It's hard to believe that this is the last week of January. It has been a busy month, and according to the school calendar, February will be just as busy.

Jump Rope for Heart is a fun event that has been a staple at Lafayette for as long as I can remember. The event takes place on February 24th, and Ms. McClure is still looking for a couple of parent volunteers to help make the event a success. If you a few hours to help out either during school, or after school, please email Eileen Dombo ([email protected]). More information on JRFH can be found in the article below.

Can you believe the Spring auction is just two months away? The Rock Me Lafayette party (see save the date below) is sure to be a good time! The auction itself could use your help. The auction team is always looking for help, as well as donations. Right now they are in need of hotel stays, concert tickets (possibly in a skybox or suite), sporting event tickets, airlines miles, American Express points, and any kind of behind the scenes spectacular experience you can think of. Email Shannon Behm ([email protected]) if you can help, or have a connection that may be able to help us make our auction amazing.

Congratulations to all of the brave spellers in this year's spelling bee! It was an inspiring morning, and our students whizzed through some very tough words. Kudos to all who participated.

Have a great week, and stay warm!

Hope and Laurie

See HSA board members

Join the HSA

Save the Date!
3-28-15

Fight for your right to party [and to bid on loads of exciting items] at this year's auction, an epic Battle of the Bands.

LEP Update

The Winter Session of the Lafayette Enrichment Program (LEP) is into its third week and going great! Thank you for your cooperation and patience.

Although enrollment for most classes is closed, there are a few that are still accepting enrollment. Log on to the LEP registration site to see register for Hoop Dance or Hip Hop/Jazz.

noteBusters....you can still register for noteBusters. The theme this spring is the music of Annie and Oliver, and the class begins Thursday, March 19th.

Please remember that all children need to be signed out. Please remind your kids that they need to be signed out. Their cooperation makes the process move faster. We want everyone to have fun with a layer of safety for good measure.

Get Your Grizzly Gear - Last Call!

Snow? Ice? Rain? The weather may come and go but now you and your child can stay warm with winter Grizzly Gear!

Order forms were sent home with your child or you can access one here. Please place form and payment in the Grizzly Gear mailbox in the Great Hall. Orders are due by January 30 for delivery the week of February 23. Thank you!

Deal Open House

The open house originally scheduled for Saturday, January 24 was cancelled due to inclement weather. The open house will instead take place on Saturday, January 31 from 9 am - 12 pm. As this open house is on a Saturday, it's a bit different from other open houses. Classes are not in session and the focus is more on tours and general conversations about Deal and its direction. Come out and meet some of the wonderful Deal staff!

Mindfulness at the Super Bowl?

This week my students were pretty surprised to hear me talk about football since it's not exactly the most peaceful of sports. But it turns out that the kids at Lafayette have something major in common with the Seattle Seahawks: they all practice mindfulness! As you may know, the Seahawks have not always been the best team but they won the Super Bowl last year and are going to the Super Bowl again this year. Most commentators attribute their recent success to Coach Pete Carroll's emphasis on Mindfulness Meditation. Coach Carroll believes that mindfulness helps his players focus, block out distractions, deal with anger, anxiety and stress, and create a more cohesive team. Check out this article to find out more about Coach Carroll's philosophy. If mindfulness can help professional football players play better, just imagine what it can do for our little leaguers, or soccer players, or ballet dancers, or violin players! If you would like to learn more about the benefits of mindfulness check out our blog at www.lafayetteoasis.blogspot.com or email me at [email protected].

January Bear Facts

See this school year's January edition of Bear Facts, a student-written and published newsletter that includes school news, teacher interviews, student council updates and more.

Spelling Bee Winners

Unlike last year, neither snow nor sleet nor freezing rain kept Lafayette spellers from their scheduled date for the spelling bee. On Jan. 22, 54 brave spellers in grades 3-5 showed just how well-prepared they were and gave the audience an exciting bee that kept us all on the edge of our seats.

The bee lasted nearly two hours before Christopher O'Brien became our school champ when he spelled the winning word--o-s-c-u-l-a-t-e! The second place winner was Maddie Feldman, and in a third-place tie, came Annelise Jacobson and Sammy Taubman. All are fifth graders. Christopher is in Ms. Skubel's home base, while Maddie, Annelise and Sammy are all in Mr. Gregal's home base.

Christopher, Maddie and Sammy, who won a spell-off for the honor, will represent Lafayette at the cluster bee which is the next leg in the journey to the Nationals. The cluster bee is scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 25. Annelise will study along with the finalists for this next round and stands ready to step in as our alternate. Lafayette could have multiple winners at the cluster bee level; each would then continue to the city-wide bee in March. That event is televised on Channel 4 at a date to be announced later. A win there will move ONE DC speller to the National Spelling Bee in May.

A pizza party and certificates of participation are in store for all our spellers who studied so hard for two months. I'd also like to thank the dedicated teachers of the spelling bee committee who provided daily practice opportunities for the spellers since Thanksgiving and have assisted in so many other ways. They are: Ms. Betz, Ms. Campbell, Mr. Catapano, Ms. Culver, Ms. Fratto, Mr. Gregal, Ms. Hill, Ms. Howard, Ms. Jensen, Mr. King, Ms. Pajor, Ms. Perlin, Ms. Powell, Mr. Rogall, Ms. L. Shapiro, Ms. Skubel, and Ms. Yedwab. Mr. Wieand provided the recording and sound for us that is required by the National Spelling Bee. Additionally, Ms. McLaughlin made the beautiful spelling bee banner for the stage. Best of all, Mr. Thurston came back to reprise his role of our intrepid pronouncer! A great crew, great students, and a great bee!

Community Notices

The fourth grade Girl Scout Lafayette troop #6014 is collecting donations for the Washington Animal Rescue League. Please drop off sheets, towels, dog and cat toys in the small box in the great hall. The collection will go through February 12. Thank you for supporting the Girl Scouts as they work towards their bronze award.

Expert academic coach available (all subjects). Recently, I've tutored reading and writing, concept-based math (aligned with the Common Core and PARCC assessments), social studies, science, and standardized test preparation to students in grades four to six--at Lafayette, Murch, Janney, Deal, Latin, and in private schools. I'm a lifelong resident with training in writing studies, an advanced degree in linguistics from Georgetown University, and extensive teaching and consulting experience. I'd be pleased to provide references and to work closely with Lafayette families to provide exceptional after-school instruction at your homes or mine. Summer study programs for individuals and groups also are available. Please contact Maggie Ronkin @ 202-316-2263 and [email protected].

Missing Cat Gabby. Our cat Gabby has been missing now for almost 4 weeks and might have been potentially spotted around the Lafayette School area. Gabby is white with grey markings and is missing her hind leg. So if you see her I appreciate you giving a call. Potentially, we also believe that someone might have generously taken her in out of the cold, so I would appreciate it if the word can be spread to your neighbors. I can be reached at 202-363-7935 or 202-997-1420.

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.