February 6, 2015 - Week 22

Greetings Roderick Community,

I would like to sincerely thank the custodial and maintenance crews for their amazing efforts again this week. Thanks to them, we were able to return to school safely on Tuesday.  

Last Friday, Mrs. Moon's Grade 6 class attended the King Philip High School Boys' Basketball game.  The students were invited guests of the team as a show of thanks for creating the 2014-2015 KP Boys' Varsity Basketball program.  The students worked very hard on these programs and it really shows.  Awesome job!

Congratulations to Amanda, Jared, Diego, Matthew, Josh, Cole, Luke, Michael, Jake, Mrs. Monty, and Mrs. Smith as these students and staff were closest to the actual Super Bowl score.  Thanks to all who participated and made a prediction, and thanks to Mrs. Fox for organizing a fun activity!

Angelia from Mrs. Curtin's class and Nicole from Miss Maloney's class were honored on Thursday night as Lions Club Peace Poster finalists.  Nicole received first place and Angelina received second place.  Congratulations!  

On Monday, March 2nd the Wrentham Public Schools will have Literacy Night.  The theme this year is "I Love Reading."  Literacy Night will include all sorts of activities, photo wall and much more.  We will also have a book swap.  If you can donate a book, please drop it in the Roderick lobby.  We hope to see you there!  

Below is the schedule for the 2015 MCAS tests. Please post these dates on your home calendar and refer to them when planning appointments in the coming months.  Testing will begin immediately after morning announcements at 8:45 AM.  Students are not permitted to enter the classroom tardy or reenter the classroom after medical/dental appointments. Please avoid these dates when scheduling appointments: 

ELA Testing 

March 24 - Grade 4 Long Composition

March  25 and 26 - Grade 5 Reading Comprehension

March 27 and 31 - Grade 4 Reading Comprehension

April 1 and 2 - Grade 6 Reading Comprehension 

Math and STE

May 5 and 6 - Grade 5 Math 

May 7 and 8 - Grade 4 Math 

May 12 and 13 - Grade 6 Math 

May 14 and 15 - Grade 5 Science, Engineering and Technology

Thank you in advance for your cooperation. 

Our quest to make it on to Channel 5's EyeOpener became a reality on Thursday morning.  Click here to view the students in action and hear the nice comments from the newscasters at Channel 5.  

Thank you and congratulations to students in Mrs. Bevilaqua's fifth grade class for entertaining Grade 4 students at their lunch on Tuesday.  The girls did a fantastic job!!!!

Mr. Moon is putting on his dancing shoes on March 27th for WEST. Please help support Mr. Moon and WEST by donating online at http://www.wce02093.org/ OR by participating in any of our upcoming events!
More details will be coming soon for the following…..

Buy your Shooting Star to the Moon! Stars starting at $1 each.
February 9th-13th: Balloons for Mr. Moon Raffle to win cool prizes!
February 24th 6:30-8:00 p.m.: Get Movin’ with Mr. Moon
March 11th: Dinner at Eagle Brook. A portion for your dinner total will be donated to WEST. Join the Moon’s at 5:30 p.m. or come by when it is convenient

Thank you to all of our students and staff who participated in today's Spirit Day.  Dressing as a favorite book or movie character was AWESOME!

Thanks to students in Miss Phipps' class for giving the home team some luck last Sunday!

Thank you for reading this week's blog.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Warm regards,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal

January 30, 2015 - Week 21

Hello Roderick Families,

Wow!  What a lot of snow this week!  Special thanks to our wonderful custodial and maintenance staff and Wrentham's Department of Public Works for their wonderful efforts in cleaning up the snow so our students could return safely on Thursday.  

On Monday, the entire school gathered to make a 25 second video to upload to Channel 5’s “EyeOpener” site in the hopes of getting it on the air this week.  The students certainly did their part!  Here is the link to see the video: http://ulocal.wcvb.com/mediadetail/21462958-Wrentham-Elementary-Schools?gid=76459&uid&sort=upload

Students in Miss White's sixth grade class worked independently or with a partner to choose a Greek and Latin root from a list, and use their knowledge to design a new superhero or villain.  The students were required to not only use the root word in the name of the character, but also describe his/her ability related to the meaning of the root word through a descriptive story.  Awesome job!

