A Message from the Superintendent
January 2012
Welcome to a new year, one that is going to see a lot of changes in Rockland Public Schools. If you drive down Taunton Avenue, you will see the progress on the new middle school. This building will be ready by June of this year and we can expect the demolition of the old Rogers Middle School to occur over the summer. The renovation of the High School continues with another classroom wing re-opening in February and the auditorium back in operation by early March. Final completion date for the High School is January 2013. So come September grades 5 through 8 will be in their beautiful new facility. I am very excited by the new opportunities our students will have. On the one hand they will have the latest interactive technology in their classrooms and access to class sets of laptop computers. Just as exciting are the new facilities for the teaching of Science. Each grade will have two over-sized fully equipped Science labs and our Science teachers will have for the first time the facility and equipment needed for high quality Science teaching.
One of the effects of the building project is to create space in the elementary schools. In September the district hopes to offer full-time kindergarten on a limited basis. This would be fee-based but hopefully would be the beginning of an eventual expansion to full-time kindergarten for all eligible students.
With the new year comes MCAS testing. All our teachers and students will be working very hard over the next few months to ensure that our students’ progress is recognized in the test scores. Parental support in areas such as school attendance and homework is much appreciated and is essential for students to reach their academic potential.
Communication with parents/guardians and taxpayers is a priority of mine. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at 781-878-3893 or by email at jretchless@rocklandschools.org