This Fall we hosted our first after school Coding class for 3rd - 5th graders using the CODE.org Course II curriculum. The class was taught by our computer lab paraeducator Lisa Chapman, with help from parent Hani Geske, and MSAP science teacher Mrs. de Witte. During the class students learning the basics of programming using both "unplugged" activities without the computer, and online coding challenges using fun characters such as Angry Birds and Flappy. By the end of the course students became...

Yesterday was the last class of our debut session of after school "LEGO Club." For 5 weeks, 4th and 5th graders met after school to design a robotic amusement park using the LEGO WeDo curriculum. Students worked in pairs to design impressive structures including a Ferris wheel, carousel, and a finish line for racing cars. After building the structures, students programmed them to spin, twirl, and light up using visual, block-based coding. Their programs also including tilt and motion sensors, so...

Friday November 6th, hundreds of elementary and middle school runners competed in the Ventura County Youth Cross Country League Championships at Arroyo Verde Park. Our Will Rogers Broncos showed up ready to run, and performed well for their last race of their debut season. Will Rogers had over 70 third, fourth, and fifth grade students competing in five different one-mile cross country races this season, all in preparation for the championship race. It was a winner-takes-all event, with the top ...

At tonight's city council meeting, our very own fifth grader Livia Vertucci will debut as Ventura's "Mayor for a Moment," featuring the following video of Livia and our school. Check it out!  Mayor for a Moment with Livia Vertucci

The second annual Dia del los Muertos celebration took place on Thursday, October 29th. The cafeteria was decorated in festive colors with multicolored Papel Picado banners and balloons. All classes/grade levels created colorful, authentic altars. Entertainment provided by the Sal Avila Trio and taco's were served by Sabor. Approximately 200 people attended. Parents and families donated a wide variety of baked goods for the bake sale. Popcorn was also sold. Attendees played loteria, decorated a ...

Our fifth graders used our brand new LEGO WeDo Robotics curriculum for the first time during class today. Their challenge was to build a robot of two dancing birds using LEGOs, and then program the birds to dance and chirp using visual block-based coding on the computer. The fifth graders did a great job with this fun engineering lesson today! This curriculum will be used during regular school hours in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classes to support learning in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering...

We are back in action in the science lab this year! Check out some of the great photos from a variety of K-5 science lessons, both in the lab and outside!

After the amazing turnout at the Summerfest 3K last May, Will Rogers decided to start a brand new Cross Country team to compete in the Ventura County Cross Country League, and we now have over 70 third, fourth, and fifth grade students running this year! The boys and girls practice every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch, and compete in five different one-mile races against other elementary schools. The Cross Country team is coached by teachers Mandi de Witte, Robin Jacobs, and Claudia Escobedo Esqu...

This year Will Rogers hosted its first ever family STEaM Night! STEaM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Technology. Friday night June 5th the Will Rogers cafeteria was transformed into a fun-filled fest of hands-on STEaM activities for the whole family! Also on display were all science fair projects, as well as the amazing environmental science theme projects that students worked so hard on throughout the entire year to complete during class time. UC Santa Barbara's REEF also...

Congratulations to all of our participants and winners of our 23rd annual Science Fair here at Will Rogers! For the first time, students were able to enter projects into three distinct categories: Experiment, Research, or Engineering. This expanded the range of projects students were able to do, as well as increased the creativity level! Additionally, this was also the first year students were asked to explain their projects to live judges. Our judges included Dr. Susan Johnson, science educatio...