The first week of school is always exciting - kids are adjusting to new teachers and everyone is figuring out new routines. This year we also have the pleasure of getting to know our new Principal, Dr. Carrie Broquard, and several new teachers. We are truly honored to be your HSA Co-Presidents this year and hope many of you will join us in our continued efforts to enrich the Lafayette experience for our kids.

We hope you noticed how great the front of the school was looking when you arrived yesterday - a huge thank you to the amazing crew of volunteers who, despite the rain, came out on Saturday and spent hours weeding, mulching, painting and planting. Both kids and parents worked hard and had fun sprucing things up for the first day - great job!

Yesterday you should have received a bright yellow envelope in your child's backpack folder. There is important back-to-school information in there, so please take a few minutes to look it over. If your family did not receive an envelope, please let one of us know and we'll make sure one gets home to you.

Thanks to the HSA Hospitality Chairs! A big THANK YOU to hospitality chairs Sarah Rabasco and Lisa Mitchell, for organizing a back-to-school lunch for the teachers on Friday and a parent welcome-back coffee yesterday. Teachers and parents look forward to these annual traditions which mark the start of school and give everyone a chance to catch up after a summer away. We appreciate the time and effort that goes into organizing these events.

Please check our website often for up to date happenings at Lafayette and feel free to contact Hope or Laura anytime.

Have a great first week of school!

-- Hope & Laura

See HSA board members

Join the HSA

Lafayette Enrichment Update

The Fall Session of the Lafayette Enrichment Program starts the week of September 15th! Registration begins today, August 26th. Visit our registration site to enroll.

The fall Lafayette Enrichment Program (LEP) can be found on the school website in two navigation areas: "For Parents" and "Student Life." Read about changes, browse the new class brochure (paper copy comes home this week), and look at the class calendar.

Questions? Email Hope Scheller.

Lafayette HSA Donation and ClassrooActivity Fee in One Easy Step

Did you know that many of the great programs and services you and your children enjoy at Lafayette happen because of your tax deductible support of the Lafayette HSA?

Everything from the 23,000 books in our library to the computers in our classrooms to art and music enrichment programs to recess sports; even our highly regarded Peace and Mindfulness program happens because parents like you give generously.

We know families are busy and you get lots of requests thrown at you at the start of the school year. So this year we wanted to make donating to the HSA easier, simpler and quicker. Click here to make your donation today.

We are making a big push in the first month of school to get families to give early and give one flat fee for their whole family instead of a per child amount like we have asked for in recent years.

We have created two donation levels for families. Our standard HSA family donation of $500 or our new Golden L donation level of $1,000, that covers the costs for you and your family to HSA events throughout the year - including 2 tickets to our annual School Auction Party and Dinner, and Fast Pass wristbands for your whole family to our Spring and Fall Festivals.

We've also added in a new feature this year to help parents pay their classroom activity fee on line as well. This $100 fee, which is separate from your HSA donations, goes directly to your child's classroom teacher to pay for things like field trips, class parties and special programs and assemblies.

You can donate on line and pay your classroom activity fund or you can use the forms that were sent home last week in the mail or will be coming home this week in your backpack express. Just fill them out and return them to the HSA Donation Drawer in the Great Hall. It's the one with bright yellow stars on it.

You can also do installment payments for $500 or $1,000 dollars. Please contact Jenny Backus if you would like me to pick up your installment payment form or if you have any questions about the process.

Thanks for your support of our great school and a special thank you to the teachers and families who have already made their 2014-2015 HSA donations.

And a super special thank you to Lafayette parents; Joe Fuld, owner of The Campaign Workshop and his design team led by Sophie Thurber, Julie Coan -Lafayette webmaster extraordinaire, and Chaeny Emanavin, Josh Lahey and Hope Scheller for their great work on our HSA Donation Drive materials.

Jenny Backus, HSA Donation Director

Athletics Information

I hope everyone had a relaxing summer and is ready for the 2014-2015 school year and athletic year. I am happy to be back for another year and look to continue the tradition that we have at Lafayette. This year we will be using the Lafayette athletic shutterfly website. We also have a twitter feed: @lafayettebears.

