Every fifth grader serves on the student council at LaPerche and one of their favorite things to do is run Morning Meeting. Morning Meetings look different this year (over the intercom instead of in person) but the goal is the same, develop a school wide community. The council members share updates, celebrate birthdays, make announcements and end with the Pledge of Allegiance. School wide morning meetings are a great way to start each day!
LaPerche students were asked to do extra chores around the house to earn $1 to donate. The donations will be used to provide LaPerche families with gift cards to Stop and Shop for a Thanksgiving feast! The November student council collected $306 dollars and a $50 gift card to Stop and Shop from the LaPerche students (and families)!! Thank you for being so thoughtful and generous. Mix Match Day and Sports Day were a hit!
Members of the SHS National Honor Society taught a lesson to the fifth graders at LaPerche about responsibilities in the class and community. They discussed the civic responsibilities of the citizens of the United States. The kids broke into teams and prepared skits to share with the rest of the class to help them understand the various duties. The high schoolers will be back on Friday for the second lesson.
Costume Day is always a hit at LaPerche. The in person and virtual students were so excited to show off their costumes and many acted in character all day. The kids may be a little less focused on Costume Day but they will not forget the fun they had at school! And we will not forget the smiles!
Check out this album for more pictures on Costume Day:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9dGpeiRthkTv5qQC8
The gym at LaPerche was ready for action today and students were thrilled to use this fabulous new space!
LaPerche is in our third year implementing Responsive Classroom, a “set of well designed practices intended to create safe, joyful, and energetic classrooms and school communities”. We want school to be fun and engaging for all students. One way to have fun is by implementing brain breaks. On Friday, the third grade played woosha warrior together. In the game, there are three moves. The teacher or leader counts 3, 2, 1 Whoosha and makes one of the poses. The kids do the same. If your pose matches the leader, you are out and sit down. The game moves quickly, provides movement and challenges the student to predict which pose the teacher will make. It also provides an opportunity for students to be honest about being out and show good sportsmanship. Ask your child to teach the game to the family and post a picture below!
Fundations was in full swing in Ms. Clough’s class this morning. Fundations is a multisensory and systematic phonics, spelling, and handwriting program that we use with our kindergarten, first and second grade students. The second graders were determining how many “sounds/taps” there are in certain words. The students learn about diagraphs (two consonants that make one sound such as ch) and glued sounds (sounds that when they are together they do not say their normal sounds, but rather create a slightly different sound such as ing). Students had opportunities to discuss words with partners and then share their findings with the class.
Mrs. Ferreria’s third graders enjoyed the outside for their reading lesson today. They are reading The Case of the Gasping Garbage and they focused on chapters seven and eight. The students discussed the setting, theme, and plot. There were great discussions about the possible themes including loneliness, love, you can’t explain love and science isn’t always science! Ask your third grader which themes he/she supported. After the students finished their reading jobs, they enjoyed snack while reading their independent books!
What a beautiful day to read outside. Mrs. Nonis took her class outside for read aloud. They discussed figurative language vs. literal language, temporal words and various vocabulary. The students tried to figure out who was speaking and why the author added certain words to the story. It is also an opportunity for a mask break if needed. We are so thankful for the outside space!
LaPerche students love creative play! This group of second graders used the stepping stones to play a “lava game”. The creator of the game, Zoe, yells “floors lava 5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and everyone has to change to a new lava stone. And not move. And balance without falling off!! If you fall off you join the leader and start the countdown. It was intense and great fun!!
What is happening at LaPerche on a Friday night? The gym is being worked on and looks AMAZING!! Acoustic panels and padding have been added and it is being stripped right now!! The end is in sight and the kids are going to love this new space!!! Thank you to the team who is working around the clock to get the new parts of our elementary schools ready for learning!
There are many leadership opportunities for LaPerche students. Our fourth graders are invited to serve on the recycling team. When Mrs. Dorsey asked Mr. Mederios’ class who would like to serve, almost every hand shot up. The team started yesterday and did a great job investigating what was placed in the classroom bins and determining if the class was following the guidelines. Working together to save our beautiful earth!!
