Superintendent's Office
This year in the Rockford Public Schools, we started a full-day Outdoor Education classroom. Students from around the district have gathered to spend the majority of their day learning outdoors.
I visited the classroom recently when they were learning about energy transfer – the change of energy from one form to another. The sun has energy and it is transferred to seeds, and then into plants and then into animals as they eat the plants. It is a great cycle of energy.
A complicated topic for 4th graders.
Our teachers did a thorough job of explaining and providing examples. Then our 4th grade students bounded off into the woods with clipboards and pencils to find and document examples of energy transfer. It was wonderful to see.
Our new Outdoor Education classroom continues the long, rich history of our district as we innovate and engage our students in learning. We have expanded STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Art, and Math) options DK – 8. We have added an early childhood center. We have improved our math and language arts curriculum, and all of our 10th grade students take Advanced Placement (AP) Seminar.
All of these experiences, and many more, are focused on ensuring that we prepare our students well for their future.
Our RAMS XII Strategic Plan identifies seven characteristics that we have identified as priorities for our students:
1. Critical thinker
2. Academically proficient
3. Socially and emotionally aware
4. Personally responsible
5. Career and college ready
6. Problem solver
7. Effective communicator
Everything we do in our district is intended to provide our students with an opportunity to develop these characteristics.
The Rockford Public Schools works hard to be a community of educational excellence, where students are challenged to think critically, act compassionately, and succeed boldly. Our teachers understand their role to engage students not only with content in the class but also with curiosity to explore. They make the subject come alive and they help students understand not only the information but how it impacts their lives.
Every day we work to ensure that we provide multiple opportunities for our students to succeed now and in the future.
Dr. Steve Matthews
Superintendent
