Steere Farm Elementary School

Students came back from holiday break ready to learn! Kudos to our students for their awesome effort during our winter benchmarking period on STAR testing in the areas of reading and math. As a reminder, STAR testing is a screening tool that measures students' foundational skills. These are the skills needed in order to access and master grade level standards. I am proud to report that our mid-year testing demonstrates that 83% of our students met or exceeded the grade level benchmark in math and 76% met or exceeded the grade level benchmark in reading. Our staff and students hard work is paying off!

Teachers recently participated in our second Data Day of the school year. During these meetings, grade level teams analyzed current student achievement data in order to effectively plan for instruction. Guardians were notified if their child is in an intervention group for math or reading via a letter sent home. Please reach out with any questions.

In addition, our most recent faculty meeting was centered around analyzing RICAS scores. As a team, we celebrated successes and identified areas of need to improve student outcomes. I am proud to be part of a team that is committed to continuous improvement for our students!

Thank you for your ongoing support! We look forward to our continued partnership with families as we enter the second half of the year.

Warm Regards,

Courtney Francis

In 2018, as part of the state’s updated system of school accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the federal education law, Rhode Island created a Report Card platform to show how schools are performing.

A major component of the Report Card platform is School Accountability. Within the accountability tab, you will find the data that are used in evaluating school performance, from traditional measures like test scores, to broader measures like chronic absenteeism for students and teachers.

This past year, Steere Farm Elementary School students had high growth rates in both ELA and math on RICAS testing. In addition, we improved our chronic absenteeism rates for both students and teachers. We have much to be proud of and will continue working hard to increase our proficiency rates.

Communicating with Children Using Math Language

Talking About Math:

Talking about mathematics with your child – whatever his or her age – helps strengthen his or her mathematical reasoning and understanding. Some ways to keep the talk engaged and focused while you support your child include:

Revoice - Repeat what you heard your child say, then ask for clarification (e.g., “So you are saying it’s an odd number?”).

Repeat/Restate – Ask your child to restate your reasoning (e.g., “Can you repeat what I said in your own words?”).

Reason – Ask your child to apply his or her own reasoning to someone else’s reasoning (e.g., “Do you agree or disagree? Tell me why.”).

Adding On – Prompt your child to participate further (e.g., “What more would you add to that?”).

Think Time – Wait several seconds (try five) to give your child time to think (e.g., “Take some time to think.”). You may be surprised by how hard it is to stay silent in that time!

Everyday Mathematics:

Daily Decisions

We all use mathematics daily in what we do. Involve your child in using numbers to solve problems and make those everyday decisions with you. For example:

• “Do we have enough plates and utensils for all the guests coming for the birthday party?”
• “We are doubling this recipe. How much of all the ingredients will we need?”
• “We are fertilizing the lawn. The fertilizer bag covers three square meters. How many will we need?”
• “This store is selling the game you want for 20% off of $27.00. That store is selling the same game for $19.99. Where should we shop?”

Growth Mindset in Math

In general, a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and ‘smartness’ can also be learned and that the brain grows from experience and effort. The opposite, a fixed mindset, is the idea that you are smart, or you are not. In math, that translates into “some people are good at math, and some are not.” Did you know that praising efforts rather than intelligence or results can impact your child’s ability to persevere in challenges?! The goal is to have children thrive on challenges and see failures, not as a sign of low intelligence, but as a learning opportunity. Brain research tells us that making mistakes actually wires more connections into the brain! When a person has a growth mindset, they accept challenges, see their efforts as worthwhile, and are open to learning from mistakes. Students with a growth mindset achieve at higher levels than those with fixed mindsets. How can you help? Some simple ways:

• Adding “yet” when they claim they are “not good at this” (Respond: “You are not good at this yet.”)
  
• Ask questions that focus on their effort and choices and get them to reflect on satisfaction of that effort (e.g. What did you learn today? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What did you try hard at today?)
  
• Model this yourself as you share about your day

Source: EduGains. Permission granted to school leaders to include these ideas in communications (e.g. newsletters, websites) with parents/guardians.

• SurveyWorks is a statewide survey sent out annually to students, families, and teachers to hear from Rhode Islanders directly about their experiences in our state's public schools.
• SurveyWorks will be given to all students in grades 3-12, parents, teachers, support professionals and building administrators.
  
• The Rhode Island Family Survey is for all parents to complete. Parents of students receiving special education services will receive a single survey that combines the Rhode Island Family Survey and the Special Education Survey.
  
• Our chosen window is February 24th-March 7th. Please be on the lookout for Steere Farm's special code!

Our School Improvement Team (SIT) met on January 29th. Please see below for our meeting agenda and minutes. Our next meeting is scheduled for April 2nd @ 3:30 p.m.

Students will continue to have outdoor recess, weather permitting. Please ensure your child is dressed for these conditions, and have a coat, hat and gloves in their backpack. When it snows, students who bring in proper gear (snow pants, boots, gloves, etc.) are permitted to play in the snow!

SFE was recently featured in two news articles! One to highlight our new school meal program initiatives and grants and a second about our new basketball hoops. Check them out below!

