Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School

We had an amazing Veterans Day ceremony today at LaPerche today where 21 Veterans were honored. The Veterans shared many lessons with the students, including the importance of having a strong work ethic and being disciplined, being trustworthy and dependable. They shared stories about missing their families when they were deployed, meeting people who became lifelong friends and all of the exciting experiences that come with being in the military. LaPerche students understand how lucky they are to live in a country that is free. We are the home of the free because of the brave. Thank you for your service and sacrifice!

This Veterans Day, we honor and appreciate the dedication of those who have served our country, both in our schools and within our community. Their commitment and sacrifice deserve our utmost gratitude. #VeteransDay #ThankYou

The Smithfield Public Schools has received $85,000 from the Arts Grant II to continue to support our work in the fine and performing arts as well as our CTE programs. This will help us to purchase needed materials that will directly benefit our students and staff.

Second and fifth grade reading buddies came together to make their own slime. They determined how much glue, baking soda and secret activator, saline solution, they had to combine to make their slime the perfect consistency so it could stretch, but not be too sticky. Students love when they get to work with their reading buddies.

In third grade today during morning meeting, the students discussed the word empathy, understanding how someone else feels. They discussed a recess situation and gave their opinion on how each person was feeling and how they could've solved the situation in an effective way. When students are empathetic, they connect with each other and better understand each other.

In first grade today during writing, students were practicing writing a question and answer from a book they read called Time to Sleep. They focused on capital letters and punctuation. The kids learned that a dolphin sleeps with one eye open and horses sleep standing up. After reading the book, students could choose any animal that they wanted to write about.

In kindergarten today, students learned how to do an interactive drawing so they could create a more detailed picture of an animal they are reading about. The class read A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle and learned how to draw their own hermit crab. Students check to see if their picture was as big as their hand and then added four or more colors to their drawings. Kindergarten students are focused on details!

Thank you to our fabulous Smithfield Police officers who joined the LaPerche students for lunch today. The police officers are one of our trusted adults, people our students can turn to when they need help solving a problem.

In second grade today at LaPerche, students were comparing and contrasting two cities that they had read about in Friends Around the World. Students were comparing and contrasting the transportation, the weather and seasons, the activities and what school was like in the two cities. Second graders are focused learners!!

Open House was a huge success tonight at LaPerche. It was wonderful to have so many families visit the school to explore the classrooms and other spaces. Shout out to the amazing LaPerche teachers for their engaging and welcoming classrooms. Thank you Chartwells and Chef Will for the delicious omelettes. Fifth grade rocked the bake sale, the book sale was busy all night and the little ones were fully entertained and engaged with yoga! Success all around!!

In kindergarten today, students played a game to practice counting accurately. Partners had a game board, two bears and 5 two sided beans. The excitement was everywhere as students spilled the beans and counted the red beans only. Mrs. Caswell was checking for one-to-one correspondence and understanding that the last number tells how many. Kindergarten is a fun place to learn!

Support SHS Senior Petros Lemme, named in the Global Top 30 high school students in the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, a science competition. See his 2-minute video and "like" it. @SHSSentinels @SmithfieldSchls

Day three of Start with Hello Week was Positive Vibe Wednesday. Students and staff were asked to wear a shirt with a positive message on it and to take some time to read each Other words of wisdom. Check out these positive messages spotted throughout the building! #startwithhelloweek

During writing time in first grade, students write their own Frog and Toad stories with a beginning, middle and end. LaPerche first graders are published authors!

Today was the first day of Start with Hello Week, a national call to action week dedicated to making new social connections and creating a sense of belonging among youth. At LaPerche, we celebrated with meet and greet Monday. Students used table talk cards to spark a conversation and learn something new about their classmates. Students had a chance to ask a question and connections were being made. We want every LaPerche student to know that they belong in our community and we value them. #Startwithhelloweek

Fourth graders are discussing expanded form versus standard form. Understanding place value is so important. Every student has an individual whiteboard that they use to show their thinking. Show red when ready!

Flexible seating and partner reading were in full force and Mrs. Harrison's third grade class at LaPerche today. Students reread a chapter of their book to deepen their understanding and find answers to comprehension questions. Students used inflection as they switched off reading and discussing the text. Focused learners everywhere!

Exciting News! I’m beyond thrilled to share that a former LaPerche student, Petros Lemme, has been named a semifinalist in the 2024 Breakthrough Junior Challenge – a global science competition where students explain complex scientific concepts through short and engaging videos. Out of thousands of entries worldwide, Petros’s video on the microbiome and the mind/gut connection landed him in the top 30! Now it’s the popular vote stage, and this is where we need your support. Winning the popular vote will secure him a spot in the finals, and we’d love your help to get him there! How you can help: Please vote by watching and liking his video on YouTube and/or Facebook between September 5th and 20th.The entry with the most combined Likes and positive reactions between both platforms will move directly to the final round. YouTube: https://youtu.be/IEewjw5lAJ0?si=AGlEFaE4aMvvVO3d Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/s9m7Niowzy62j3Q8/ For the past two years, Petros has been researching this topic with great passion, and he spent countless hours scripting, animating, and editing to create a 2-minute video that presents the science in an engaging and understandable way. Your vote could help Petros move one step closer to the grand prize – a $250,000 scholarship and the chance to bring a $100,000 science lab to Smithfield High School, if he wins! Let’s show how the power of community can help achieve this incredible goal! Thank you all so much for your support! #breakthroughjuniorchallenge #microbiome #lifestyle #healthyliving #proudmom #STEM #rhodeisland #newengland #VoteForPetros

Thank you, Representative Gabe Amo for hosting a state wide symposium on Artificial Intelligence at the Smithfield Public Schools. Ava, a senior at SHS, was the student representative along with a panel of delegates including the Department of Education, Brown U professors, SHS teacher leaders & our district leadership. This symposium was hosted by Rep Amo & our Supt at SHS. Rep Amo is co-sponsoring legislation that will support partnerships between K-12 schools & higher education.

Thanks to several grants we have received, new gardens like this one at Old County Road School are being implemented for the entire school to enjoy.