Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron
34 MacKinlay Way,
Rockland, MA 02370
For Immediate Release
Friday, Jan. 19, 2018
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net
Rockland Education Foundation Grants Provide Key Supplies and Opportunities for Students
ROCKLAND — Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron is pleased to announce that Rockland Public Schools received 24 grants in 2017 to enhance learning experiences for students throughout the district.
Since 1996, the Rockland Education Foundation (REF) has worked with Rockland teachers to help them go above and beyond to bring innovative academic approaches, activities and equipment to their students.
“We are always grateful for the support of the Rockland Education Foundation, which helps our teachers provide supplemental learning opportunities for our students,” Superintendent Cron said. “This round of grants was incredibly diverse. The allocations enabled our teachers to improve their quality of instruction and gave students opportunities to get involved in innovative and meaningful ways.”
The more than $36,000 in grant allocations from REF helped satisfy the district’s need for new classroom equipment, ranging from technological to musical, and funded a variety of events and activities that helped students grow more engaged with their learning.
The 2017-2018 REF grants include:
- $3,600 to purchase of iPads for students in the English Language Learners program.
- $3,420 for Memorial Park Elementary School’s Independent Reading Classroom Book Collection. Title 1 teacher Christine DeLeo launched a pilot program called “Traveling Through Reading” that integrates literature with the use of Google Expeditions.
- $5,200 for Rogers Middle School to increase the number of apps available to students through its iPad-based learning program.
- $3,480 for Rockland Public Preschool to support the “Learning Through Music and Movement” program, where presenter Kim Engle of “Sing, Explore, Create” visits Rockland preschool classes bi-weekly to work with students.
- $2,250 for Rockland High School students to participate in Harvard Model Congress, which is held in February each year. The grant also ensured that RHS students received a visit from Shakespeare in Action: Romeo and Juliet.
- More than $1,800 for Esten Elementary School fourth grade students to take science-related field trips.
- $1,300 to provide Jefferson Elementary School students with a set of ukuleles and a digital piano.
Additional REF grants include funding for a first aid and guided reading programs at the Esten Elementary School; history and language learning programs, as well as additional musical instruments for Rogers Middle School; a sensory integration program and C-Pen Reader at Jefferson Elementary School; a focused educational section on weather (wind, water and temperature) at all three elementary schools; resources for differentiated learning and life skills and an images website at the high school; an astronomy program and observatory development program and a focused educational section on improving social skills through video modeling for the entire district.
The REF also contributed to the high school’s Credit For Life Fair, which gave sophomores a hands-on lesson on the challenging aspects of maintaining a working budget that helped provide insight into the responsibilities that await them once they reach adulthood.
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