This week we take to the great outdoors as we celebrate two separate Field Days. On Wednesday, our pre-K and kindergarten boys and girls will spend the morning running around the playground going from station to station exploring movement and their bodies. For this school year they have been having a weekly period with Ms. Perll learning how to run, skip, gallop and jump.

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.

Mark Your Calendar

May 28 (Wednesday)

Field Day, Pre-K/Kindergarten

May 29 (Thursday)

HSA Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

May 30 (Friday)

Field Day, Grades 1-5

May 31 (Saturday)

Book Fair at Politics and Prose (all day)

June 4 (Wednesday)

5th Grade Overnight Trip to Gettysburg

June 5 (Thursday)

HSA Pre-Meeting Dinner, 6:00 p.m.

HSA General Meeting (Vote on Budget), 6:30 p.m.

Internet Safety Talk, 7:15 p.m.

June 6 (Friday)

Rain Date for Field Day (grades 1-5)

See full school calendar

From the HSA

Gayle Moseley & Hope Scheller, co-presidents

"We want pie! ... What?" "We want pie! ... What?" This was the chant at Lafayette last Friday afternoon as our children gathered in the Great Hall, waiting for the annual pie toss. As a reward for raising over $20,000 during Jump Rope for the Heart, four lucky Lafayette students were selected to toss a pie into the face of four Lafayette staff members. To the utter delight of every student in the Great Hall, Ms. Shapiro (4), Ms. McClure, Mr. Hover, and Mrs. Main each ended the week with a face full of whipped cream! What a great way to kick off Memorial Day weekend, as well as the last four weeks of school.

There are only a couple more days to look over the HSA proposed DRAFT budget. We hope that you will take a quick look and leave us your comments, questions or suggestions HERE before noon on Thursday May 29. The final budget will be presented for a vote at HSA General Meeting on June 5.

This Saturday, May 31 is the Lafayette Book Fair at Politics & Prose. Twenty percent (20%) of all purchases made with a Lafayette voucher between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. will be donated back to our school. Please pick up your voucher from the Lafayette table on the lower level of the store before you shop. This is the perfect opportunity to purchase a little summer reading for the whole family.

Have a great week!

Hope & Gayle

See HSA board members

Field Day Volunteers Still Needed

Thank you to everyone who has signed up for this year's field day. This is a huge event for all of our students in grades 1-5. It takes a team of many people to keep our children engaged, active and safe. This year's theme is "iFit". We are combining technology and fitness and making apps come alive. Please consider helping out. At minimum I need 20 more volunteers--that's only one more parent from each class. All you have to do is go to our "Signup Genius" and pick a station. The directions are right there. So pick something that sounds like fun. If you can't decide, choose the "Fire Hose Drag", "Ranger Crawl" or "Rope Waves." I don't want to eliminate these three stations.

Volunteers are needed on Friday, May 30 from 8:30-12 noon

If you are unable to use the signup genius, please contact me and I will sign you up. [email protected]

Thank you in advance for your support.

Ms. McClure

Physical Education Teacher

Book Fair at Politics & Prose:

Saturday, May 31 politicsandproselogo

The book fair is only days away! All day on May 31, 20% of the purchase price at Politics and Prose will be donated to the Lafayette HSA--as long as you show the cashier a Lafayette voucher, which will be available at the store. Save the date to swing by with the kids.

We have two special guests reading to students. Ms. Main has generously agreed to read a book to students at 10:30 a.m. in the Children's Department. Ms. Perll will be reading at 3:30 p.m., also in the Children's Department.

At the Lafayette table on the ground floor, we will have summer reading lists and teacher wish lists. So stop by if you want to get a jump on buying summer reading or to contribute to your teacher's classroom book collection.

Required Reading: 2014 Summer Reading Guide is More than a Guide

It's unofficially summer and Lafayette's 2014 Summer Reading Guide is officially out. Don't be fooled by the title. While it has great choices to "guide" your child's summer reading and loads of suggestions for students in need of a reading challenge, it also has required reading andassignments that are due in August when your child returns to school.

books

All "rising" first through fifth grade students are responsible for the required reading and assignments for the grade level they will enter in August. Teachers in Grades 1-5 expect ALL students to do their summer reading just as we expect them to have other summer fun. Assignments are due the first week of school and teachers will begin collecting them the first day.

All reading titles in the summer reading guide can be found in public libraries or book stores. Childsplay and Politics & Prose offer discounts for books that fulfill the summer reading requirements. Each grade's list has choices that are on, below, and above grade level, but parents can also look at a lower grade's list if your child needs an easier read. If you want to check on the reading level of a book go to this web site and type in the book's title.

http://bookwizard.scholastic.com/tbw/homePage.do

Our mutual goal as Lafayette teachers and parents is to instill children with the love of reading and writing.This has always been a partnership between us, so we appreciate your support and cooperation in seeing that your children meet the summer reading goals that we have set. After all, a summer without school shouldn't mean a summer without reading!

On behalf of the teachers of the Summer Reading Committee: Alycia Hallock, Carol Hill, Kathy Baldwin, Cheryl Phillips, Nancy Nickel, Ashley Powell, Blake Yedwab, Jared Catapano, Judy Fratto, Annie Campbell, Brad Jewett and Judith Perlin, we thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Kathy Echave,

Reading Specialist

Call for Ads: Lafayette Directory

This year we will once again work with AtoZ Directories to produce a quality School Directory, and we'd like to invite our Community families and area merchants to purchase advertising space.

The directory is used by almost every family in the school and is checked many times each week when arranging play-dates, contacting room parents, scheduling volunteer activities, and the like. There are full page, half page, and business card advertising opportunities available.

Premium advertising spaces are also available and, as is customary, we will hold a lottery before the end of school for these prime locations. Parents interested in a premium location or a regular ad should complete this form and send it to AtoZ Directories by June 10, 2014. Once the lottery is held, AtoZ Directories will contact you to let you know your location and all the other details you will need. There is no need to send payment or artwork until your location is finalized. Please feel free to pass it on to local merchants that you think might be interested in advertising.

A Poetic Farewell to Lafayette Lafayette logo

Dear Lafayette, it pains me to go.

Dear Lafayette, you taught me things which by heart I know.

Dear Lafayette, I walked your halls to and fro.

Dear Lafayette, you're a friend not a foe.

Dear Lafayette, Mrs. Main was the back bone.

Dear Lafayette, it pains me to go.

Thank you,

Karen Daniels

5th Grade

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.

Community Notices

Experienced Summer Tutor/Coach Available: I offer individualized English language arts, pre-algebra, and admissions test preps to students in grades 4 to 6. I'm a licensed and lifelong Lafayette neighbor with an advanced degree in linguistics, decades of experience, and outstanding community references. I'll be pleased to prepare two-month and summer-long packages tailored to the needs and interests of students continuing at Lafayette, Deal, and Latin, and applying to private schools. Contact Maggie Ronkin 202-316-2263.

The Children's Art Studio wishes you and your family a happy and healthy Summer. We invite your child to join us for camp including a Half Day Camp June 16-20 for children four years old and up, a Full Day Camp June 23-27 and a Full Day Camp the week of June 30 - July 3, (with no meeting the July 4th holiday). Full Day Camps are for children five years old and up.

Come see what 'Our Kids Magazine' called, "Totally awesome. Too good to be true, but it is and it is right here in Tenleytown." Please visit our site for more info. We hope your child will join us!

Thank You Lafayette Sponsors!

These organizations support Lafayette through a generous annual donation- please support them!

Learn more about becoming a Lafayette sponsor.

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