Did you know that the Lafayette receives one of the lowest per pupil allocations in the DC public school system?
The Lafayette Home and School Association (HSA) provides extra academic and cultural programs, supplies and equipment, and funding for all the things not funded by DCPS. Your generous donations to the HSA support our highly regarded mindfulness program, new technology and science programs, art, music and reading, uniforms, equipment and travel for our sports teams, after school programs, our library and so much more.

It's so easy to give. Just log onto lafayettehsa.org/donate. You can find all the information about our suggested donation levels or donate a different amount. Our goal is 100% parent participation. If you have already given, thank you for supporting Lafayette. Please help us spread the word. We are trying to concentrate our fundraising for the HSA into one short month to make it easier for parents.

Also don't forget, our Golden L donation level gives you and all your family free admission into all the major Lafayette events throughout the year like the Homecoming Dance, Fall Festival, Annual Auction Party and Spring Fair. It's a real bargain, especially for families with multiple children.

Let's make this a September to Remember for Lafayette

Questions? Please email Josh Gordon at [email protected]

 

Looking for a great way to honor your Lafayette student or pay tribute to our amazing teachers and staff? Consider buying a brick for our special commemorative brick area in front of the school. Look for the forms that went home in your child's backpack last week or download one here from the website. It's so easy. Just design your special message, make your payment and return the form to school.  You can even pay online and attach your PayPal receipt to your brick order form.  We are looking to get your bricks engraved and installed by the end of the year. All proceeds from the Brick Sale go to support things like a new reading loft for our library, But you need to order by the end of September.  

Questions? Please contact Sonya Matza, the head of our Brick Program at [email protected]. 

The year has just started, but we're already starting to plan for the auction in the spring! And we're going to have the party of the century, as befits our stunning new building. We're looking for help soliciting donations and planning the epic party. Please email [email protected] or [email protected] if you want to join our committee or if you have anything you want to donate -- think vacation houses or airline miles or other ideas for fun and exciting activities.

Our Beloved Marquis de Lafayette, namesake of our school, turns 259 today! And we're throwing a birthday party for him.

The Lafayette Fun Committee, created by parents, teachers, the HSA & Principal Broquard is hosting a Happy Birthday Squeaky Pop Party today. We will also officially reinstate our Marquis de Lafayette statue in the main hall of the new school.

We will be offering each child a Squeaky Pop. Squeaky Pops is generously donating 1,000 free pops to Lafayette to support this one-of-a-kind birthday celebration. Thanks Squeaky Pops!

Interested in volunteering to help out or being a part of the Fun Committee? We are holding our first meeting of the year next week, after Labor Day, on Wednesday September 7 at 8:00 PM at Jenny Backus's house, 5841 Nebraska Ave. We hope you can all make it but no worries if you can't. Just email [email protected].

Brought to you by the HSA and the Fun Committee

Please join us on September 21 for our inaugural group for parents of children with IEPs and 504s! We will gather at 7:30 pm in the library.

Come meet other parents and build a community of parents facing similar issues. Developmental pediatrician Dan Shapiro will give a talk about collaborative problem solving; he will also be available to answer question.

We intend to host this group every 6 weeks and we welcome your suggestions for discussion topics.

Any questions, please contact Kerry Cassidy at [email protected] 

There has been much speculation about why Lafayette is so wild about DOTS! Here is what you NEED to know to be IN the know:

Lafayette will celebrate DOT DAY on September 15!!! Dot Day is based on Peter Reynolds' book "The Dot" about a young artist who finds the courage to "make her mark" and express her creativity!!! The celebration was started by a teacher who found the message of "The Dot" to be inspirational and is now celebrated all over the world by millions of children!
Ms. Perll and Ms. McLaughlin will spend the next week sharing Peter Reynolds' book and other books with similar messages and creating art based on dots... mandalas, murals, faces, puzzle dots, aboriginal inspired dot paintings and more will all transform our new cafeteria. On Dot Day on September 15, we will wear dots, create sidewalk chalk dots at recess, and participate in various other dotty activities in our classrooms to remind ourselves of the power of creativity, courage and collaboration!!!

Check out the Dot Day website for more info at http://www.thedotclub.org/dotday/
And to see photos of past dot days, check out an art room blog post from an earlier dot day http://lafayetteartwithlaurie.blogspot.com/2014/09/dot-day-takes-lafayette-by-storm.html

Four fifth graders will take on the job of Northwest Current correspondents this year. They will rotate the responsibility of writing articles about Lafayette student life for the local weekly newspaper, each producing a story about once a month. The students are Marcus Han, Parker Fending, Jack Pagano and Mollie Reeder. Be sure to congratulate them, wish them luck, and give them story ideas when you see them!

Kathy Echave, Reading Specialist