Congratulations to 5th Grade Teacher Gina Tuula for being one of the five Golden Apple recipients! Article | Video

Our February 2012 district newsletter is available on our website.  It will not be mailed to homes. Click HERE

Nutritional information now available on each school lunch menu!  Just click on the menu and there will be a link to each meal's nutritional information!

Interactive games for Reading and Math can be found on curriculum page.  Games are for all grades, K-8, and are organized by MAP scores.

Check out our brochure...A community guide to the Rockton School District "Education is our Business - Budget at a Glance".

State Report Cards are available under each school - click on "State Report Cards".

            Message from the Rockton School District Board of Education:

 

The BOE is well aware of the need to find a way to lower our expenses, but we desire to do so in a way that still allows us to continue to provide the best possible education for our students.  So the BOE asked for the formation of a Financial Task Force.

 

This Task Force - comprised of Administrators, Educators, Staff and Community Members - completed a two-month study of the current budget deficit and developed a series of recommendations for the Board of Education to consider as it creates the 2012-2013 budget. Anticipating continued reductions in revenue - thanks to significant cuts in state aid and reduced local property taxes, among other things - the district has forecasted a budget deficit of $1.4M, or about 10% of the total budget, without significant cuts in expenses in all areas. The Task Force recommendations included reduction in personnel costs - administrative, educational and staff - as well as facility maintenance costs and transportation costs. The ultimate goal is to achieve a balanced budget while continuing to adhere to our mission: "to provide excellence in education with support from our community."  Concerned community members can learn more about the Task Force recommendations by contacting the District Office.
 

 

WPES 4th graders and RGS kindergartners share community project with residents of D'Agnolo Apartments in Rockton!

Consider that students in our primary schools today have never known life without computers, and it should come as no surprise that the use of emerging classroom technologies comes naturally to most students today.

However, the fact that today’s students take for granted the use of laptop computers, SMARTboards and other such technologies is nothing short of amazing to their parents and grandparents who attended school not so many years ago.

Residents from the D’Agnolo Apartments in Rockton recently had the chance to witness first-hand this amazing use of classroom technology by the kindergartners and fourth grade students from Rockton School District. Fourth graders in Mrs. Breese’s class and Mrs. Johnson’s kindergartners teamed up with D’Agnolo residents for a “School Then & Now” project. 

First, students visited the residents in their apartments and interviewed them about what school was like when they were younger, how they traveled to school and home every day, what they did at recess, what kinds of clothes they wore -- and even what they ate for lunch.

The students transformed each interview into an individual book for each resident – written by a fourth grader, based on the results of the interview, and illustrated by a kindergartner.

On April 11, it was the older generation’s turn to learn what school is like in 2012, through a “field trip” to the RGS/WPES campus.  The D’Agnolo residents first met with Mrs. Johnson’s kindergarten class and immediately noticed the many, technological advancements that now enhance classroom learning.  They enjoyed seeing demonstrations of uses of the classroom’s SMARTboard – an interactive whiteboard that acts as “a big computer touch-screen” on which users can use a finger as a mouse.

“There’s a lot more for them to learn now,” pointed out D’Agnolo resident Kathryn Markley. “I went to a one-room school that included a total of 12 or 13 children of all grades.”

“The kids know so much more,” added Leroy Peters, who actually attended classes in the original Rockton Grade School in the early sixties.  “When I went to kindergarten we learned the alphabet, how to count, took a nap, and walked home.”

Betty Kearns was amazed at how adept the children are with the computers.  “I’m still learning how to turn the computer on,” she exclaimed.  Kearns reminisced about walking a mile to get to school and bringing a rug on which to take a nap.  “We never had a lunchroom to go to, and we didn’t have playground equipment,” she recalled. “We jumped rope or played jacks.”

After the classroom demonstrations, the students and their visitors continued their celebration in the RGS cafeteria, where each resident was presented with the book from his or her student “buddies”.  “I’ll remember this always,” said Joanne Sutton. 

“It was a wonderful interaction between generations,” added Dawn Scott.  “We miss having kids around us.  It was very touching.”

The connection to the D’Agnolo residents was a personal one for teacher Gail Johnson, whose mother lives in the Apartments.  Her students have been visiting the residents for years.

“You can really tell the children enjoy school,” noted Sutton.  “When you have good teachers who are doing fun things, it perks up their interest for learning.”