A Letter From Mr. Cieciwa
Dear Rockland Parents and Guardians,
We had our monthly PBIS Celebration Assembly last week and recognized our amazing students of the month who showed leadership. We also exceeded our fundraising goal for charity with just over $800 raised. The students were so excited they reached their goal, and for their reward, getting to throw a pie at the principal. Since we exceeded our goal we added a second pie and randomly chose a 2nd grade student and a 5th grade student for the honor. Everyone had a lot of fun and it was wonderful to have our entire school back for an assembly in the gym for the first time in two years. I would like to wish everyone a safe and relaxing spring break. We are excited to come back and finish up a fantastic school year at Rockland.
IAR and ISA Testing:
Students in grades 3-5 will begin the Illinois Assessment of Readiness on April 7th and continue through April 14th. The IAR is composed of 3 units of math and 2 units of ELA and a short ELA field test unit. The testing units vary in length from 60-90 minutes and students will complete 1 unit per day. Students who are absent for a unit will make up the missing unit when they return provided we are still within the testing window. The data gathered from this assessment will be used to create our Illinois School Report Card for Rockland as well as District 70 overall. The Illinois Science Assessment is taken only by 5th grade students. This assessment will occur the final 2 days of IAR, 4/13 and 4/14, in the afternoon. There are 3 units students will complete that are composed of multiple choice and short answer questions. This assessment is not timed and students generally complete each unit in 45 minutes or less. Please take a moment to discuss this with your child(ren) and remind them to take their time, to do their best, and have a positive attitude.
Kindergarten Registration and Kindergarten Family Orientation:
If you have a child who will be turning 5 by September 1, 2022, make sure to register them for Kindergarten at Rockland. Early registration helps us to plan and staff so there are no last minute changes. Use this link to our district website to register. If you know a family in the neighborhood who will have kindergarten age children please let them know as well.
Kindergarten/New Student Registration
Our Kindergarten Orientation for families is scheduled for April 12th at 6:30 pm. This event will be held in-person at Rockland. Please have your child registered prior to this event if possible. If you have already registered, you should have received a communication from me already regarding this event. If you have not, please contact me as there may be an issue with the email address listed.
Returning Student Registration:
Please complete registration for the upcoming school year as soon as possible if you are planning to return to a D70 school next year. This information helps us in sectioning and class building. The process begins in the Powerschool parent portal. For more information, use this link: Returning Student Registration
Dates To Remember:
March 28 - April 1 - Spring Break - No School
Monday April 4 - Classes Resume
Thursday April 7 - IAR Testing Begins Grades 3-5
Tuesday April 12 - Kindergarten Family Orientation at 6:30 pm
Friday April 15 - No School - Good Friday
Monday April 18 - No School - Teacher Institute Day
Sincerely,
Jim Cieciwa
Principal
Kindergarten Trimester News
Kindergarten has had a wonderful learning year We are so proud of how resilient our students have been this year and how much they have grown academically and socially under all of these circumstances!
After Spring Break, we begin to dive into our ocean unit. We will learn about ocean creatures and other plants and animals living in the ocean. While we create our sea creatures, we will be introduced to many different art medias, such as bleeding tissue paper, metallic paint, dot paint, and more!
In math, we are working on addition and subtraction, writing number stories, and comparing numbers. Students have started playing partner games such as Bump games, ten frame war, and unscrambled numbers! They enjoyed taking turns and socializing while having fun!
As our year of learning and growing comes to a close we will continue to make many memories and continue building our friendship bonds. We look forward to having an end of the year celebration with our class and parents.
This year has been a wild ride. We are thankful for a year of learning and growing and our students becoming members of the Rockland School family.
Mrs. Howell and Mrs. Stonehocker
What’s New with the Special Education Resource teachers!
Students have been staying busy in rooms 202 and 203! As we are preparing for Spring break, remember there are lots of resources that you can utilize over the break to continue to practice your reading and math skills! Some math websites that your child can go on are XtraMath, IXL, and Prodigy. Some reading websites your child can go on are Lexia Core5 and A-Z Reading. Children have their logins for each of these websites. We are looking forward to seeing everyone after spring break and continue to work hard to finish off the year strong!
Have a great and relaxing Spring Break!
-Ms. Roos and Ms. Ryan
Rockland Spirit Fridays!
Rockland Student Council is trying out something new! We are going to try SPIRIT DAY EVERY FRIDAY! Please help spread the Rockland cheer by taking part in these fun days!
Tie Dye/ Favorite Color Day (Friday, April 8)
**Wear either tie dye or your favorite color**
Backwards & Inside Out Day (Friday, April 22nd)
**Wear your clothes backwards and/or inside out**
Fun Hat Day (Friday, April 29th)
**Wear a fun hat **
Vacation Day (Friday, May 6th)
**Dress like you’re going to a dream vacation destination **
Pajama Day (Friday, May 13th)
**Dress in your cozy clothes (no stuffed animals)**
FanDom Day (Friday, May 20th)
**Showcase something you are a big fan of…is it sports,
Disney, Star Wars, cats. Let us see your spirit **
Fun in the Sun Day (Friday, May 27th)
**Get our your summertime clothes and show your
excitement for the upcoming Summer Break **
Rockland Spirit Day (Friday, June 3rd)
**Show your love of ROCKLAND by wearing Rockland gear OR blue **
RFA News and Updates
FAV DAY:
The RFA is pleased to announce that Famous Author Visit Day is coming up. Author and illustrator Gnat and Corky will be presenting at Rockland on April 29th! A flyer to pre-order one of their books came home in backpack mail, but here is the link if you need another copy! Please return the form to the office by next Friday, March 25th!
RFA SPRING EGG HUNT:
Please join us for a school-wide RFA SPRING EGG HUNT that will take place on Friday April 8th at 5:30-6:15 pm at the Rockland School Playground. You *MUST* RSVP for your children to participate. Please be sure to list the number of students per grade that will be participating so that we can have an accurate headcount for each round. There will be three rounds of egg hunts by age. Please bring 10 plastic eggs filled with allergy free candy, stickers, rings, stamps, etc. Kids will each collect 10 eggs. Also, the RFA has hidden some fun prizes for the kids in several surprise eggs for each round! Sign Up Here for Rockland Spring Egg Hunt 2022! Please register by 4/6/2022.
Please contact Nancy Shunneson with any questions about the event at nancyzomaya@gmail.com or 847-912-6141. Thank you!
SCHOOL SUPPLIES:
It’s hard to believe we are already planning for next school year. Teachers have finalized their lists for the next school year and you can now order online. The kits are delivered to the school and will be in your child's classroom waiting for them on the first day. Here’s the link to order. https://1stday.sale/34603
ROCKLAND CARES:
Thank you to all who participated in Feed My Starving Children in February and Project Linus in March!
Our next event is the Earth Day Park Clean Up on Friday, April 22. Sign up here to clean up the Nicholas Dowden Park at 3:30 pm or the Northshore Bike Path at 5:30 pm. Thanks for helping to keep our world beautiful!
PATTYCAKE REMINDERS
*If you would like to return your empty raffle basket, please drop it off in the office and we will grab it from there!
*Also, if you have a minute, please fill out this quick survey on the RFA Pattycake event-- Pattycake Survey Link Thanks!
SOCIAL MIXERS
The 3rd Grade mixer will be hosted by Jani Vuckovic on Saturday, April 9th. Look for more details to come.
Lisa Gatto and Lauren Timony will be hosting the 4th Grade mixer at the Gatto residence on Friday, May 6th at 7pm. Invitations will be on the way soon.