Happy New Year! We have embraced 2015 with enthusiasm and snow shovels! A quick note on winter weather....Our custodial staff does an outstanding job shoveling and salting our building during snow and ice. However, our building is HUGE and we are often outmanned. If you see it snowing, please feel free to bring your shovel and help! We won't turn you away!

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Mark Your Calendar

January 15 (Thursday)

HSA General Meeting

January 16 (Friday)

Coffee Talk

January 19 (Monday)

No School - MLK Day

January 20 (Tuesday)

School Tour

January 23 (Friday)

12:15 School Dismissal

See full school calendar

From the HSA

Hope Scheller and Laura Lindsley, co-presidents

Only a week in, and January is turning into a busy start to the second half of the school year! This week comes complete with both Girls and Boys basketball games all week long, the Indoor Track Championships Wednesday, a very important HSA General Meeting Thursday, and Dr. Broquard's Coffee Talk on Friday. The rest of the month looks much the same, nothing like getting right back into the swing of things.

We would like to invite each of you to come out this Thursday for a very important General HSA Meeting (see announcement below). As always, this meeting is your chance to hear what's on tap for the HSA, ask questions, and voice any concerns you might have about the school year ahead. We also have quite a bit of housekeeping to take care of, and we need a quorum of HSA members to make it happen. We need to make a few minor changes to both our bylaws and our budget. We also need to elect our Nominating Committee-they need to get started with the process of making sure all of the HSA board positions have a candidate for the election this Spring. We are hoping to see lots of faces, both old & new, in the crowd-please consider this your personal invitation.

Have a great week!

Hope and Laurie

See HSA board members

Join the HSA

HSA General Meeting

Thursday, January 15, 2015

We are holding an HSA General Meeting this Thursday, January 15th. We will start the evening off at 6:30 PM, and have both dinner and free childcare available. The schedule will be as follows:

6:30PM: Pizza for sale @ $1 per slice. Your choice of pizza comes with salad, dessert and a beverage.

7:00PM: General meeting commences

Whether you are coming from LAP, home or other after-school activities, we hope you will join us and bring your families. Chi Omega, an American University sorority, is volunteering their time to help us with childcare. Childcare will be split into two categories. A quiet/homework room and a fun room with games and crafts. Whatever your needs, we hope to have you covered. **Please note that children participating in childcare must be at least 3 years old and potty trained**

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tis the Season...

For School Delays and Closures

Snow, rain, and ice may result in closure, early dismissal, or delayed opening. For the most up to date information, first check the DCPS website. To receive delay and closure notifications via text message, enter your cell phone number on the bottom right-hand side of the DCPS home page.

Jump Rope for Heart

This year Jump Rope for Heart will be held on

Tuesday, February 24th. All children at Lafayette are invited and encouraged to attend. PK, K and 1st grades will have their event Jump Rope for Heart during the school day. 2nd -5th will jump after school from 3:15-5:30.

Jump rope for Heart (JRFH) is a community service activity that we have participated in for the past 17 years. It's a tool to teach our kids about heart healthy nutrition and the importance of physical activity on our bodies. It is also a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Fun ds raised are used for cardiovascular disease research, stroke research and health education.

Materials will be distributed to students this Friday. Check backpacks for JRFH envelope, instructions and due dates. Be sure to return permission slip by due date.

Be on the lookout for more info in the upcoming weeks.

As always, thank you to the school community for your support of this community service project. If you have any questions please see Ms. McClure, Ms Perll or Mr. Jackson.

Ms. McClure

Physical Education Teacher

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED - JUMP ROPE FOR HEART

Ms. McClure is searching for a few parents to help her with Jump Rope for Heart. If you know your way around a spread sheet, want to assist with "Duck Distribution" on the days when the incentives come in, or want to help on the day of (in February) with the set-up and distribution of food, then please contact Eileen Dombo at [email protected].

Wilson HS Principal Search meeting

The search for Wilson High School's next principal is underway. To learn more about how the principal selection process for Wilson will work, come to a community meeting on Wednesday, January 14th at 7:30 pm in the school's Auditorium (Chesapeake Street entrance.) Dan Shea, DCPS Instructional Superintendent, and Mark Donnelly from the DCPS Office of Human Capital, will walk us through the process and solicit our input on what characteristics we'd like to see in our next principal. The process for selecting parent representatives and alternates to serve on a community panel that will interview Principal candidates will also be outlined.

Auction Update

Fight for your right to party [and to bid on loads of exciting items] at this year's auction, a battle of the bands.

May the best band and highest bidders win!

Rock Me Lafayette

3-28-15

Because even parents are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of rock and roll

Community Notices

Indoor Winter Tennis at Lafayette Elementary School in LEP

There are still opening in the following sessions.

January 5th through March 9

3:30 Monday Beginner Grades 4-5 5 spots open

4:30 Monday Beginner Grades 2-3 4 spots open

3:30 Tuesday Beginner Grades Pre-K-1 Full

4:30 Tuesday Adv Beg Grades 1-3 3 spots open

3:30 Friday Adv Beg Grades 3-5 1 spot open

4:30 Friday Adv Beg Grades 2-5 5 spots open

You will receive a refund from Paul Rosenbaum for the week you already missed.

Looking to clean out after receiving all of those new gifts? We are looking for donations for the students at the Episcopal Center for Children. ECC is a school in our neighborhood and the students there work to earn "cash" to spend at the school store. The items listed below will be very motivating to them. Here is a list of the most wanted/needed items

Used gaming systems and games

Balls - footballs, basketballs, baseballs, tennis balls

Sports equipment - baseball gloves, goals, bats...

Gently used clothing

Board games for children ages 5 to 13

Card games such as: Sleeping Queens, Rat a tat Cat, Slamwich, Uno

Puzzles: 24-500 pieces

Art supplies: markers, colored pencils, sketch pads, construction paper, coloring books

Lego sets

Play Mobile sets

Barbie dolls and clothes

Books of varying levels

A box will be placed in the Great Hall marked with ECC on it. Please leave donations there or contact Cate Tafur to arrange for a pick up. Phone: 908-313-9895 [email protected]

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.