Rockdale School District 84

Hello, Ram families! This is a reminder that Rockdale will be hosting a Career Fair tonight from 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. We will have over 25 community members in the building to teach our students about their exciting careers and answer any questions they may have. All students who attend Career Fair will receive a homework pass and their name will be entered into a raffle to win one of many prizes! if you have any questions, please reach out to the main office at 815-725-5321. See you tonight!

Good afternoon, Rockdale Families! We have a busy week ahead with some amazing opportunities for students and families to be a part of! On Wednesday, April 23rd from 6:00-7:30 PM, we have our Career Fair. Students can come learn about different professions and options for their bright futures! On Thursday, April 24th from 3:45-5:00 PM, we have our next Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee (BPAC) Meeting. All Rockdale families are welcome to join us for some Loteria (bingo), light refreshments, and to learn more about BPAC! Please return your RSVP for this event by Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, on Friday, April 25th from 6:00-8:00 PM, we will host our Spring Student Council Dance for 5th-8th grade students. More information will be sent home with students this week. We hope everyone enjoys the rest of their long weekend! As a reminder, NO SCHOOL on Monday, April 21st. See you on Tuesday!

Ram Nation, Please join us on Wednesday, April 23 from 6:00-7:30 PM for our Career Fair! We will be joined by area-wide professionals as they share what they do for work and options our Rams will have in their futures. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs for those students that participate! What a great opportunity for our students to learn about what they might do when they grow up!

Registration for the 2025-26 school year is open now through May 23rd! To complete your student's school registration, please log into your TeacherEase account. Families who are completely registered by May 1st will be entered into a raffle to win some amazing prizes from Rockdale School, El Comal, Roc City, Rockdale Pancake House, and Dan's Homemade Candies! Families can also join us on Tuesday, April 15th from 4:30-7:30 PM for Registration Night! Use this opportunity to complete your 2025-26 school registration and get more information about next school year! If you have questions, please call the main office at 815-725-5321.

Our Rockdale Journalism class has been working hard on researching and putting together their own informational articles in class! They would like to share one of their recent pieces about the history behind the luck of a four leaf clover. We hope you enjoy and learn something new! The Luck of the Four Leaves Everybody, everywhere wants a little pinch of luck. Luck comes in many forms, such as dreamcatchers, a rabbit’s foot, etc. But by far, the luckiest has to be the four leaf clover. Not only are they incredibly rare, they’re also the face of luck itself. The clover is usually only 3 leaves, but a rare mutation in the clover allows it to grow an extra leaf, making it harder, and more lucky to find. A person has a one in 10,000 chance to find one. Do you think you could find one? How long do you think it would take you? The four leaf clover was considered lucky since around the 1620s. It was incredibly rare and people found it to be a symbol of good fortune. The reason people also thought it was lucky was because they thought it was connected to Christianity, the four leaves representing faith, hope, love, and of course luck. Celtic Priests used them as a good luck charm to see and ward away demons. How do you think priests used four-leaf clovers to get rid of demons? The luck of the clover was originally used in a play. The play was called Astrologaster and it was made by Sir John Melton in the year 1620. It was made in Shakespeare’s London and it was based on a true story. Ireland is another place where they’re considered lucky. An Irish Proverb states, “A Good Friend is Like A Four Leaf Clover, Hard to find and Lucky to Have.” It also shows itself as a symbol of Irish identity. Do you think less people believe in luck now than the 1620s?

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!

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!

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!

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!