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Principal
Lynn Main
It's Count Time again at Lafayette. Count who? Count why? Count when? Each year, the District of Columbia Public Schools conducts a count of all of its students. A team from a local accounting firm sends workers to each and every school and physically counts each and every present student.
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Please Read:
DCPS Attendance Protocol
1) The Office of Youth Engagement now identifies students who accrue 10 unexcused absences as "chronically truant."
2) Students must be referred to court once they have reached 15 unexcused absences.
3) Students must be at school 80% of the entire school day in order to be considered "present".
Reminder
The only excusable reasons for a student's late arrival and/or absence from school are:
- Illness or medical cause (a doctor's note is needed for 5 or more absences)
- Medical or dental appointment
- Death in the student's immediate family
- Summoned to attend in judicial proceeding
- Religious holiday
- Lawful exclusion or expulsion from school
- Failure of DC to provide transportation
- Emergency or circumstances approved by LEA
In order to be acknowledged as "excused" the student must provide a note to the attendance counselor (written or electronically) from the parent and/or guardian citing at least one of the reasons listed above.
If you have any questions please contact the office and ask to speak to Ms. Bright, or email her.
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Mark Your Calendar
October 16 (Wednesday) Student Count Day October 17 (Thursday) HSA Board Meeting 6:30 p.m. Chancellor Henderson on the State of DCPS, 7:00 p.m. (see below for details) October 18 (Friday)
No School, Professional Development Day October 21 (Monday) No School, Parent-Teacher Conference Day October 22 (Tuesday) Lafayette Tour, 9:00 a.m. October 26 (Saturday) Fall Festival, 3:00 p.m. Movie Night, 5:00 p.m. See full school calendar |
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From the HSA
Gayle Moseley & Hope Scheller, co-presidents
Thank you Katie Burke and the many other parent volunteers who helped make Walk or Bike to School Day a success! We should make every day walk or bike to school day - it's great exercise and a nice opportunity to talk with your children without having to look at them in the rearview mirror! I try to get out the door early enough to make that walk often and I'm always so much happier when I do. My daughter always notices things along our route that I seem to take for granted.
Another thank you goes out to Kim Ford, Laura Comay, Holly Rosenkrantz and Gail Reisman, who led the team of parents that collected and edited the abundance of family information and distributed our new Family Directory this year. This is a very worthy project and your help is greatly appreciated!
We hope everyone has managed to dry out after last week's nonstop rain! Why does it rain the hardest at 8:40am and 3:10pm? Enjoy the rest of your week! Remember, no school on Friday or Monday, which is parent/teacher conference day.
Have a great week!
-- Hope & Gayle
See HSA board members
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One, Two Three...Get Counted!
This Wednesday, October 16th, is the official student count day at Lafayette. A team assembled by DCPS will come to our school and count every student to make sure the number of students listed as enrolled at Lafayette is accurate.
Why does this matter? The budget for our school is linked directly to the projected number of enrolled students from year to year. This count can change the money given to Lafayette for each student by thousands of dollars.
The count will take place in the afternoon and we hope to have a full house. If your little one is under the weather, but can still lift their head off the pillow, Mrs. Main asks that you bring them in to be counted. You can take them home immediately afterwards. |
Lafayette's Mindfulness Program featured in the Washington Post!
 Valerie Strauss devoted her blog last week to mindfulness in schools. You may have heard that Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda is about to launch a school-wide mindfulness program. In an article in the Post about the Whitman program they mentioned that Whitman is the first school in the region to have such a program. But they didn't know about Lafayette!
We wrote to the paper and right away Valerie Strauss blogged about the Whitman program and highlighted our program. She even quotes from our own website! Mindfulness training is really taking off all over the country and Lafayette is on the cutting edge. Read all about it here.
If you have any questions about our school-wide mindfulness program feel free to contact Linda Ryden or Jillian Diesner.
