James W. Rice Elementary School

🚧 Something BIG is taking shape at JWR... 🚧

Right now it may just look like a lot of dirt, but trust us—great things are coming!

Flashback Friday! In April, our 5th and 6th graders brought learning to life at Junior Achievement's BizTown! After preparing in class—applying for jobs, learning about business, and practicing real-world skills—students stepped into their roles and ran a student-sized town for the day.

A huge THANK YOU to our amazing volunteers—retirees, friends and family of staff, and our wonderful parents—who made this experience possible.

Congratulations to Odalys and Isaiah who recently scored 100% on end of year district assessments and were honored at the district Governing Board meeting. We are so proud of you!

We were super proud today of two of our student leaders who joined a panel of students from across Alhambra Elementary School District to provide student input to a group of parents and staff working to bring a districtwide vision to life. The day’s theme was “Building Literacy Coherence: Defining the Student Experience in AESD.”

One of our amazing 3rd graders, even took the microphone and shared his thoughts with the entire group about the importance of teaching vocabulary. He explained that even if students can read the words, if they do not understand what the words mean, they cannot understand the meaning of the whole sentence.

Our students represented our school with confidence, thoughtfulness, and leadership. We are so proud of their voices, ideas, and commitment to learning.

Congratulations to art teacher Rachel Giterman, pictured with CARES teacher Lydia Stevens, as we celebrate an amazing opportunity for our students.

We are deeply grateful to the Arizona Diamondbacks for selecting students in our CARES Autism Program to receive a generous $10,000 grant! This support will help us begin creating an adaptive physical education classroom designed to better serve all students and provide meaningful opportunities for movement, growth, and inclusion.

CARES stands for Communication, Academic, Responsive Intervention, Emotional Learning, and Social Skills — and we are proud to continue growing opportunities for every student at James W. Rice Elementary. 💙⚾

It was so much fun welcoming next year’s kindergarteners to our STEP UP Day! 💙🖤 Our Student Lighthouse Committee helped lead the way by walking across the street to bring our younger buddies to campus.

Once here, students toured all the important places — the library, cafeteria, gym, playground, and a kindergarten classroom — and even got to meet our school mascot and kindergarten teachers!

This special day was a wonderful example of our Learn, Lead, Connect vision in action as students built connections and practiced leadership while helping future Jaguars feel excited and welcomed for next year.

A big thank you to preschool teachers Ms. Austin, Ms. Tosh, Ms. Rubio, and Ms. White for bringing students on this special field trip! 🐾