In order to participate in athletics your son or daughter must have an up to date physical on file in the nurse's office. Physicals are good for 1 year. After 1 calendar year the physical will expire and a new one is needed for athletic participation. The doctor should also check the box that says the chil d is cleared to participate in athletics. Submitting an up to date physical is a part of registration for school and the universal health certificate can be found in the registration packet. I also need a parent consent form and an athletic data treatment form. I will put these forms on the shutterfly site, and on the twitter feed. When I meet with interested students I will also give them a copy of these forms.

To participate in athletic there will be a small fee to assist for paying for the Lafayette Invitational cross country meet. Buses to meets as DCIAA is not provided buses for no DCIAA meets. For basketball we will need to pay for referee fees. I am working with Ms. Walker to determine the cost for these items and will get that information to each team when their season starts.

The sports that Lafayette will compete in this school year are:

* Cross Country Boys and Girls

* Indoor and Outdoor Track Boys and Girls

* Basketball Boys and Girls

I'm looking forward to an exciting and successful school year and athletic year. If you need to contact me or call or text me at 443-248-9934, or tweet @lafayettebears.

-Kevin Jackson

Lafayette Tennis

Lafayette Lunchtime Tennis will begin right after Labor Day. The Lunchtime program for 1

^st-5^th graders will begin on September 2nd and run for 10 weeks ending on November 7th. The fee for the 10 weeks is $150. Schedules will be set for each class based on other activities such as band practices that take place during lunch recess. Lunchtime Tennis is a great way for school friends to enjoy a fun physical activity together during their lunch recess.

Lafayette Afterschool Tennis will be starting on September 2nd which is the day after Labor Day and run for 9 weeks until November 3rd. There will be 3:30 and 4:30 sessions on Monday through Friday for the kids ranging from 5 to 14 years old in beginning, advanced beginner and intermediate classes. There will be teen classes at 5:30 on Monday through Thursday. These classes run for 9 weeks and cost $180.

Lafayette Adult Tennis - Started August 25th! Drop the kids off and come up to the tennis courts for a one hour lesson at 9:15 or 10:30 on Monday through Friday. Or if you work all day, come to an evening 6:30 PM adult clinic. Clinics will be for beginner, advanced beginner and intermediate players. Fee is $240 for 12 sessions. Call me to find out where you fit into one of these clinics.

Visit Lafayette tennis website for registration forms and space availability, or email or call Paul Rosenbaum at 202-441-0925. Registration forms can also be picked up in the Great Hall.

Letter from the Editor

For those of you new to Lafayette, the Tuesday Bulletin is the communications arm of the Lafayette Home and School Association. It's where you will find important information from HSA officers and teachers and staff on news, events, and fundraisers at Lafayette. It's also where to turn for information on after-school curricular activities and volunteer opportunities at the school and within the community.

The "Community Notices" section of each bulletin, akin to a classified-ad section, is where families can submit up to two ads per semester. The ads must have a clear Lafayette connection. We do not accept ads for most commercial businesses or real estate. For the convenience of families, we do post ads for camps, classes and after-school activities that take place at Lafayette and within the community. Please note that these programs are not run by Lafayette or the HSA.

To meet our deadlines, editors need all submissions e-mailed to [email protected] by the previous Friday. Notices should include your name, phone number, e-mail address, as well as connection to Lafayette.

Thank you to parent editors Miriam Van Dyck, Sheryl-Ann Gayle, Katya Svirina, and Gayle Moseley for joining me in producing the bulletin again this year.

-Teresa G. Gionis

Community
Community Notices

The Children's Art Studio wishes your child a happy and successful school year and we invite you to join us for after school classes this fall. Tuesdayis for PK,K;Wednesdayis for First, Second and Third Graders; andThursdayis for those interested in Advanced Drawing and Painting. Please see our site for more information about our program and classes: http://www.childrensartstudio.org

Thank You Lafayette Sponsors!

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our very generous Annual Sponsors for 2014-2015, your continued support is amazing!

Learn more about becoming a Lafayette sponsor.

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.