Rockdale School District 84

GOOD LUCK to our Track and Field team as they compete in Sectionals today! Today's meet will be at Hope Academy High School (721 S. Washtenaw, Chicago). Come on out and support our Rams!

Thank you, Waste Management, for your generous donation of top soil! Mr. Olson's science classes will be putting it to good use-filling raised garden beds to grow fruits, vegetables, and flowers this spring and summer!

Our 6th-8th grade students showcased their scientific research at yesterday's Science Expo! Rockdale students explored solar, hydro, and mud energy, innovations in medical technology, and the process of extracting DNA. Shout out to Mr. Olson and Ms. Lee for all the support they provided our students this spring as they worked through the scientific method; and a big thank you to ExxonMobil for sponsoring the Expo and to Minooka Intermediate for hosting! We're grateful to be able to participate in such an awesome event every year; and especially grateful for all the support from our families (and former Rams)! We can't wait to see what innovations our Rockdale students share in the future!

Second Grade Families, Your students have been hard at work on their Culture Fair projects and are getting ready for their presentations this Friday, May 3rd at 1:45 PM! If you are planning to join us on Friday, please bring your ID to be scanned into our Raptor system that day or call the main office today or tomorrow to skip the line and get your name tag printed ahead of time. For additional information, please see the Culture Fair Updates that were sent out by the Second Grade Team. If you have any questions, please contact your student's homeroom teacher!

The Rockdale Rams Baseball Team has been hard at work during their open gym sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays this spring. Coach Olson and Coach Domenico are happy to announce that their Off Season Ram Award goes to 6th grader, Jordan B., for his hard work, hustle, and positive attitude. Way to go, Jordan!

On Tuesday, April 23rd, our 6th and 7th grade classes traveled to Springfield! They toured the Lincoln Museum, the Illinois State Capitol, and Abraham Lincoln's home and gravesite. Hopefully they're all extra lucky after touching the nose of President Lincoln's statue! Shout out to Mr. Domenico, Mr. Olson, Ms. Walls, and Ms. Lopez for accompanying our students on this trip; and thank you to the Rockdale PTO for their generous donation!

This spring, our 5th-8th grade classes had the awesome opportunity to learn about rugby! Players from the Chicago Hounds, a Major League Rugby team, came into PE classes and taught some basics of the sport. On Sunday, April 21st, Rockdale 4th-8th grade students were invited to a Hounds game at Seat Geek Stadium. Thank you to the Chicago Hounds and Mr. Hamilton for setting up this experience for our students!

Congratulations to our Rockdale Ram volleyball players who participated in the LL7 Conference All Star games last night!

Track practice has been cancelled for today, Tuesday, April 16, due to the weather.

Throughout the month of March, Ms. Willis and Ms. Nordstrom's 3rd grade classes participated in Book Madness! Students designed their own jersey, completed their own bracket, and voted each round to choose a winner. The championship round was a battle between "The Tree and the River" by Aaron Becker and "Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear" by Lindsay Mattick. Check out the class photo to see which book the 3rd graders voted as the 2024 Champion!

Rockdale Families, Tomorrow, April 4th, pictures will be taken for sports, clubs, students that have not yet taken a class picture, and 8th grade graduation retakes. If your student participated in any of the following sports, they need to bring their full uniform to school: Boys Baseball, Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Girls Volleyball, Boys Volleyball, and Track. Students will change into their uniforms prior to their team photo, and off-season uniforms will be collected. If your student has not taken a class picture at all this year or if your 8th grade student is planning to retake their graduation photos, please inform their homeroom teacher and/or the main office at your earliest convenience. Have a great evening!

We couldn't let World Social Work Day go by without celebrating the hard-work, love, and dedication our social workers have for Rockdale students! Ms. Hamilton and Mrs. Stewart, thank you for all that you do to support students and families. Your passion for helping others is unmatched!

Rockdale Families, We want your feedback! Please complete the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. We use the survey results to make improvements within the district and continue our support of students. Your responses are greatly appreciated! Use this link to access the survey: https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/?target_name=parent

March has been busy with STEM activities! 1st graders built marble mazes. 4th graders dissected owl pellets and completed electrical circuits to create Whack-A-Mole games. 6th grade designed boats using TinkerCad and then tested how many pennies their 3D printed boats could hold before sinking-Ava B. was the winner with over 200 pennies!

Good luck to our Varsity Boys Volleyball team as they continue their tournament play tomorrow morning at Kelvin Grove starting at 9:15 AM!

Our Varsity Girls Volleyball team won their first game of their regional tournament against Fairmont! They will move on to play Crete Illinois Lutheran at 11:00 AM today. Good luck, girls!

Our 8th graders teamed up to help some of our 2nd grade student learn about the effects of weathering and erosion. In their "Save the City" lab, teams built Lego cities and then designed a plan to protect their cities from water erosion. Teams built their protection barriers and then tested to see if their designs saved their city. We love seeing the collaborative efforts of our teachers bringing meaningful learning experiences to all of our students!

This month, our Kindergarteners took their FIRST field trip! They went to the Four Rivers Environmental Educational Center in Channahon to learn about local animal species, habitats, and animal adaptations. With the great weather, they were even able to get outside to explore!

MAP and 5 Essentials Parent night Thursday, February 29, 2024 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Rockdale School Gym