SFE's annual Kindness Week will be held the week of February 10th! We will celebrate with a Spirit Week, special school-wide kindness activities, and a PJ and blanket drive to give back to our community. Please see the flyers below!

Each month SFE recognizes students who have gone above and beyond to show their 3Rs: Respectful, Responsible and Ready to Learn! Students are nominated by their classroom and/or special subject teachers. Congratulations to our January recipients!

Teachers are nominated by students, who were extremely thoughtful about their nominations! Students love celebrating a teacher monthly. Congratulations to Mr. Ryan (AKA DJ SFE), our January Teacher of the Month!

Students continue to participate in a weekly lesson rooted in one of the four Units: Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness and Compassion in Action; all part of the Choose Love Formula. February is Choose Love awareness month!

A copy of the Choose Love calendar was sent home to all families. We hope the calendar is a daily reminder of the small steps we can take daily to Choose Love at home!

This month the multi-age class has been working hard on their fine motor skills. From building to creating to writing, students have been making great progress. Students also created amazing snowmen! Luckily their snowmen are not going to melt, unlike the real snow and ice they have been learning about in science.

Mrs. Holly’s students read Steven Kroll’s The Biggest Snowman Ever and created their own snowman portraits. They got to work on their cutting and gluing skills to create a collage while exercising their own creativity. What an exciting way to celebrate the winter!

Grade 2 students are working on building towers in science! Students are learning about the properties of solid materials and applying their knowledge to construct towers.

Mr. LaDuke's class just finished a Baba Yaga folktale unit focusing on how some stories may have many different versions. They created an acrostic poem, made their own Baba Yaga puppet and recreated a scene from one of the books with a puppet show. Here the students are proudly showing off their Baba Yaga puppets.

Three times a week, third graders participate in what we call our WIN block. WIN stands for What I Need. Based on the results of our STAR testing, students from all homerooms are mixed up and given some extra practice in either reading or math. Some students work toward goals on Lexia or Freckle, while other students work in partnerships on a new math program called PALS Math. Everyone is working hard to meet or exceed their goals!

Grade 4 students started the New Year making meaningful resolutions and focusing on academic goals for the remainder of the school year!

Fifth grade recently completed their favorite investigation! Students worked in their groups to figure out how to layer four liquids!

Mrs. Adams' literacy enrichment group recently performed a version of the Gingerbread Man!

Students from our literacy enrichment class recently submitted poems to RI Kids Count. Congratulations to Chloe Anthony, Milena Martirosyan, and Sofie Castonguay who were one of six students chosen from around the state! Their poems are a beautiful and creative expression of the many topics and issues advocated for at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. Their poems will be published in the 2025 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT Factbook, which will be released on May 5, 2025.

Please join us for our monthly PTA meeting on Wednesday February 12, 2025 in the Steere Farm library or via Zoom.

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/3566762627?pwd=y6zEdneA54RfHajnprEaiUXSIqxchq.1

Meeting ID: 356 676 2627

Passcode: NzZ7xD

Please join us for our first Valentine's Day Bingo night on Friday February 7 from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Burrillville High School cafeteria! This is a free event for Steere Farm students and their families - siblings can attend. However, this is not a drop off event and parents must stay with their children.

Give a little love....by bringing a much -needed item for our local animal shelter! Most needed items at animal shelter: paper towels, dawn dish soap, canned cat and dog food, cat and dog soft treats.

Sign up below using the sign-up genius.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084AABAC2CA0FAC61-54149729-valentines

We are still in the need of volunteers for indoor recess. We have two more Fridays scheduled – if you are able to volunteer, please signup using the link below.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084AABAC2CA0FAC61-54188490-indoor

Steere Farm Elementary School's fundraiser has started, and we need your help. Our goal is to raise $5,000.00 for field trips, school assemblies, playground equipment, classroom supplies etc.

It's as simple as 1, 2, 3!

1. Register ASAP at www.ShopFund.com (no student code)
2. Share custom support links with family & friends via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email, Text and more.
3. Student Goal: Minimum of 5 Online Supporters.

Yearbook sales are now open. Cost is $25 and the deadline to order is May 2, 2025. Don't miss out!

Are you ready to get your game on?? Come cheer on the teachers of Steere Farm vs the 5th graders followed by an entertaining parent vs parent basketball game in our first ever March Madness fundraiser. Sign up ASAP as space is limited for the parent vs. parent game!

We are also looking for volunteers to ensure this event runs smoothly! Please use the links below!

*Save the date!! Our annual Someone Special Dance will be Friday, May 9, 2025 at Arrowhead Acres.

February 3: PTA's Otis Spunkmeyer Fundraiser

February 7: PTA's Valentine's Bingo Event @ 6:00 p.m. (BHS Cafeteria)

February 10-14: Kindness Week Spirit Week!

February 11: 100th Day of School

February 12: Student of the Month Family Ceremony @ 8:25 a.m.

February 12: PTA Meeting @ 6:30 p.m.

February 17-21: No School - Winter Recess

February 24-March 7: Surveyworks Window

February 28: Bronco Friday