November 21, 2014 - Week 12

Hello Roderick Community,

Positive Referrals!!!

These students received a Positive Referral this week for demonstrating outstanding leadership.  Keep up the good work!

Thanks to Mrs. Poirier's class and Mrs. Thornton's class for inviting me to their 'Fraction Feast' today.  Congratulations to the boys and girls for a job well done!

Special thanks to all of the Roderick families who donated a coat for our recent coat drive. We truly appreciate your generosity!  Thank you to members of the Roderick School Council who assisted with the pick up.

We are looking forward to seeing you all next week for parent/teacher conferences.  Please remember that students will be dismissed at noon (12 p.m.) for conferences on Monday (Nov. 24th) and Tuesday (Nov. 25th).  The children will also be dismissed at noon on Wednesday, November 26th for the Thanksgiving Break.  There will be no school on November 27th or 28th due to holiday break.

Ms. Downing's grade 5 class used mystery bags to develop their inferring skills.  Students used connected the items in the bags to prior knowledge they had about the items to make inferences.  Well done, boys and girls!

Laprade Studios will be back at the Roderick School on Friday, December 5th for picture re-takes. October photos were sent home today.  Students who were absent on the October photo day or those in need of a re-take can get their pictures taken on December 5th. Please note: original picture packages must be returned. Mrs. Chambers has extra picture envelopes in the office if needed.

Mrs. Moon's Grade 6 class spent some time this week working with longitude and latitude. One of their activities was to face off against a classmate in a game of longitude and latitude battleship.  

   

The Wrentham Lions Club will be selling Christmas trees at the Wrentham American Legion beginning Saturday, November 29th.  The hours the trees will be available are: Wednesdays - Fridays 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM and Saturdays and Sundays 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  They will not be selling trees on Mondays and Tuesdays except on Monday, December 22nd and Tuesday, December 23rd.  All proceeds will be used to support The Wrentham Lions Charities. 

Wrentham Public Schools After School Basketball Program registration forms were sent home yesterday.  All students in grades 4-6 are encouraged to participate.  Forms are due back to school by Friday, December 12th.  If you have any questions regarding our school's basketball program, please contact Mr. Maguire, Mrs. Fox, or Mrs. Fownes.   

Thank you for reading!
Have a relaxing weekend!

Sincerely,
Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

November 14, 2014 - Week 11

Greetings Roderick Families,

This morning, Mrs. Wagstaff and I met with parents during our first Principals' Coffee of the school year.  The topics of discussion were MCAS and parent/teacher conferences.  Thank you to all who were able to attend and to the food service staff who provided coffee and snacks.  If you were not able to attend, the Power Point can be picked up in the Roderick Office.  Our next coffee will be held on January 30th.  We hope to see you there.

It was great to visit with Ms. Yelle's fourth grade class this week.  The students were busy working hard with plot structure.  Great work boys and girls!

Informational packets were sent home last week detailing this year's Grade 6 Ski Club.  All paperwork needs to returned to school by Monday, December 1st.  Please email Ms. Maloney if you have any questions regarding the 2015 Grade 6 Ski Club.

As a connection to our mission statement (Opportunities will be provided for students to make connections between their actions and the world around them.), students at the Wrentham Public Schools will be joining the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and participating in a community service program.  Beginning on Monday, November 10th, the Wrentham Public Schools will be assisting Cradles to Crayons in gathering items for local families.  Students at the Wrentham Public Schools will be collecting new or like-new winter coats.  Families who would like to donate to our community service project can send in coats between Monday, November 10th and Friday, November 21st.  Cardboard bins, provided by the Patriots, will be located in the foyer of our school for collections.  

Roderick School students Jake and Will each received a $5.00 gift card to Dunkin Donuts after they came the closest to the correct count for Tootsie Rolls and candy corns at last week's Hoedown.  Thank you to the PTO for donating the gift cards.  

Mrs. Bevilacqua's grade 5 class took some time this week to study the Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs.  This collaborative lesson involved art, music, engineering, and drama.           Awesome work, boys and girls!  

Thank you to these Roderick students for assisting in the Wrentham Food Pantry pick up earlier this week. 

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 24th (afternoon conferences) and Tuesday, November 25th (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 21st.

Nicole (from Miss Maloney's class) and Angelia (from Mrs. Curtin's class) recently placed first and second respectfully in the Lions Club Peace Poster contest.  Bravo ladies!

2015 ELA MCAS Schedule - March/April  

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
23	24 ELA—Grade 4 Long Comp.	25 ELA—Grade 5 Reading Comp.	26 ELA—Grade 5 Reading Comp.	27 ELA—Grade 4 Reading Comp.
30	31 ELA—Grade 4 Reading Comp.	April 1 ELA—Grade 6 Reading Comp.	2 ELA—Grade 6 Reading Comp. ELA—Grade 4 Long Comp. Make-Up	3 MCAS Make-Ups
6 MCAS Make-Ups

Thank you for reading this week's blog.  Have an awesome weekend!

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal 

November 7, 2014 - Week 10

Hello Roderick Families,

It has been a very busy week with lots of great things happening within the school. As a result, this week's blog is quite lengthy and chock-full of photos.  I hope you enjoy reading about and seeing our amazing students.


The week began with a terrific Hoedown.  Over 140 students attended this PTO sponsored event.  Special thanks to Chairperson Mary Joe Ali and PTO liaison Emily Gebhart.  Additionally, thank to all of the PTO members and parents who helped chaperone this event.  Get Your Groove On Productions provided the entertainment and brought the popular photo booth.  Check out some of the sites:

Thank you to all who participated in today's Spirit Day.  We are in the process of collecting and delivering the food to the Wrentham Food Pantry.  A special thank you to Denise Angerame for all her help and to Mrs. DeTrolio and members of the Roderick Student Council for their help preparing the donations for delivery.

Members of the Roderick School band were recently invited to "jam" with KP High School Marching Band Students at "Band Night." 

Did You Know...
On Tuesday, Roderick teachers participated in a professional development day focused on data driven dialogue.  Teachers had time to collaborate with their grade level colleagues about common assessments and identify an action plan to target specific student need. 

  

 On Friday, November 14th 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 14th 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.

As a connection to our mission statement (Opportunities will be provided for students to make connections between their actions and the world around them.), students at the Wrentham Public Schools will be joining the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and participating in a community service program.  Beginning on Monday, November 10th, the Wrentham Public Schools will be assisting Cradles to Crayons in gathering items for local families.  Students at the Wrentham Public Schools will be collecting new or like-new winter coats.  Families who would like to donate to our community service project can send in coats between Monday, November 10th and Friday, November 21st.  Cardboard bins, provided by the Patriots, will be located in the foyer of our school for collections.  

November 11th - No School 
November 14th - Principals' Coffee
November 21st:  Report Cards Sent Home

November 24th:  Noon Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences (12 p.m. - 3 p.m.)

November 25th:  Noon Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences 
(5 p.m. - 8 p.m.)

November 26th:  Noon Dismissal

November 27th: No School - Happy Thanksgiving

November 28th:  No School

As a reminder, there is no school on Tuesday, November 11th in honor of Veteran's Day.

Thank you to all of our veterans!

Thank you for reading.  Enjoy the weekend!

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal