham for more information.

The PTO Fall Fundraiser went home to all families last week.  Please return order forms and payments to school by Wednesday, October 1st.

Wrentham Staff vs. Wrentham Police

Charity Softball Game 2014

When: Thursday, September 25 @6:00 P.M.

Where: McMorrow Field (behind Roderick School)

Rain Date: Friday, September 26 @6:00 P.M.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!

Respectfully,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

September 12, 2014 - Week 2

Greetings Roderick Families,

I hope that you all had a great week! We have completed 9 days of school and I'm happy to report that things are off to a great start and that everyone is settling in to a new school year. 


Today the entire district attended a morning assembly.  Dr. Cameron hosted the district wide convocation.  Dr. Cameron  introduced himself to the students and spoke about our core values and behavior expectations for the 2014 - 2015 school year. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all on Wednesday, September 17th for Open House.  A reminder of the specific times for each grade level is posted below.

• Grade 4:  6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
• Grade 5:  7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.                
• Grade 6:  6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Wrentham students in grades four, five, and six have the opportunity to play an instrument here at the Roderick School.  Our music instructor, Miss Tracy Salazar does a fabulous job with all of our instrumental students.  On Tuesday, members from the King Philip High School band visited our school for an instrumental demonstration.  Roderick School band information went home this week.  Please email Miss Salazar with any questions, comments, or concerns.

You may have noticed the yellow daily agenda that your child/children have been bringing to and from school.  These wonderful agendas were generously purchased by our PTO.  Please take some time each evening to look over your child's/children's agenda.  This will help ensure all assignments can be completed in a timely manner.  Thank you to the PTO for these agendas and for all that you do for our school!

This week, Ms. O'Connell's class did some testing of minerals as part of our Rocks and Minerals Unit. 

Positive Referrals

Congratulations to our Positive Referrals this week.  Thank you for making our school such a great place!   We are very proud of you!

Nurses Corner

Welcome back families of the Roderick School! Here are a few topics for this week’s blog:

Please know that your school nurses are monitoring the much publicized Enterovirus.  Please refer to the CDC website @ www.cdc.gov for the latest information regarding this virus.

Simple measures to keep your child healthy include:

• Encourage proper hand washing after bathroom use and before eating- consider sending in a hand wipe in your child’s lunch box or back pack so hands can be wiped before lunch
• If your child has asthma, contact your child’s doctor for guidance since children with asthma are at higher risk for respiratory illnesses
• Have your child get adequate rest and encourage a healthy diet 

Food Allergy Awareness:

If your child is in an allergy aware classroom, please help us keep our fellow students safe by sending in only those packaged foods with proper ingredient labels. If the room is a nut safe room, please do not send in foods that are labeled “processed in a facility that processes or manufactures peanut, tree nuts or this food may contain traces of peanuts or tree nuts.” These foods seem harmless but do put our students with food allergies at risk of accidental exposure.

6th grade Bournedale Trip

Medication Update:

Tylenol, Motrin or Benadryl do not require a physicians signature ALL other medications require a medication order & physicians signature 

The school staff greatly appreciates your cooperation!

Something to think about...

We will be holding a Principals' Coffees again this year. Typically these gatherings last approximately an hour with a prescribed topic followed by open discussion.  Principals' Coffees are held at 8:30 a.m. on a Friday (the first one is scheduled for November 14th) in the Vogel Auditorium.  Mrs. Wagstaff and I are always looking for topics that are of interest to our families.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know. 

Wrentham Staff vs. Wrentham Police

Charity Softball Game 2014

When: Thursday, September 25 @6:00 P.M.

Where: McMorrow Field (behind Roderick School)

Rain Date: Friday, September 26 @6:00 P.M.

Thank you for reading.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal