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Daylight Savings is ending but the fun is just starting!
I hope those of you who took advantage of skate night enjoyed the first of many fun events for the students and families of Lafayette. Thank you, Rachel and Sarah, for coordinating the festive event. As we approach the end of our first semester a reminder to families that if you do not already have a parent-teacher conference scheduled you can do so by reaching out to your student’s teacher and request a meeting. I have always found these meeting informative, encouraging, and supportive. It is also a good time for you to ask personal questions about the curriculum, classroom teachings, and scheduling specific to your child’s needs that were not possibly covered in the recent General PTA meetings.
Gratitude Walk-A-Thon committee you rock! Thank you, for organizing our biggest student fundraiser this year. Your commitment and dedication to the success of the event and our school are much appreciated and valued. Jen, Chelsea, Kristin, Kirsten and Julia, to mention a few, BOOM! Brilliance strikes again! And to the rest of the volunteers on the day of we are grateful for your time and energy.
Need As we approach the Art Auction project season please be watching for donation requests from your room parents for materials and ideas for the art project. I can't wait to see the beauty, creativity, and artistry that the classrooms showcase this year. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Renee Antezana, Art Chair, myred5@yahoo.com
Also, we are still in need of old technology for some students to access their homework. So if you have any old electronic devices such as Kindles, Ipads, laptops, desktops, even phones, that you are not using please consider donating them to the school.
Support In the next school year, the boundaries will be changing between Lafayette and Genesee Hill Elementary in order to help with the over population of Genesee Hill. The families impacted by this change will likely find out by February, 2018 what their neighborhood school will be in time to apply for option schools should they not want to attend their assigned school. There are also discussions around grandfathering existing families at Genesee Hill to ease the transition burdens. These changes, however, will impact our school capacity and availability of space. Therefore, if you have any concerns or questions about the boundary changes please reach out to Ms. Chaput or me. In the meantime, we have a fabulous culture at Lafayette and we strive to make any new families including rezoned families feel welcome and supported by our community. So thank you in advance, for your positivity and encouragement in welcoming the Genesee Hill families during this transition. Hopefully, if you are asked about our school you give us two thumbs up! If not please let us know how we can earn those thumbs.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers,
Pamela Quadros
PTA President |
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The first two pledge counts were a success, Week 1 we raised $4,848 and Week 2 we counted an astonishing $7,235 - bringing our two week combined total from 217 donations to $12,083.00! That is 20% of our goal of $60,000. Way to go Lafayette Leopards and Families! You are amazing and so appreciated. Business Sponsorship also wrapped up last week and the wonderful Kirsten Franklin-Temple and her support team raised over $9,000.00 in business sponsorship and 10 brand new business sponsors. Thank you for all your hard work Kirsten!
There are many volunteer opportunities still available, please visit www.lafayettepta.com for the link to our sign up. Last but not least, because of our new online system:
- If possible, on your paper form donations, please include your donors email address somewhere on the form. This is for accounting purposes only.
- Unfortunately, at this time families cannot access specific donations for their student. At the end of the Walk-A-Thon your student will get a print-out listing their online donors so they may thank them for their support.
For any questions, concerns or constructive comments please do not hesitate to reach out to Jen Wheatley or Chelsey Miller at wat.lafayette@gmail.com or Jen Wheatley (206) 941-5397. |
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NOVEMBER 2: LGBT FAMILIES DINNER, 6-8 PM
The annual lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender LGBT Families Dinner will be held Thursday, November 2, from 6-8 p.m. at Meany Middle School. Members of the school board will be there to welcome LGBT families and their friends. All Seattle Public Schools students, families and staff are welcome to attend. This event is brought to you by the Health Education Office. Dinner and entertainment will be provided. To reserve space at this popular event, please RSVP with the number of people in your party to Lisa Love in the Health Education Office at 206-252-0982 or llove@seattleschools.org
NOVEMBER 3: WALK-A-THON TIMES
- 8:00 – 8:15 am : Pre-School Morning Class
- 8:15 – 8:45 am : Kindergarten
- 9:00 – 9:30 am : 5th Grade
- 9:45 – 10:15 am : 1st Grade
- 10:30 – 11:00 am : 2nd Grade
- 11:15 – 11:45 am : 4th Grade
- 12:00 – 12:30 pm : 3rd Grade
- 12:45 – 1:00 pm : Pre-School Afternoon Class
Pledge envelopes due in class by 8:15 am. Pledges that come in after 8:15 am will be counted the following week. Students will receivea FREE Lafayette Walk-A-Thon t-shirt and walk with their class for 30 minutes. Parents and guardians are encouraged to come and cheer the runners on! Bring a change of clothes for kids if the weather does not cooperate.
NOVEMBER 8: DINE-OUT AT MISSION
Support a local business and Lafayette at the same time you dine at Mission Cantina!
www.missioncantinaseatte.com
2325 California Avenue Southwest, Seattle
NOVEMBER 9: WALK-A-THON PLEDGE COUNT
Pledge envelopes due in class by 8:15 am. Pledges that come in after 8:15 am will be counted the following week.
NOVEMBER 9: SAP/BOUNDARIES OPEN HOUSE, 6:30 to 8pm
District office staff will be available to discuss the 2018-19 SAP, including related updates to special education, school choice, and advanced learning opportunities. For more information on the Student Assignment Plan, visit the SPS site here:
www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=744707
West Seattle High School, lunchroom
California Avenue Southwest, Seattle, WA 98116
Interpreters: Spanish, Somali, Chinese and Vietnamese
NOVEMBER 14: STATE OF THE DISTRICT, 5-7 PM
You are invited to join Seattle Public Schools and Superintendent Dr. Nyland for the annual State of the District. This is an opportunity to learn about the district’s vision for preparing students for success, progress and focus for the school year. Hear from students, school leaders and community partners and leave committed to our collective work.
West Seattle High School Theater
3000 California Avenue Southwest, Seattle, WA 98116
NOVEMBER 16: FINAL WALK-A-THON PLEDGE COLLECTION
Pledge envelopes due in class by 8:15 am. This is the final official counting date. Any pledge envelopes receive after this collection will not count toward individual of classroom prizes.
NOVEMBER 17: WALK-A-THON AWARDS ASSEMBLY WITH TEACHER AND STAFF ANTICS, 1:30 PM
We will be announcing student winners: students with the most laps walked per grade level, student with the highest number of pledges collected and student with the highest donation amount collected. There will be silly teacher and staff antics – you don’t want to miss this one!
NOVEMBER 17: WALK-A-THON MOVIE NIGHT, 5:00 PM
Doors open at 5:00 pm, movies start at 5:30 pm. Two movies will be showing concurrently. Pre-School – Grade 2 showing in the lunchroom and Grades 3 – 5 showing in the gym. Please bring a blanket to sit on. Food and drink items will be available for purchase. This is not a child drop off event, parents/guardians must be present. To volunteer to help with this event (you’ll be there anyway), see www.lafayettepta.com
NOVEMBER 28: GENERAL PTA MEETING, 6:30 PM
Please join us at our general PTA meeting, we offer childcare in the gym. This month’s parent education portion of the meeting will focus on disaster preparedness. We will have trainers from the American Red Cross to give us their Preparedness Program presentation. They will cover an introduction to the Red Cross, services offered, and follows the Be Red Cross Ready Model of Make a Kit, Make a Plan, Be Informed. The presentation gives an overview of the disasters with special focus on home fires, wild fires and earthquakes and also includes details about the essentials of a disaster preparedness kit.
NOVEMBER 29 – DEC 5: BOOK FAIR SALES START
The Fall Book Fair will run until December 5. If you would like to be part of Ms. Nakagawa’s volunteer team, please contact her directly and let her know your interest, lnakagawa@seattleschools.org. To get a sneak peek at the book selection, this link will be live on November 15: www.scholastic.com/bf/lafayetteelementaryschool2
DECEMBER 1: CRAFT FAIR/BOOK FAIR, 5-7 PM
Get those creative juices flowing! Lafayette will be hosting their annual Craft Fair just in time for the holidays. This is a great opportunity for students to sell their handmade wares, learn about business practices and work on their sales techniques. Tables will be available for students (and adults) to sell their goods. Popular items in the past have included jewelry, bath salts, cocoa, ornaments, pottery and decorations. You can sign up for a table here: www.lafayettepta.com/2017/11/host-a-booth-at-the-winter-craft-fair/
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WALK-A-THON
To volunteer for the Walk-A-Thon, go to: www.lafayettepta.com
LAFAYETTE RUNNING CLUB
The running club is looking for volunteers to help coach and/or track laps. Please email parent volunteer Aimee Corr, aimeecorr16@gmail.com with any specific questions on the running club. Volunteers can sign up at www.lafayettepta.com/volunteer/
LIBRARY
Volunteers are needed for the Book Fair. To be included on Ms. Nakagawa’s volunteer team, please contact her directly and let her know your interest, lnakagawa@seattleschools.org
ROOM PARENTS
If you are interested in being a “room parent” for Ms. Sandler (art), Ms. Nakagawa (library), or Ms. Banner (gym), please contact Kristin Szabadi, kszabadi0312@gmail.com
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Do you have WordPress or cloud-based software experience? If so, please contact Julia Wester at julia@wester.org
GARDEN CLASSROOM
The Green Team always welcomes parent visits and help! For more information: garden@lafayettepta.com.
VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENTS
All volunteers need to print, complete and turn in their volunteer paperwork to Miss Selina in the front office. All of the paperwork needed can be found at www.seattleschools.org/volunteer |
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LAFAYETTE RUNNING CLUB
Running Club is making strides! 192 students, teachers and parents set goals and clocked in 360 miles in the first weeks of the program! Our leopard runners learned that 8 laps on our track is one mile. With this benchmark in mind, many students set out to run 1 mile during every running club session. (Note, if a child runs 1 mile or 8 laps every session they will run around 60 miles by the end of the year!) Sixteen students have already reached the first benchmark of 5 miles! When a student (or parent/teacher) runs their first 5 miles, the participant will receive a customized Lafayette Leopards keychain and toe token. For every 5 miles run thereafter, the student can pick a toe token to add to their keychain. Students will also be recognized on a bulletin board outside the cafeteria. Running club is out on the playground every Tuesday and Thursday during lunch recess!
PAWSITIVITY
Hello! We are the PAWSitivity Team for the 2017-2018 School Year. Our team this year is made up of 4th and 5th graders; some who were on the team last year, others are new to the team this year. We are here to help the school be a better community by showing how we care about each other.
One of the things the team does is spread PAWSitivity by choosing a “word of the month.” The team this year decided to focus on building UNITY in our school. So the word for November is…drum roll please…UNITY!
Unity is a form of working together and caring. Unity is not just some people working together, it is everybody working together. At Lafayette we can show unity by listening to each other and working together. Just think what it would be like if everybody at this school had the same unity as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This would be the BEST school ever.
Now that you’ve read our article, let’s try and spread UNITY in our community!
The Team: Nico (5th), Annika (5th), Cesar (5th), Owen (5th), Elinor (4th), Halle (4th), Koreb (4th), Tomi (4th)
STACK UP!
Our PE teacher Ms. Banner, is starting a speed stacking unit this month with the students. On November 9, we are participating in the STACK UP event. This event is trying to break the Guinness world record for the most stackers stacking on one day. Many of the schools in Seattle are participating in this. Our school will be stacking on that day and our number will be added to the other schools participating. Their goal is 625,000 stackers! Information will be sent home soon with your child or you can visit www.speedstacks.com
UPDATES
Tricia Coulter, CO-SECRETARY
WINNER! WINNER! The class with the most paid PTA memberships is……
MS. BENSON, HER KINDERGARTENERS AND KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES - THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Each student in Ms. Benson’s class has won a gift card to Menchie’s. Even though the Membership Drive ended November 1, we welcome you to join any time throughout the year. JOIN US: https://www.pt-avenue.com/join/ (Organizational Code: 98116)
Megan Hogan, LEGISLATIVE CHAIR
The question persists as to whether or not the funding plan passed by the Legislature earlier this year has resulted in the state being in compliance with the requirement to amply fund education as laid out in the 2012 McCleary ruling. The Washington State Supreme Court heard arguments from the state on October 24th asking the court to close the case, but the plaintiff's attorney presented rebuttals based on concerns over predicted funding shortfalls, teacher compensation, school construction to meet K-3 class size mandates, and special education funding caps. The next step is for the court to review briefs filed by both sides as well as the oral arguments presented this week and then make a decision. As an option, the court may decide to continue monitoring the case through the 2019 Legislature session to ensure that the McCleary plan is fully implemented.
Please see this Seattle Times article for further information on this topic:
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/supreme-court-justices-ask-lots-of-tough-questions-in-latest-hearing-on-mccleary-school-funding-case/
Christy Pudduck, SPIRITWEAR CHAIR
Our spiritwear online store is up and running, check it out: www.lafayettepta.com/shop/ When you place an online order, it will be processed in 3-5 days and any items ordered will be sent home with your child. Showing your leopard pride by purchasing spirit wear is a simple way to fundraise for the school and they make great gifts for holiday gift giving! Keep your eyes peeled for an opportunity to pre-order Lafayette Sweatshirts coming SOON!
Jodi Hill, FUNDRAISING CHAIR
Fundraising and FUN Event Schedule
October 6 : Oktoberfest
November 3 : Walk-a-Thon
January 19 : Family Dance
February 2 : Pub Crawl
TBD : Movie Night at The Admiral Theater
March 31 : Live + Silent Auction
Typically, the Walk-a-Thon and Auction are our major fundraising events. The smaller events are meant to supplement the Walk-a-Thon and Auction. In listening to parent and teacher feedback, we added the smaller events to allow more of our community to participate in our fundraising efforts. We hope you will be able to find events that work with your schedules and budget.
We also have year-round fundraising that are as simple as cutting out Box Tops, writing a check or using our PayPal link for direct give, employer matching, participating in the Giving Big campaign, dining out with your family, and making everyday purchases on Amazon, eScrip, Benefit Mobile and PCC.
We are working on more information to illustrate our fundraising goal, how we generate funds, and where that money goes – STAY TUNED!
Box Tops
We have our Box Tops winners from our first collection on October 20th. Congratulations to the following classes:
Lower Grade: Ms. Takahashi - 184 Box Tops
Upper Grade: Ms. Adams - 276 Box Tops
We raised $289.00 during this collection drive. You have plenty of time, the next collection is on March 23.
Dine-Out
In partnership with Zippy’s Giant Burgers we raised $585.00 for our dine-out event on September 21. Thank you to all of you who participated and to Zippy’s for helping us help our school.
Thank you to Monica Smith for coordinating Box Tops and Dine-Out!
Oktoberfest Fundraising
Oktoberfest was the first of our four smaller fundraising events that we have scheduled this year. In partnership with Ounces Taproom & Beer Garden we raised $1,700.00 at our Oktoberfest event on October 6. Thank you to all of you who purchased tickets, raffle tickets, attended and donated items for the gift baskets. It was a great success and one we would like to make a tradition of every October. Thank you to Karin Guidry for coordinating!
Auction
Save the date, our auction is scheduled for March 31 at 5:00 pm. There will be an auction committee kick-off event on November 16th at 6:30 pm. Please email Pamela, ms.pamelaquadros@gmail.com or Karin, goodvibesbyk@gmail.com for details if you are interested in joining the auction fun this year.
To All Room Parents: You, with input from your teacher, class and parents should be coming up with ideas for the class art auction project. Please contact Renee, myred5@yahoo.com and let her know what your class has chosen for an auction art project by Friday, December 1, 2017. The Room Art Leader needs to provide the following information:
- A brief description of the project idea OR if you are choosing chair/canvas.
- Art leader contact info: name, email, phone number
Please be reminded the deadline for the completed class auction art project is Friday, February 16, 2018.
Again, we cannot say it enough - THANK YOU to all of our Fundraising Chairs and committee members for all of your hard work so far!
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| November
1 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
PTA Membership Drive Ends
2 LGBT Family Dinner
3 WALK-A-THON
8 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
Dine-Out at Mission (4-11:30 pm)
9 Veterans Day Assembly (1:30 pm)
SPS SAP/Boundaries Open House (6:30 pm)
10 Veterans Day
NO SCHOOL/NO ENRICHMENT
15 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
16 Auction Committee Meeting (6:30 pm)
17 Walk-A-Thon Awards Assembly (1:30 pm)
Walk-A-Thon Movie Night (7:00 pm)
20-22
Parent-Teacher Conferences,
NO SCHOOL/NO ENRICHMENT
23-24
Thanksgiving Break
NO SCHOOL/NO ENRICHMENT
28 General PTA Meeting (6:30 pm), Childcare Available
29-Dec 5
Book Fair Starts
Link will be live 11/15: www.scholastic.com/bf/lafayetteelementaryschool2
29 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
December
1 Craft Fair/Book Fair (5-7 pm)Deadline for Class Art Auction Project Idea
6 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
7 Sing Out Seattle “Annie” Performance (7 pm)
11 Coffee with the Principal (8:00 am)
13 Early Dismissal (1:10 pm)
14 Family Fitness Night (5:30 pm)
15 1-Hour Early Dismissal (1:25 pm)
18-Jan 1
Winter Break, NO SCHOOL
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