This week we find ourselves in the last full week of March - hopefully "headed out like a lamb"! Over the last two weeks, we were graced with the Kindergarten plays (which were superb), a 5th grade class meeting, an HSA General meeting, and a Coffee Talk. It was great to see so many families last week. Thank you to everyone who joined us for the modernization update at the HSA general meeting. There were great questions asked and a tremendous amount of support shared. DGS will be hosting another Community Meeting on Monday, March 30th at 7:15 pm in the cafeteria. Please join us.

From the HSA

Hope Scheller and Laura Lindsley, co-presidents

It is auction week at Lafayette and you are invited stop by and enjoy a preview as our school transforms into a Rock and Roll venue. That's right, the Rock Me Lafayette Battle of the Bands & Bidders is this Saturday, March 28th and the dedicated auction volunteers are busy making the decorations. Our first band, the i-Talians, will be set up on the Breezeway stage starting at 7:15 pm. The other acts include Cheaper Than Therapy and Princess. It's guaranteed to be an epic celebration.

If the Lafayette concert tee shirts are not enough to get you psyched for the event, then check out the ever-popular Class Creations. You can see works by our talented pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first and second graders in the entryway and great hall. The third and fourth grades will be on display by the week's end and fifth grade will make its debut at the auction. Along with Teacher's Treats, these creations are sure to take top bid.

Our auction is one of the school's largest fund raiser and we would like to thank our auction committee for all their hard work preparing for the big night. The money raised at this year's auction will benefit our children by providing vital resources to our school. Funds raised go towards library books, classroom and art supplies, as well as professional development and teacher grants to help offset the cost of their continuing education. It's also vital to maintain and upgrade the technology resources at Lafayette, and auction proceeds allow us to continue providing computers and educational software to better prepare our students for their future. With last year's Raise the Paddle we were able to have several visits from the Maryland Science Center. This program was a huge success in exposing our students to intriguing topics in science such as electricity and chemistry. This year's paddle will help raise funds to better incorporate the arts into the classrooms

We look forward to rockin' with you all this Saturday. Have a great week.

Laurie & Hope

See HSA board members

Join the HSA

Battle of Bands and Bidders

March 28, 7:00 pm

Auction 2015 is going to be historic.

Make sure you're a part of it.

www.lafayettehsa.org/auction-2015

Stay in sync with the Auction with the School me Lafayette Bulletin!

Watch for the highly-anticipated sixth edition

in your e-mail inbox tomorrow night.

Lafayette Under Construction:

EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

CALLING ALL AWESOME PARENTS!

The 2015 Lafayette Spring Fair is just around the corner: May 2nd. This year we will celebrate the upcoming refresh and renovation of our school with a theme that marries the LES construction zone with the Lego Movie tune kids dig: Everything is Awesome!

There will be no Spring Fair next year due to most of the grounds being a major construction zone, so we are asking for parents to get on board to make this a party to remember.

This year's Spring Fair Co-chairs are two Lafayette dads, Vince Frillici and Will Caggiano.

We still need parents to chair the following categories:

Finance
Rides
Recycling
Bicycle Swap
Signage
Tickets/Wristbands

Please consider joining the cause to make this Spring Fair sendoff AWESOME!

Vince Frillici

Will Caggiano

From the School Nurse

Chris Cockrell

National Nutrition Month's Colors of the Rainbow Challenge this week is BLUE and PURPLE. Packed with deep rich color, these fruits and vegetables have lots of antioxidants to give us extra protection against some types of cancer; plus they boost brain and vision health. Mr. Otunba's class has the honor of hosting us this Friday with everything BLUE and PURPLE. We will try to eat more than just the blueberries!

--Christine Cockrell

From the Math Center

Math Club continues to play, discuss, and explore various math topics. We just wrapped up our unit on circles in which we measured objects to discover the meaning of Pi and used a compass to create hexagram designs. There will be no Math Club on Wednesday, March 25th because there is a staff meeting. We will resume on Wednesday, April 1st. Math Club meets on Wednesdays at 8am and is open to students in grades 3-5.

Math team completed our 4th Continental Math League problem set. The following problem is from our latest competition:

What is the smallest positive number that leaves a remainder of 2 when divided by 4, 5 and 6?

There will be no Math Team on Friday, March 27th to accommodate testing in the library space. We will resume on Friday, April 3rd. Math Team meets on Fridays at 8am and is open to students in grades 4-5.

Erin Betz and Edith Stanton

March Madness

Congratulations to both the girls and boys basketball team on their MARCH MADNESS TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP victories.

The girls won 26 - 14 over Oyster-Adams on March 11th and the boys won 41 - 36 over HD Cooke on March 18th. Both teams will celebrate their season success at the upcoming sports award banquet TBA.

Contact Mr. Johnson.

To add to the fun, Lafayette staff, parents, and alumni will also take the court:

Lafayette Alumni Team VS Lafayette Girl's & Boy's Team

March 24, 2015 @ 4pm Lafayette

Students VS Lafayette Staff

March 25, 2015 @ 4pm Lafayette

Parents VS Lafayette Staff and Friends

March 26, 2015 @ 4pm

A Great New App to Help Kids Practice Mindfulness

Parents often ask me how they can support their kids in practicing mindfulness. Some want to join their kids in practicing mindfulness, some want to help their kids to practice at home the skills they are learning in Peace Class. Some of the 5th graders have been asking me how they can continue to practice mindfulness when they no longer have a weekly Peace class. Well, there's a great new app that might be an answer. It's called Smiling Mind and it's from Australia. It's an app for iphones, ipads, or androids that gives kids the tools they need to practice mindfulness on their own. And it's free! When a child signs up they create their own account and they are able to keep track of their progress. At the beginning of each session they answer a little survey about how they are feeling: stormy or calm, energized or tired, connected or disconnected, positive or negative. Then they can choose a guided mindfulness activity to do for a few minutes and then they answer the survey questions again at the end. There are different levels for different age groups, including adults, and the guide has a terrific Australian accent. It's lots of fun! Check out this link to find out more about Smiling Mind. I'm going to be introducing it in Peace Class to some of the older grades. Let me know if you'd like more information about this or any other mindfulness resources at [email protected].

Find out about Smiling Mind here: http://smilingmind.com.au/

Thanks!
Linda Ryden

Community Notices

Ms. Quinn is Walking for a Cure Again!
"For the sixth year in a row my daughter and I are participating in the Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer here in DC, May 2nd & 3rd. We will be walking 40 miles over 2 days to help fund breast cancer research and treatment here in the DC area. In order to walk, I need to raise $1800 and we'd love to raise even more for the cause! If you would like to donate, you can do so online at http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/MargaretQuinn or by dropping off a check made out to "Avon39 Walk to End Breast Cancer" with Kia Ghamarian in Pre-K. Thank you to all the parents and teachers who have already donated - the support of the Lafayette community means so much to me." -- Margaret Quinn

High school senior available to babysit during DCPS spring break. Claire Parker, Lafayette graduate now a senior at Wilson, is available to babysit full time, April 13-17. Lots of experience, great with kids, and willing and able to take kids on excursions by bus or metro during spring break. Please contact her at [email protected] or 202-680-0366.

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

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