Raymond C. LaPerche Elementary School

In preschool today, students were working hard during center time. In one center, students used stampers to create masterpieces. Stamping helps them with their fine motor skills. At another center students were mixing colors to form new colors. Students were mixing blue and yellow to make green, red and blue to make purple and more. They used eyedroppers to pick up the paint and drop it drip by drip working on fine motor skills. In a third center students were using shapes stickers to create new objects. Students used the book Color Farm for ideas. In every class at LaPerche, students learn by doing!

LaPerche Teachers are masters at combining the fun of a holiday with academic learning. Students in kindergarten were writing about what they would do with a pot of gold, rolling green dice and adding the two numbers, searching for heart words within pot of gold, ripping construction paper or painting to create a rainbow and more! The activities worked on fine motor skills, handwriting, combining numbers, narrative writing and more! What a lucky bunch of students! We are so thankful for our endless family volunteers, who supported every center! We could not make this happen without you!

Third graders at LaPerche are learning how to write code through our partnership with Rhode Island College. Students were introduced to the program Scratch Jr. and challenged to create their own characters and scene to make an animated dance party. The creativity was amazing!

Sensory Friendly Story Time sponsored by SSELAC this Saturday

SHS is performing Legally Blond this weekend. Join us at one of the 3 performances: Friday, March 10, at 7 PM; Saturday, March 11, at 7 PM; and Sunday, March 12, at 2 PM. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $15 or online at https://our.show/shslegblonde for $12.

Our district, Math Coordinator, Wendy Phillips, stopped by LaPerche and taught a lesson in fifth grade today. The elementary schools are piloting two math programs, Eureka 2 and Illustrative Math. Teachers from the math team are piloting both programs and will make a decision which one we will adopt next year. Students had the opportunity to solve independently, talk with partners and complete a gallery walk so they can view each other's work and plan for solving the problem. Student and teacher feedback are vital before program adoption.

The SHS Parent Council is hosting a FUNDrive drive at the high school on Saturday, March 11th, from 8:30-11:30 AM. Pack up your goods and come on by!

LaPerche students had a blast in the snow today. We are hoping for more snow to come before winter is over!

Third graders at LaPerche had their first fraction lesson today. The lesson started by looking at fraction cards and sharing with classmates what they wondered and noticed about the cards. Then, the students sorted the cards into categories and had to explain the meaning behind the categories. Students chose to sort the cards into shapes that were split evenly and unevenly, fractions that had more than two parts and only two parts, shapes that had no sides and shapes that has four sides. The class discussed different math terminology to deepen their understanding of fractions. What a great first day!

On Friday, February 10, LaPerche hosted the district spelling bee. The top spellers from Gallagher, 0CRS, PVES and LaPerche competed against each other to represent Smithfield in the state spelling bee. Outstanding job! Congratulations to our champion and runner up. We are confident that they will represent Smithfield well!

In preschool at LaPerche, students practiced reading sentences, identifying colors and using color words. Some students used their voice and some students used an augmented device to share. Each student had a color sheet and used their animal marker to identify the correct one. Preschool is an amazing place to learn!

Grades 3-5 Participated in a double elimination pickle ball tournament. We used brackets to show the flow of the tournament. Grades 4 and 5 are still finishing their tournament. Pickle Ball Championships 3rd grade Champions:

It’s intervention time in second grade at LaPerche. Students have must do’s, may do’s as well as other choices. Intervention block happens every day in all of the elementary classrooms. It is an opportunity for teachers to work with small groups, students to be retaught something that was difficult for them, or time to challenge themselves with enrichment activities. Way to work second grade!

It’s parachute time in PE class at LaPerche. Kindergarten students used their arms, shoulders and torso as they manipulated the parachute to form a giant igloo, pop up all of the balls and climb the giant mountain. The parachute teaches kids to follow directions and listen closely in order to work as a team. It is a favorite of activity with Mr. Connell!

Mrs. Dorsey, our school principal, is working in the first grade classrooms to team teach social skills classes using the program Everyday Speech. Today’s lesson was about building your growth mindset. They reviewed six different tools and the students chose the ones they felt they could use to help reset their brains and bodies when they felt strong emotions that were getting in the way of learning. They discussed their tools with partners, practiced taking a breathing break and created their own tool boxes. One tool is the Power of Yet. Add the word YET to any sentence that describes something that is hard for you! I can’t do that…YET!

Every year the fifth graders at LaPerche host a pasta dinner. This year the event was a smashing success! The fifth graders were hosts, servers and bussers at the event. They were organized by a dedicated group of parents as well as the fifth grade teachers. If you attended the pasta dinner, tell us how the students did and share your photos! Thank you for supporting our fifth grade class.

Each fourth and fifth grade classroom at LaPerche sent their top two spelling bee winners to the school spelling bee. The eight students battled it out to represent LaPerche in the district spelling bee being held on Friday, February 10 at LaPerche. Congratulations to all of these amazing spellers and to the two finalists!

The SHS Music Department is offering a babysitting event on February 14th. Let them entertain your child so you can enjoy a Valentine’s Date night out, or even a night in! Children in grades K-5 are welcome. Register using this link: t.ly/GD-I

RI All Course Network Spring 2023 Courses: There are still credit-bearing and enrichment courses available beginning February-April. Please visit https://enrollri.org/acn to view the course catalog and register today!  These courses are free to RI students!

Join us at SHS on February 9th for a presentation sponsored by the Smithfield Special Education Advisory Council: "What does inclusive education REALLY mean?" All are welcome!