Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School

In third grade, students worked independently to solve math problems. Then, they worked with a partner to check their process and accuracy. It was the partners’ responsibility to give feedback and challenge the student to think of another way to solve the problem. It is always important to have thinking time to process the problem and then productively struggle on your own before working with a partner. Third graders understand there are multiple ways to come to the same final answer. They understand the importance of showing their work. Third graders are growing their math knowledge every day!

Each morning in kindergarten at LaPerche, a student leader greets the students at the door. Each student chooses the type of greeting they would like, says good morning to the leader, the leader greets the student by name and they do the greeting type together. It is such a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn each other’s names, speak up for themselves, and learn to wait their turn. Being a greeter develops your leadership skills, public speaking capabilities and ability to follow multi step directions. What a great way to start the day!

In first grade morning meeting today, the student leader promoted the class to read the message chorally, reviewed the expectations for whole body listening and cheered out the heart words; give me an O, give me an N, give me an E, what’s it spell? ONE! First graders are ready to learn!

The annual food drive at LaPerche is in FULL SWING! The November student council are excited to report classroom totals tomorrow during our whole school monring meeting. Which classroom will lead the fight against hunger??? Details below: From November 8th to November 19th, R.C. LaPerche is holding a food drive to help benefit our LaPerche community and others in need. With the items we collect, we will be putting together Thanksgiving food baskets for our families. The LaPerche PTA adds a $50 Stop and Shop gift card and a delicious pie to the basket to help supply a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Mr. Feinstein has challenged us to have our own food pantry so the remaining items will be kept at school and available to our families until the winter recess. Then all items will be donated to the Smithfield Food Bank. We are asking you to please donate to help support our food drive. This is a great opportunity for the kids to use their own money and to shop with you. Our November student council will keep a tally of the items we collect and each class that donates 50 or more items will earn extra recess with Mrs. Dorsey. PreSchool-Instant Potatoes/Pasta Kindergarten - Stuffing or Rice Grade 1 - Instant Potatoes/Pasta Grade 2 - Peanut Butter/Boxes of Cereal Grade 3 - Cranberry Sauce/Canned Vegetables Grade 4 -Peanut Butter/Boxes of Cereal Grade 5 - Gravy (Plastic Bottles or Cans Only Please)/ Boxed Dessert Mix Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

Every classroom at LaPerche begins with a Responsive Classroom morning meeting. During morning meeting in fifth grade today, students were partnered up and asked to create a secret handshake. Partners worked together to plan different moves that they performed for the rest of the class. What a fun, and engaging way to start the day!

Our third graders are studying crayfish and they are so excited!! Ask them what they learned and you will hear about their body parts, the difference between the males and females, their exoskeleton (carapace), and their habitat. You might learn they can lay over 100 eggs at a time which the female holds them in her tail. The kids are learning how to hold the crayfish carefully and respectfully so they do not getting pinched. Learning brought to live in third grade!!

In third grade fundations, students learned about trigraphs; three letters that make one sound. The kids marked words with a breve (indicate a short vowel) or a macron (indicates a long sound). They also scooped words indicating closed syllables. Focusing on specific phonics skills helps student read more complex words. LaPerche students are always up to challenging themselves!

LaPerche Elementary's Cafeteria Rangers presented at the Smithfield School Committee meeting last Monday. The fourth graders shared their recycling knowledge and explained the school's pilot program for reducing food waste, recycling, and composting. The second and fourth grade students at LaPerche serve as captains and teach the rest of the students how to sort their waste. Check out the Google Slide Show for all the details. Go Green Team! https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1IJlOHTKagSqzlXtY6iy-psAC12oaH95-89qHl84UW7A/edit#slide=id.p

Principal Julie Dorsey, Teacher Torie Caldarone, and Superintendent Judy Paolucci are honored to be in Washington DC accepting an award recognizing LaPerche as a National Blue Ribbon School. The event included greetings by the US Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, networking with other award-winning educators, and hearing from the 2021 Teacher of the Year, Juliana Urtubey, who focused on efforts for a just and joyful education for all students. We can’t wait to come back and celebrate together next week!!

The afterschool classes at the LaPerche are a big hit with the students. In one class, slime time, the students made slime with googily eyes, colored beads and Halloween food coloring! What a fantastic sensory experience!

