It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2009-2010 school
year!The Rochester Elementary
staff and I are committed to working together with you to make Rochester
Elementary a great place for our children to learn and achieve.
It is the goal of the Rochester Elementary staff to challenge your child
intellectually, help them grow personally, and guide them toward independent
thinking and problem solving.As we
strive to promote healthy development of the whole child, our efforts are
devoted to the development of students that demonstrate good character: students
who make good choices and decisions resulting in healthy and successful
outcomes.We encourage students to
demonstrate the best of themselves everyday and to be respectful and responsible
members of our school and community.
It is our hope that our children have a sense of “Rochy Pride” and love for
themselves, their school, and community!
We strive for academic excellence! Our programs are aligned to state and
national standards and are research -based, which means that they have been
proven to bring positive results to the participants no matter what school
setting. I am proud to say that our research -based curriculum, coupled with the
diligent instructional efforts by the teaching staff, is the key to our
student’s academic success.Our
Story Town Reading Program
assisted us in making substantial gains on the PSSA tests last year.This program is enhanced by computer- based programming such as
Breakthrough to Literacy, Imagination
Station, and Read 180. In addition, our Title I teachers support the
struggling students in Reading so they may acquire the needed skills and
strategies of a good reader.It is
relevant to note that we scored well above the state average in math with our
Everyday Math curriculum.
It is our hope that our new math tutor can assist our students to improve their
math skills.An intervention and
enrichment period has been embedded into the schedule so that children can
continue to achieve their very best in the core areas.
We all know that Science is fun at
Rochester! We have seen this during our
Spring Science Showcase.Our
elementary science scores continue to be amazing due to our research- based
Science It’s Elementary
curriculum which has been in place for four years.
I am excited to announce that this year all students in grades 4-6 will
be taught beginning level Spanish. This is a great opportunity for our children to learn
how to communicate in a second language and to learn about the second largest
culture in the United States.
Stand Tall has been our bully
prevention initiative at the elementary. Through a grant, the teachers have been
trained and have facilitated weekly class meetings to reduce the incidence of
bullying behavior among our students. A parent advisory group is also in place
and they have developed a brochure to assist parents to understand the
prevalence of bullying and to address any concerns they may have.In an end of the year questionnaire, the elementary student’s responses
proved that our efforts have been worthwhile.There has been a substantial decrease in the incidence of bullying and an
increase in the student’s willingness to go to their teacher for help.The students definitely feel safer and more comfortable to help
themselves and their peers through non-violent ways. These results tell me we
are moving in the right direction!
We have developed a set of core beliefs and expected behaviors this year.LIL’RAMS will aid our students in
developing healthy characters.Our
core beliefs will keep all of us focused on our missioneveryday, which is to help our students not only to be good students but
to be good citizens.
We
offered a pre-Kindergarten program in the spring of last year,
K Ready, for all
prospective Kindergarten students and their parents.K Ready assisted our Kindergarten parents in preparing their
children for school. It was a good way to familiarize the students with the
daily demands of our full time academic program and their teachers.
As a result, the first few days of
Kindergarten for our youngest learners was a very smooth transition.We are very hopeful that the Kindergarten class will meet the challenges
in the year to come!
The Fine Arts Program at Rochester is outstanding!
This year every student will have a daily
special subject, Art, Music, Physical Education, Computers, due to our new
schedule.We offer an instrumental
and choral program for students in grades K-6.A Drum Ensemble and African Dance
Ensemble is offered for students in grades 4-6.Our Art Program is second to none and received national recognition in
the Crayola National Poster Contest.
Physical Education and movement are important to keeping our students fit and
healthy. This year we look forward to again offering
YSplash to our students which gives them the opportunity to learn boat
and water safety.This was a big hit
with our K-2 graders last year.
Rochester offers many opportunities for academic enrichment.G.A.T.E., The Gifted and
Talented Program will continue to be available to students who qualify.Many opportunities for enrichment in all core subjects will be offered
during the day with the theme this year Inventors and Their Inventions!
We continue to be blessed to have a wonderful support staff, including our
office secretary, school psychologist, speech teacher, Title I Coordinator,
teacher aides, custodians and cafeteria staff, to assist our students and
parents everyday with questions and concerns.We would not be successful without them!
Finally, we appreciate the service work of our PTA.Rochester’s PTA is a wonderful organization for you to join and an
awesome avenue for your involvement in our school. The PTA works very hard to
raise money so that our students can attend field trips, enjoy parties, and
other activities throughout the year.By attending their monthly meetings you will be well informed regarding
all aspects of life at Rochester and you will feel a part of our school.
In closing, I will continue to work hard to make you and your child’s
experience at Rochester Elementary a great one!Together, the students, staff, and parents can make this happen!