LaPerche art teacher, Miss Miller, took advantage of the beautiful weather today and brought the first graders outside for observational drawing opportunities. The students observed the landscape and texture of the world around them and tried to draw it to scale.
It’s a rainy day and you can’t go outside? And your gym is under construction? No problem for LaPerche PE teacher Mr. Connell. He used the hallway space to set up a variety of centers for PE today. Here the kindergarten students skip down, leap frog back abd then limbo under the pole. So fun and engaging for the kids! They were worn out!
Yesterday, the October student council at LaPerche hosted a “Topping Off Ceremony” which refers to the placement of the last major piece of steel during construction. All LaPerche staff and students were able to sign the beam before it was hoisted in the air and placed on the addition. The beam was decorated with an America Flag and a miniature tree. The America Flag on one end of the beam is a traditional “Topping Off” symbol of good luck. The miniature tree on the other end of the beam symbolizes that there were no injuries on the construction site. The students have been watching in amazement as the new addition at LaPerche rises out of the ground! The student council thanked the construction supervisors for always being willing to address any question or concern quickly and for a job well done. We can’t wait to see the end product!
At LaPerche, we understand the importance of offering flexible seating options for our students. Due to the pandemic, we had to remove many of those options as well as our rugs. LaPerche teachers are so creative they still come up with ways to offer other options when working. Kids learn best when they have options to move and change position. Check out these students in their flexible seats while socially distancing!
LaPerche families gifted the school with so many interesting and fun pieces of recess equipment. Recess looks different this year with no competitive games but the same with lots of fun! Thank you to our families for your generosity. We love our new equipment!
We had a special visitor at LaPerche today. Governor Raimondo stopped by to see how we are utilizing our outside space. Have you noticed the flags all over the field near the gazebo? There are 13 pods sectioned off so each classroom has a designated space to use for outdoor learning, picnic lunch, playtime, and more. Each space is 14 feet from the next to provide a safe amount of distance as recommended by RIDE and RIDOH.
The kids were thrilled to meet the Governor and shared a variety of information with her. One student even shared his plan to have a safe Halloween!
The news media accompanied the Governor so check out Channel 10, 12, 6, or Telemundo tonight to see the story on LaPerche!
We had an awesome first day at LaPerche! The LaPerche teachers and staff were so happy to see the kids and the kids seemed just as excited! Everyone did a great job with mask-wearing. Thank you for your patience this morning as we moved through the morning arrival as quickly as we could. It was wonderful to see our returning families and meet so many new ones! If you have any questions or concerns about today, please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher or to me.
Tomorrow you will receive a blue transportation form and a yellow photo permission form. As soon as everyone returns the photo form we can start posting and sharing photos! Of course, we always respect families who wish for their child not to be photographed.
A few reminders:
Please send your child to school with the following items every day:
A Mask
A reusable water bottle
A beach towel to sit on when outside
Wearing shoes that cover the toes and are secure on the heel
A reusable grocery bag
Today students went outside for snack, lunch, recess, and/or learning time. They have many items to bring with them each time and putting it all in a sturdy open bag makes the trip outside so much easier. Please label the bag with your child’s first and last name. If you do not have any of the reusable grocery bags, I have quite a few I will bring in tomorrow for any students who do not have one. If you have extra you want to donate, send them in with your child! Thank you!
Peanut and Tree Nut Free
Just a reminder that due to the fact that students are eating in the classrooms, LaPerche School is a peanut and tree nut-free school for the 2020-2021 school year.
Breakfast and Lunch Menus
Breakfast and lunch are free for all students. Feel free to check out the menus and see if your child would like to order. If your child would like to order milk only, it is 50 cents. You can create a lunch account and place money on the account for the milk. We recommend families still complete a free and reduced lunch application as the free program will eventually end.
https://smithfieldps.nutrislice.com/menu/raymond-c-laperche-elementary
Moving onto day TWO! #Back2SchoolRI
BUS ROUTES ARE POSTED! Transportation is available for students who are NOT in a walk zone and did NOT opt out of transportation this year. See this site for information on times and stops: https://www.smithfield-ps.org/o/smithfield-public-schools/page/transportation--244