Preschool student at LaPerche have many opportunities to play. During play, the kids learn to take turns, share materials and engage in back and forth conversations. Each group has a leader who is in charge of gathering their group and moving to the next center. The leader moves the clip to the color that matches the center before hanging it back up. Student leader are leaders in every grade at LaPerche.

Third grade students explored nonliteral words within a text and learned how to decode their figurative meaning. Students applied their knowledge of idioms through the text The Case of The Gasping Garbage. As a cumulative activity, students chose their own idioms to portray to demonstrate an understanding of idioms. LaPerche students had fun guessing which idiom students represented during the parade today. Can you figure them out?

The Smithfield Youth Council did an excellent job yesterday and today painting words of inclusion on the Stillwater Scenic Trail under the George Washington Highway Bridge. The community was invited to join them today to add their handprint. Former LaPerche students were part of the organizing group and others added their handprint! Mrs. Dorsey, our school principal, added her handprint to the mural as well. If you did not have a chance to go today, take a walk on the trail and reflect on the words the kids chose to represent Smithfield. We are an amazing community when we come together.

On Friday, kindergarten friends were practicing how to write the letters u and b. They were so focused on starting at the plane or sky line, going down to the grass line and back up to the plane line. Mrs. Caswell modeled the process, worked with individuals and used hand over hand for additional support and modeling. Finger grips were corrected and students beamed as they made beautiful letters. Thank you to our families for practicing proper letter formation and pencil grips at home. What an amazing teacher and hardworking students! Teamwork works!

Would you like to see the beautiful new spaces at Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School? On Wednesday, October 20, we are hosting a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at LaPerche at 6:45 PM. All are invited to attend. Starting at 5:50 PM, former students and families, current families, and the community are invited to LaPerche to tour the new building. Sign up for a tour and spread the word! https://forms.gle/5MeMgHZmK1FbqcUb8

The LaPerche book fair begins tomorrow, Tuesday, October 12. The book fair was set up on Friday in our new maker space and it looks amazing. Shout out to our fabulous volunteer, Jenn Shafer, for making the room look incredible. All classes will visit the book fair this week. Check out our communication document for those details including the schedule. Ready to read!!!

Check out this video celebrating LaPerche as a National Blue Ribbon School!! https://www.wevideo.com/view/2395161725 From Dr. Paolucci: Congratulations LaPerche Elementary School Educators, Families, and Students! Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School for 2021 by U. S. Secretary of Education, Dr. Miguel A. Cardona. The awards ceremony will be taking place in Washington, DC in November. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program award recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools where students either achieve very high learning standards or are making notable improvements in closing the achievement gap. Since 1982, the U. S. Department of Education has sought out and celebrated great American schools. The National Blue Ribbon School award affirms the hard work of students, educators, families, and communities in creating safe and welcoming schools where students master challenging content. The LaPerche Elementary School community is thrilled to be recognized as a National Blue Ribbon school. This award is a culmination of the school's formula for student success: consistently excellent and committed staff, a steady focus on student leadership, inclusion of all, and high academic standards. The result is a dynamic environment that truly enables our kids to thrive. Across the district, our work has been to raise expectations, improve consistencies for curriculum, and to further develop an already talented team of educators. Supporting the great work of our assistant superintendent, Sara Monaco, in the area of curriculum and instruction, and providing the necessary resources for success is paramount for our administrative team and school committee. The success of LaPerche Elementary School is built upon that foundation, the relentless pursuit of excellence by its principal, Julie Dorsey, and the support of its families. LaPerche is not only a successful place to learn but is also a joyful, inspiring place to learn. For more information on this recognition: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/index.html

COVID Clarifications - The list of major and minor symptoms are on this table. Additionally, the town data reported in the last paragraph of the weekly report listed the daily rate when the CDC levels are based on a weekly rate. Using the weekly rate, Smithfield is now considered in high transmission by the CDC and RIDOH. The newsletter has been corrected on the COVID page of the district website.

Smithfield's September newsletter is now available at: https://bit.ly/3CZ5TV4 . Keep up with all the good news about Smithfield schools!

Today LaPerche students joined a virtual meet with members of the RI Resource Recovery Team. They learned how to reduce food waste by only taking the amount they can eat, eating leftovers the next day or using leftovers as an ingredient for a new food and eating food before it spoils. LaPerche students are on their way to becoming Food Waste Warriors!!