My family finally managed to put away the Halloween decorations this weekend, and the candy is almost gone (or maybe I finally threw it away...). After the good-natured silliness and sugar, November reminds us to be thankful for all that we have and those that have fought to protect it.

For those of us who have first graders, last Friday's Patriotic Performance was a terrific way to kick off the Veteran's Day weekend. All the children proudly wore their red, white and blue while passionately singing our national songs. Many thanks to the first grade teachers and our art teacher, Ms. McLaughlin, for producing a performance to honor those who have served.

As we navigate the daily joys and challenges of our lives, it is easy to forget the tremendous sacrifices so many have made for our country. The holiday season is a great opportunity to talk to our children about how we demonstrate gratitude to veterans, particularly those wrestling with ongoing effects from their service.

Please book your babysitter for this Friday! The Drama Club has been hard at work perfecting their performance of Chaos, a musical written and produced by Lafayette's very own Steven King. In the spirit of giving, your price of admission is to bring one non-perishable food item tobe donated to Shepherd's Table. It is sure to be a wonderful performance and we hope to see you there.

Lastly, this Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm is the Lafayette Modernization Community meeting to be held in the school's cafetorium. This is your chance to learn more about our school's renovation as well as provide input and feedback.

All the best,
Laurie and Hope

See HSA board members

Join the HSA

School Renovation Update

Community Meeting - TOMORROW!!! November 12 at 7:30 pm

As you may know, DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the DC Department of General Services (DGS) are currently in the preliminary design stages for the upcoming modernization of Lafayette Elementary School.

Please join us for a Community Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm in the cafetorium for an update on the project. In this meeting DGS will share the latest design images for community feedback and input.

Attached is a flyer with information about the meeting. Please share the flyer with your family, neighbors and anyone whom you feel would be interested in receiving an update on the project.

We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting on November 12 and working together in the coming months towards a successful modernization of the Lafayette Elementary School building!

For those unable to attend the meeting, the presentation will be posted to the DGS Lafayette Project Page on the website after the meeting.

A School Improvement Team (SIT), comprised of teachers, parents, and community members, has been meeting regularly and advising the D.C. government and its contractors about the needs of our school. Though no final decisions have been made, a tentative set of plans are available here. Questions or feedback about the project can be sent to Lafayette parent and SIT member Gayle Moseley.

Save the Date! Friday, November 14 @ 7 pm

The Drama Club has been hard at work perfecting their performance of Chaos, an original musical by our very own Steven King. This year, we are pleased to announce an evening performance of the play on Friday, November 14 at 7:00 PM, the Lafayette Cafetorium.

In the spirit of this season of giving and thanks, this performance is also a canned food drive. As your price of admission, please bring non perishable canned goods. All collected canned goods will be donated to Shepherd's Table.

Peace Club is More Popular than Ever!

If you have a child in second grade or up you may have heard them talk about Peace Club.

Peace Club is different from the weekly Peace Classes that all of the kids at Lafayette take. Peace Club is a special alternative lunch and recess program for 2nd - 5th graders. It is a mixed-age group of anywhere from 20-50 kids that has become popular with kids who love to do arts and crafts, with kids who love to play with legos and magna-tiles, kids who like to be in a smaller environment with a higher teacher-child ratio, and kids who sometimes struggle with social skills. Peace Club is led by Peace Teacher Linda Ryden, and the school counselors Jillian Diesner and Rashida Mosby.

Everyone who comes to Peace Club makes a promise to treat everyone else with kindness and respect, to make sure that conflicts are worked out peacefully, and that everyone is included. Some older children are asked to be Peace Club helpers.

If you were to drop by Peace Club you would probably be surprised by how noisy it is. It is not "peaceful" on the surface. But there is so much going on there that is contributing to making Lafayette a more peaceful place. The children eat lunch together getting to know children in other grades and classes. After lunch they have lots of options designed to encourage cooperation and social interactions. Some children choose to make the wonderful peace posters that line the halls at Lafayette. Many children choose to join together to make fantastic structures. Some children play board games or guessing games or Twister.

Peace Club is a welcoming community-within-a-community at Lafayette. It meets on Tuesday - Thursday from 12-1 pm. 3rd, 4th and 5th graders can come every day, and 2nd graders come on Tuesdays. For more information, contact Linda Ryden.

It's Time for Coats & Cocktails! Friday, December 5, 7:30pm

Please join your fellow Lafayette parents at our wonderful annual benefit for Bruce Monroe and Neval Thomas Elementary Schools.

Kindly bring new or gently worn children's coats, mittens, hats, scarves, boots, and books.

More information

Lafayette Track Season Underway!

Any and all 4th and 5th graders are welcome to participate in Track at Lafayette-no tryouts necessary! Practices are Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays on the field. For more information, contact Jordan Murray.

Community Notices

CrossFit Kids Classes. Starting this week, November 12, Second Wind CrossFit will be offering CrossFit Kids classes from 4:30 to 5:15pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. CrossFit Kids is a program designed to teach kids proper body movement while having fun exercising. If your child is not an athlete, it's simply a fun program that's not unlike gym class: teaching kids how their bodies work and move correctly, using functional movement. We play games, do gymnastics, and we work up to proper weightlifting technique (varsity) - all age appropriate.

If your child is an athlete, the program will supplement their sport by teaching them proper form. Varsity athletes will eventually learn proper weightlifting techniques that will transfer to better form in their high school conditioning classes. We teach squatting, pulling, pushing, jumping and climbing.... all in a fun atmosphere.

Varsity: age 13 - 17 Wednesday 4:30-5:15 pm

Jr. Varsity: age 8 - 12 Thursday 4:30-5:15 pm

Classes will be small group, with a limit of 12 per class. $12/class

For more information, see www.SecondWindCrossFit.com or to reserve a spot, email us at [email protected].

Parent's Night Out! Plan a date night and make your reservations for a Parent's Night Out at St. Paul's Lutheran Church on 11/21 and 12/19. Reptile presentation, puppet show, games, movies, and pizza for the kids will be on tap. For more information, click here.

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.