Did we mention how much we love to see our students collaborating?!
Our 6th graders teamed up to help some of our 2nd grade students 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.
Shout out to Mrs. Chojnicki, Mrs. Vallera, and Mr. Olson for making science a hands-on experience for our Rams!
We love seeing the collaboration between our older and younger learners!
This week, students in third grade watched videos and read articles about Inky the Octopus and his escape from the National Aquarium of New Zealand in 2016. After this, they worked on writing about why the story was interesting, while using information from multiple sources to support their ideas.
The 7th and 8th graders prepared for the collaboration by watching the videos and reading the articles as well. They joined their third grade partners to help edit their graphic organizers and assist with typing their responses. They will continue their collaboration throughout the end of the week.
Shout out to Mrs. Murphy, Ms. Nordstrom, and Ms. Willis for giving students the opportunity to learn with each other!
Our amazing Rams will be showcasing their talents this Friday, April 4th! Please join us for the 2025 Student Council Talent Show at 6:30 PM. Door E will be open at 6:15 PM, and admission for adults is $1.
We can't wait to see all of our Rams performing later this week!
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Vallera or Mr. Domenico.
The competition is heating up in our Attendance Madness! Rivalries are being formed across grade levels and homerooms.
Mrs. Blenck's Buzzer Beaters and Ms. Lee's Legendary Leaders have leveled up their team spirit as they face off against each other in week 1! Who will advance to the Elite Eight?!
Attendance Madness runs March 17-April 17. We encourage students to come to school healthy and ready to learn every day to support their classroom's weekly homeroom attendance. We can't wait to see who comes out on top and earns that Pizza Party!
Who's ready for some Attendance Madness?!
Starting Monday, March 17th, our Rams will be going head to head in a tournament to be the homeroom with the BEST attendance.
Classes have been ranked, #1 through #16, based on their February homeroom attendance, and they will compete in a single-elimination tournament to have the top attendance in the school from March 17th through April 17th.
The homeroom with the highest present percentage for the week will advance to the next round.
The winning homeroom will receive a PIZZA PARTY!
We know that some of our Ram Families have gotten hit hard this cold and flu season, and that illness is out of our control. Students need to be fever and vomit free for 24 hours before they can return to school. We want all of our Rams to be healthy when they come to school!
Remember: Every day counts! Do your best to be at school every day!
We would like to express our deepest gratitude to the family of James "Smokey" Planinsek for their generous donation to the Rockdale Athletic Department. Smokey coached JV and Varsity Boys Basketball at Rockdale for over 30 years.
To honor Smokey's legacy, we have dedicated our new scorer's table to him.
Thank you, Smokey and the Planinsek Family!
Our Varsity Girls Volleyball team is competing in regionals this morning! Good luck to them as they face off against Fairmont!
Hello, Ram families!
Every year staff, parents, and 4th-8th grade students are asked to take the 5Essentials survey, which is a survey created to identify strengths and areas of growth in all Illinois schools. This is an opportunity for you to provide feedback on how you think Rockdale is doing! Please take the time to fill out this survey using the link below. Your feedback is valuable to us so we can continue to grow and help our students be as successful as possible! As an added incentive, if Rockdale gets 50% of parent participation on the 5Essentials survey, all students will receive a prize!
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Ms. Darlin. Thank you in advance for your participation!
https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/login/
Track and Field season starts next week! We're excited to see our Rams take to the track and compete.
Parents, please plan to attend the Parent Meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, March 11th at 5:30 PM in the gym. You can enter through Door E (the ramp door). If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Hamilton or Mr. Hamilton.
Our 6th-grade students had an exciting experience on Friday, February 28th, when they visited the Field Museum in Chicago, IL! The students took a trip back in time as they viewed fascinating fossils and artifacts from the past. Highlights included Egyptian mummies, a collection of rare textiles, rubbings, bronzes, and ceramics from ancient China, as well as the impressive Sue T-Rex dinosaur. This is another great enriching learning experience that the students seemed to really enjoy!
Thanks to Mr. Domenico, Mr. Olson, and Ms. Ramirez-Reyes for planning and executing such a wonderful field trip!
