Dear Lafayette Families!
As we round the end of May and move quickly toward Spring Break, there are several
important calendar updates and reminders. Please see below.
- The last day of school for students will now be Friday, June 24. Monday, June 27 will now be our final Records/PD Day for teachers to close out SY21-22.
- Arts Night is back! This is a long time Lafayette tradition that we are beyond excited to bring back. Students will perform a brief number outside on the steps behind school, families will be welcome to find visual art work hanging in the building, and pizza will be sold! It’s a wonderful evening of art and music in our school. Please mark your calendars according to the time and days below.
- May 12th @ 6:30 pm – PK, KDG, and 1st Grade
- May 19th @ 6:30 pm– 2nd and 3rd Grade, and 2nd/3rd grade choir
- May 26th @ 6:30 pm– 4th and 5th Grade, and 4th/5th Grade choir, and Percussion Ensemble
Enrollment Season opens Friday April 1st! Our goal is to complete our re-enrollment for all returning students no later than Friday May 27th. That means we all have to work together to complete the online enrollment forms!
- As of Friday, 4/1, the link is here to enroll.
- The easiest way to prove residency is a paystub with the address (and the name of the person completing the form).
- There are many other ways to prove residency. Click here to find out how! (Scroll to page 2 of the document).
- Have enrollment questions? Email Mr. Benab at
5th Grade Updates –
- 5th Grade Parent Meeting – Thursday, 3/31 @ 6:30 pm via Teams. The link is here. We will record and post the meeting if you miss it. We will be discussing the end of year events, including overnight camping at NatureBridge, the trip to Six Flags, and promotion.
- 5th Grade Promotion will be on Wednesday, June 22nd at 11 am. We will share more information as we get closer to June!
COVID Updates
Because the guidance on masks have shifted, every student in a classroom is considered a potential close contact. Classrooms will receive notification that there was a case in your classroom, and the parent is responsible for implementing a quarantine if their student is not fully vaccinated for their student based on their possible close contact.
Budget update for 2022-2023
The DCPS budget process for school year 2022-2023 is complete and final budgets have been submitted. Here is a link to see Lafayette’s full submitted budget for next school year: Lafayette Submitted Budget SY23. Thank you to our parents, teachers, and community member who are serving on our LSAT. During the budget development process, the LSAT sought input from both the staff and community and provided feedback on decisions related to how we spent our resources for the upcoming school year. In collaboration with the LSAT, the following are our budget highlights:
- A focus on reduced class size in key grade levels (1st grade and 3rd grade)
- Continued focus on supports and intervention (3 Reading specialists, 2 Math specialists).
- Support of our Tier 1 instruction, teacher development, MTSS process, and instructional alignment with the addition of a 4th Instructional Coach.
- Continued support of our Special Education and ELL programs with appropriate staffing levels
- Continued staffing of a robust mental health team (2 counselors, 3 social workers, 2 school psychologists)
- Changes to our specials offerings –
- We are unable to provide world language in the upcoming school year due to funding priorities and distribution.
- We will add a music teacher to our PK – 1st grade to support current music programming in the building and hopefully add instruments back into the building (pending staffing)
As a reminder, Spring Break is Monday, 4/11 – Monday, 4/18 with a return to the classroom on Tuesday, 4/19. We will have to “test to return” on Tuesday, which means the following:
- Thursday, 4/7 – Rapid tests sent home with students
- Monday, 4/18 – Give your student a rapid test. Upload the test results by 5 pm: https://dcpsreopenstrong.com/testing/
- Tuesday, 4/19 – Return to school
Hopefully everyone is surviving allergy season and enjoying the blossoms around the city. We’re also seeing a re-emergence of good old fashioned germs in students and staff – colds, stomach bugs, etc. Continue to remind your students to wash their hands, and to keep distance as much as possible as we work to rebuild our immunity as a whole community. Here’s to an amazing run to spring break and a week of rest, family, and sun.
Take care,
Dr. B