Rockdale School District 84

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

First Grade continued their study on sound and vibration with the help of Mrs. Kelch and some of our band students! The band students played theory instruments by a glass bowl that had saran wrap and salt. The vibrations from the instruments made the salt "dance". Again, this is to show how sound waves make vibrations, and vibrations make things move!

Our Boys Baseball team has been hard at work during their off season-they've built an indoor pitching mound! Players will have the opportunity to use it during open gym sessions throughout the months of March and April. If you're interested in joining the baseball team next season, be sure to join us this spring for open gym!

Our JV Girls Volleyball team is through to the next round of their regional tournament with this morning's win over Wolcott! Their next game will be played at Taft School on Tuesday, February 27 at 4:30 PM. Good luck, girls!

Ram Nation, Join us this afternoon, Thursday, February 22nd, to cheer on our Rockdale Rams Girls Volleyball team as they take on the Laraway Lancers in their final home game of the season! Be sure to wear your blue and gold, and pack the house as we celebrate our 8th grade Rams! See you there!

What’s February without a Presidents Day Sale? Now thru Monday, take 25% OFF when you spend $100+ on this season’s must-have tees, hats, hoodies and more with code PRESIDENT at checkout. https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/illinois/rockdale/rockdale-school-district-84