For more information and pictures of all the peaceful events going on at Lafayette, check out our blog. |
Fall Festival Pie-Baking Contest
 It's that time of year of again! Bake your favorite pie for the Fall Festival and have it judged by Mrs. Main. This year, only ONE pie is required to enter, but multiple pies can be submitted for sale. Bring in a family favorite, your grandmother's recipe or the best tasting pie you know how to bake. It's easy! Here are the rules: All pies must be homemade. Submit your pie(s) the day of the festival between 2:00-4:45. Specify: nuts, no nuts, or gluten free. Pay the $15 cash entry fee and include a copy of your pie recipe. Mrs. Main will taste each entry and at 5pm the winner will be announced. The winner should claim his/her prize by 5:30pm and will have his/her recipe published in the Tuesday Bulletin along with a picture of the winner and the winning pie. See the Fall Festival website for more details.
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The Halloween Parade is also a Help the Homeless Walk!
 Again this year, Lafayette school will be participating in the Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walk Program. This program exposes the community to the issue of homelessness in our area. The funds collected by our particular walk - the Halloween Parade- go toward maintaining and expanding the programs of Sinai House. Your paid registration will also count toward the organization's Paid Registration Incentive and help the organization to be eligible for additional funds from Fannie Mae.
Sinai House is a nonprofit organization that provides otherwise homeless families with safe housing, comprehensive social services, and financial support to enable them to move from homelessness to independence. The cost is only $20 and if everyone at Lafayette signs up, it can make a huge difference to families trying to move from homelessness to a safe home. Only online registrations count, so please click here to sign up.
If you have any questions, please contact the Sinai House liaison to Lafayette Elementary School, Jennifer Knoll, at 202-441-2301 or e-mail [email protected]
Also, this is the last week to drop off gently used or new costumes to help the children living in DC's homeless shelters. There are collection bins in the Great Hall and also at Broad Branch Market. Thank you for your generosity. |
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Chancellor Henderson on the State of DCPS
DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson will deliver an address on the state of DCPS this Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m. at Cardozo Education Campus. Please click here for more details. |
Girls' Basketball Tryouts
Girls' Basketball tryouts will take place on Wednesday, October 23, and Friday, October 25. On October 23 the tryouts will take place from 5:20 to 6 p.m., and on October 25 the tryouts will be from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Contact Coach Jackson for more details.
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Technology Corner
Nathan Wieand, Technology Coordinator
Hello Everyone! Sumdog accounts are back up and running for students in grades K-5. Two years ago we implemented a school-wide online math program called Sumdog. For those who aren't familiar, Sumdog is a web-based program that primarily focuses on numeracy and math fact fluency. For more information about the program please read the information and watch the video found here.
There is no need to set up an account for your child and usernames and passwords will be sent home this week, if they haven't already. To access Sumdog, simply go to: http://www.sumdog.com/ and have your child enter their login credentials. Students can play against other students in the school, against the computer, or against students all around the world.
We are reinstating this program due to the fact that we lost our district purchased site license to First in Math, which offers a very similar skill set. If you have any questions or do not receive your child's login credentials by the end of the week please email me.
In addition to having home access to Sumdog this year, students will also have access to ST Math within the next few weeks. After attending a workshop at the end of the week, teachers will be able to assign objectives to be completed at home. The activation codes will be posted in the Tuesday Bulletin and sent them home with students. Thanks for reading! |
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Arts Integration Corner
Jackie Snowden, Arts Integration Coordinator
 The school year is progressing and we are integrating the arts in our daily lessons, as well as in planning informances. If you are not familiar with the term informance, it is a way for our students to inform you of what they have been learning, as opposed to a performance, for entertainment's sake. Hopefully, however, you will be informed and entertained. Once a month, the special subject teachers and I have a collaborative meeting with each grade level to discuss upcoming themes and standards, and what their grade level informance will look like. We also brainstorm how each of our particular disciplines can be applied to daily lessons. For example, I try to find arts integrated lessons that apply, which arts integration strategies can be used, and along with Ms. McLaughlin, we discuss museum exhibits that may correlate and try to plan a visit. We discuss how to document their lessons so you will understand the process that leads to the final product/mastery of the standard. As you walk around the building, you will see evidence of this documentation.
We are demonstrating the Actor's Toolbox, school wide, Tuesday through Thursday, via the morning announcements. I often over hear teachers reminding their students to be in control of their bodies, voices, imagination, concentration, and cooperation, and when moving throughout the building, to be mindful of their focal point, all "tools" in the Actor's Toolbox.