Thank you to all the people who attended this morning's Principals' Coffee.  We enjoyed the opportunity to go through strategies to assist your children with literacy homework.  Special thanks to ELA coach, Dr. Judy Neville for presenting.  Our next Principals' Coffee will take place on Friday, March 27th at 8:30 AM in the Vogel Auditorium.  We will be discussing the 2015 2016 placement process.  We hope to see you there!

One area that was mentioned at today's Principals' Coffee was the amount of new words/terms that are mentioned at school and brought home by children.  I have decided from time to time to include a word/term and its definition so families can better assist their children at home.  If you ever think that a word/term would be beneficial to include please send it along.  This week's word:

rubric - a paper that states the expectations for an assignment by listing criteria, or what counts, and describing levels of quality.

The Wrentham Public Schools has decided to dedicate its second Spirit Day to raising awareness and money for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, (MSPCC).  Lukas, a fifth grade student, created a stunning calendar which includes artwork created by students at the Roderick School. 

Calendars can be purchased for $10.00.  Order forms have been sent home with each student, and forms can also be picked up in any of the offices.  The date to hand in order forms and money has been extended to Friday, February 6, 2015.  All checks should be made out to the Wrentham PTO.    

In addition, the Student Council encourages all students to dress as their favorite book or movie character on Friday, February 6, 2015.  All costumes and accessories must be appropriate for school.  Please consider participating in this spirit event; however, participation is voluntary.

Our sixth graders enjoyed a wonderful evening of skiing last night.  

Our next School Council meeting will be on Tuesday, February 3rd at 3:00 PM in the Roderick Office.  

As always thanks for reading!  Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Stephen S. Grenham

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal 

January 23, 2015 - Week 20

Happy Friday Roderick Families,

It was another busy week here at the Roderick School despite the holiday and the cold temperatures.  Please take a minute to scroll through to view the different activities that took place this week.

On Tuesday, Roderick teachers used the Professional Development day to dig deeper into writing and the writer's workshop philosophy.  Teachers spent time during the day working with ELA coach Dr. Judy Neville and some outside consultants.  Also on Tuesday, many of of school's Paraprofessionals came in to school and worked with Math Coach, Dr. John Ribiero.  Paraprofessionals spent time digging deeper into the new Massachusetts frameworks.  

On a visit to Mrs. Moon's sixth grade class this week I got wrapped up in their mummification lesson.  Check this out:

The Wrentham Public Schools has decided to dedicate its second Spirit Day to raising awareness and money for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, (MSPCC).  Lukas, a fifth grade student, created a stunning calendar which includes artwork created by students at the Roderick School. 

Calendars can be purchased for $10.00.  Order forms will be sent home with each student on Monday, but can also be picked up in any of the offices.  Order forms and money should be handed in by Wednesday, February 4, 2015.  All checks should be made out to the Wrentham PTO.    

In addition, the Student Council encourages all students to dress as their favorite book or movie character on Friday, February 6, 2015.  All costumes and accessories must be appropriate for school.  Please consider participating in this spirit event; however, participation is voluntary.

On Monday, January 26th, at 8:45, the entire school will make a 25 second video in the Gibbons Gym to upload to Channel 5’s “EyeOpener” site in the hopes of getting it on the air next week prior to the game.  The students and staff will say:

Hi, we are the Preschool through Grade 6 students from Wrentham Elementary School!  Go Patriot’s!  Good Morning Eye Opener!

All students are asked to wear Patriots gear or red, white, and blue. 

Three of our fabulous sixth graders, Natahlia, Jenny, and Taylor have taken on the challenge to ride 20 miles for Best Buddies.  If you would like to support their cause, there will be fundraisers coming up:

January 24th from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM at 38 Vanderbilt Ave. in Norwood

February 14th from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM at 321 School St. in Mansfield

Good luck girls!!!!!!

In Mrs. Hall's Grade 4 class this week, students studied how camouflage and mimicry help animals survive against predators.  

Mrs. Wagstaff and I will host our second Principals' Coffee next Friday, January 30th at 8:30 AM in the Vogel Auditorium.  Dr. Judy Neville, our school's ELA coach will be presenting "How parents can support their children's reading and writing at home."  Please join us on Friday, January 30th at 8:30 AM.

Have a wonderful weekend and as always, thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Stephen S. Grenham, Principal