On Wednesday, February 19, our middle school students had the opportunity rock climb at Vertical Endeavors in Glendale Heights!
Shout out to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Olson, Mr. Domenico, Ms. Lee, and Ms. Reyes for bringing this awesome opportunity to our students!
On Friday, February 7th, our 8th graders displayed their exhibits for their historical artifact museum. Students conducted research about the historical events surrounding their artifact, then created an interactive museum exhibit with informational videos and interactive light-up boards to display their research throughout the first half of the year. Our 8th graders did an amazing job presenting their research to other students and their families!
Shout out to the Middle School Teachers, Mr. Olson, Ms. Lee, Mr. Domenico, and Mrs. Murphy, for supporting our students with this project!
On Friday, February 7th, our 8th graders displayed their exhibits for their historical artifact museum. Students conducted research about the historical events surrounding their artifact, then created an interactive museum exhibit with informational videos and interactive light-up boards to display their research throughout the first half of the year. Our 8th graders did an amazing job presenting their research to other students and their families!
Shout out to the Middle School Teachers, Mr. Olson, Ms. Lee, Mr. Domenico, and Mrs. Murphy, for supporting our students with this project!
On Friday, February 7th, our 8th graders displayed their exhibits for their historical artifact museum. Students conducted research about the historical events surrounding their artifact, then created an interactive museum exhibit with informational videos and interactive light-up boards to display their research throughout the first half of the year. Our 8th graders did an amazing job presenting their research to other students and their families!
Shout out to the Middle School Teachers, Mr. Olson, Ms. Lee, Mr. Domenico, and Mrs. Murphy, for supporting our students with this project!
Good Afternoon Rockdale Families,
If your child is a middle school student who plans on attending the Vertical Endeavors rock climbing PE field trip taking place on Wednesday, February 19th, please make sure to have permission slips and $15 turned in to the office no later than Tuesday, February 18th. You must also sign the online waiver for your child to attend. Please make sure you are putting your child's name on the waiver. After the waiver is complete, you will be sent an email confirmation to the email you put down on the waiver. Your waiver will be listed as pending until that email is confirmed as well.
Attached is the waiver link:
https://app.rockgympro.com/booking/f/ba4566ffab314b37939de2aa38b6de10
If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Hamilton: bhamilton@rockdale84.org
Enjoy the long weekend!
Rockdale School's Book Fair starts today, February 10th, and runs through Thursday, February 13th!
Stop in and shop during this week's Parent Teacher Conferences on February 12th and 13th, send your student with cash or fill their eWallet, or shop online through February 23rd!
More information can be found at our school's Book Fair site: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/rockdaleelementaryschool
Get those cheesecake orders in soon, because time is running out to support our Student Council!
Rockdale Student Council is partnering with Cheesecake by James to raise funds for new recess equipment and for our 8th grade graduation breakfast in May.
Be sure to get those orders in by Monday, February 10th! Payments of cash or check are accepted. Cheesecake pick-up will be Wednesday, February 12th and Thursday, February 13th from 3:00-7:00 PM at Rockdale School.
Thank you for supporting our students!
Good Afternoon
Due to the possible ice storm tonight, we will NOT be having Boy's Volleyball Practice tomorrow morning!
Please reach out with any questions
Thank you
Mrs. Shear and Mr. Mooney
***Girls Volleyball UPDATE - Today, February 5***
Due to the upcoming weather we will be ending practice early today. We will now end at 5:00pm.
Students will still be picked up at Door C.
We're just 6 days away from another Scholastic Book Fair here at Rockdale School!
Starting February 10-13, students will be able to shop the Book Fair in our Media Center. Students can be sent with money, or you can set up an eWallet for them to shop cashless. Students will be coming home this week with more information.
Families, you can stop by when you're here for Parent Teacher Conferences on February 12th and 13th from 3:30-7:30 PM.
We're looking forward to seeing our students with more books in their hands! Thanks Ms. Walls for giving students and families the opportunity to shop with Scholastic!
Not able to make it to the Book Fair in person? Want to keep shopping for more books? The Book Fair will be open online from February 10-23!
Check out our school's page for more information: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/rockdaleelementaryschool