Finally, our CETA Strategic Planning Committee will be going to the Kennedy Center, October 17, for the first of our two annual meetings with other CETA School Committees, to share how we all are integrating the arts. The Committee members are Mrs. Main, Mrs. Hallock, Ms. deJonckheere, Ms. Paul, Mrs. Harn, Mrs. Yedwab, Mrs. Fratto, Mr.Jewett, Ms. Pereira, Ms. McLaughlin, Mr. Holmes, and me. Each school has a CETA Action Plan, outlining goals and objectives for continuing our mission. At Lafayette, our mission is to "embrace the concept of using Arts Integration as an approach to teaching, to engage students in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both. Lafayette is committed to using arts integration to facilitate the development of the social/emotional, academic, kinesthetic, and artistic growth of the WHOLE CHILD.
Our school community will continue to learn about and apply arts integration techniques to ensure that our students learn to create, connect, and inquire throughout their lives. All teachers will work collaboratively to integrate the arts and other subject areas. Arts specialists will serve as a resource for classroom teachers in order to make deeper connections in multiple curriculum areas and to assist students in developing an appreciation for the arts." |
 Buy a WLES Shout Out
Have a custom message read to your child during the morning announcements. It is a great way to say "Happy Birthday," "Good Luck" or just send a fun message to your child at the beginning of the school day. Print and fill out this form, place it and a payment of $15 (checks made out to Lafayette HSA) in the WLES Shout Out box in the Great Hall. Announcements and payment must be received at least seven days prior to the announcement date. Please contact Eden Burgess for more information.
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Community Notices
Pet Care Available. Monday through Friday dog walking and pet care, morning through mid-afternoon slots available but going fast! I am a Lafayette ES Mom, have a cavalier pup, and a small dog walking service in our community.... looking to expand! If you have a dog, I have a leash! Other services available for all pets. I have great references and am ready to help take care of your beloved pets! Email Beth at [email protected]
Support Hope for Henry at Child's Play. Visit Child's Play on Saturday, October 19 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. to support the Hope for Henry Foundation, which brings smiles, laughter and joy to kids with cancer and other serious illnesses. Buy and donate a board game or a superhero toy, and you'll receive a donut in return! For more information about Hope for Henry, click here.
Parent Encouragement Program. PEP presents two talks on November 7 and 8 by Dr. Larry Cohen focused on learning easy-to-implement ways to help children of all ages express feelings, release tension and use fun and play to overcome fears. For more information and to register, click here.
Lafayette+HoopEd= Too Much Fun in October
HoopED is thrilled to announce our schedule for the popular Student Holiday Mini Camps! It is time for us to get back into camp form and have the kids running, jumping, skipping, kicking, shooting and smiling! Visit www.hoopeducation.com. All furloughed parents are welcome to take 14% off of any October Student Holiday Mini Camp...As long as you register for any of the camps taking place on October 18 or October 21 while the shutdown is still on, we will take 14% off your total.
Nanny Available. Our former wonderful nanny is looking for a family to work for on a fulltime basis. She is fantastic, drives and speaks Spanish and English. If interested, please call Jeanneth at 301-325-1260. Feel free to contact me with any questions 202-422-4820 (Libbey).
Baseball Clinic for Moms. Coach Mac, of Homerun Baseball, is offering the first ever clinic especially for mothers of baseball players! The Clinic will take place on Sunday, October 20 from 2:00 - 3:15 at Turtle Park. The Clinic will be interactive and will cover topics such as proper hitting, fielding, and pitching techniques that you can work on with your young players as well as tips on positive encouragement and fitness training. Coach Mac is asking for a donation of $75 that he will give to an organization that he supports in the Dominican Republic. Come and join in and have some fun! If you have questions, contact Laurie Kohn at [email protected].
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Thank You Lafayette Sponsors!
These organizations support Lafayette through a generous annual donation- please support them!
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Make a Submission
Submissions for next week's issue should be emailed to [email protected]. Submissions are due by 3:15 p.m. on Friday. Submissions received after this time will be included in the following issue, unless instructed otherwise. Please keep submissions brief. Longer articles may be truncated at the editor's discretion, with a link to the full text.
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