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Happy Sunday everyone 👋

📅 Key Dates 📅

Nov 11: Veteran's Day (NO SCHOOL)
Nov 14: Lafayette Movie Night: Honey I Shrunk the Kids 
Nov 16 - 20: Scholastic Book Fair
Nov 16 - 20: Parent Teacher Conferences (Early dismissal every day)
Nov 22 - 27: Fall Break (NO SCHOOL)

📝 Action Items & Volunteer Opportunities 🙋‍♀️

• Donate to the Annual Giving Campaign (Nov 9 - Nov 20) and help win a pizza party for your student's class! 🍕
• Fill out the Fall Enrichment Survey (Due Nov 13) 
• Bring in photos for Lafayette's ofrenda for Día de los Muertos 
• Help out at this year's Scholastic Book Fair
• Create an e-wallet for your kids to buy books at the book fair
• Help Lafayette celebrate its 100 year anniversary
• Volunteer for Movie Night clean up here!
• Calling all Artists: National PTA Reflections Art Contest (due 12/4)

➕ Other things! ➕

• Review the slides from the November PTA meeting
• Lunch and noon recess monitors needed
• Fill out the Family Interest form if you're interested in helping out with Family STEAM Day

🗣️ Principal's Update 🗣️

See you on the yard!
Courtney

Courtney Browne, VP Communications, 2026-2027
PTA Quick Links: PTA Calendar of Events 2026-2027 • PTA Contact List • Join the PTA • Donate Now!

🍕 Pizza Party! Grade vs. Grade AGC Participation Challenge 

 
Thanks to you, the Annual Giving Campaign has raised $60,778 (45% of our $135,000 goal) from 63 families! Now let's get more families in.

From Nov 9 to Nov 20, every grade goes head to head, and the grade with the highest family participation wins a 🍕 pizza party 🍕!

It's all about participation, not dollars: a $50 monthly donation counts just as much as a $500 monthly donation.

Already given this year? You're already counted! Winner announced Friday, Dec 4.

Give at lafayettedolphins.net/agc, and check if your employer matches (Tax ID# 94-6172049).

✍️ Fall Enrichment Survey ✍️

As we start planning for the next round of enrichment classes that start in January, we would love your feedback on you and your child's experiences with our current round of enrichments. Your feedback is communicated to our providers so they can make improvements where necessary. It also really helps us in making decisions which programs we bring back.

🧡 Contribute to the School Ofrenda for Día de los Muertos 🧡

We’re bringing back Lafayette’s school ofrenda and invite your family to participate! As we celebrate Día de los Muertos today, we will honor and remember loved ones who have passed. An ofrenda is an altar decorated with photos, offerings, and meaningful objects that celebrate the lives and memories of those we hold dear.

Beginning on Friday, October 30, we have been welcoming families, students, and staff to bring photos of loved ones to display on the ofrenda. If you’re interested in contributing, keep in mind that photos may be framed or unframed. If you would like your photo returned, please write your child’s name and room number on the back.

The ofrenda will be located in the basement hallway between the library and the entrance at 37th Avenue and Anza Street and will remain on display for two weeks.

Thank you for sharing your family’s memories and helping create a space for remembrance, celebration, and connection.

📚 The Scholastic Book Fair is coming to Lafayette! 📚

When: November 16th-20th
Where: Student Workroom across from the library

Shop with your student during parent-teacher conferences: Tuesday-Thursday from 1pm to 5:30pm

Student eWallets

You can sign up to volunteer during your classes time slot, or help out by volunteering after school.

Questions, comments, concerns? Contact: LafayetteReads@gmail.com

🎨 2026-2027 National PTA Reflections Art Contest 🎨

Learn more: PTA.org/Reflections 

🛝 Recess Monitors Needed 🛝

One of our parent volunteers, Hanna Cho, has generously donated her time to recruit and manage volunteers to help out with lunchtime and noon recess! If you are interested, please add your name to the spreadsheet she's been putting together. NOTE: Every volunteer will need to abide by SFUSD's volunteer requirements (Megan's Law, Mandated reporter etc). 

💯 Help Support Lafayette's 100 year celebration! 💯

Later this school year, Lafayette will be celebrating its 100th year in this location. We need your help doing two things: planning the bash and helping us get some alums together!

If you or anyone you know attended Lafayette, please share this alum registration form far and wide: https://forms.gle/xmnR8FXcqX6cZf9t5

 

If you want to help with the celebration, we would love your help! Fill out this form

🍿 Lafayette's Movie Night is this month! 🍿

We are also looking for a few volunteers to help set up beforehand and make sure that we sweep up all our leftover popcorn. Please sign up to volunteer here!

🧪 Want to help with Family STEAM Day? 🧪

Do you work or have a hobby in any of the following fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, or Math? Are you interested in bringing your passion to Lafayette Elementary students? If so, please consider being part of our Family STEAM Day! Fill out the Family STEAM Day Community Interest Form.

This year STEAM Day is on Wednesday, January 27th from 1:15pm- 2:45pm.

Hello Dolphin Community! 

Thank you to everyone who joined last week’s PTA meeting to learn more about our 3rd–5th grade STEAM program! It was especially exciting to hear students from Mr. Rayala’s 4th grade class share their projects and learning. TK–2nd grade families, stay tuned for information about an upcoming session focused on STEAM for our youngest Dolphins!

A big thank-you also goes to the parent volunteers who have helped launch tryouts and callbacks for this year’s musical. Your time, organization, and enthusiasm make this special opportunity possible, and we’re excited to see our students’ talents shine!

As you plan for the coming weeks, please remember that school will be closed on Wednesday, November 11, for Veterans Day. We also hope you’ll join us for Fall Movie Night on Saturday, November 14, a wonderful chance to relax and enjoy time together as a community!

Bright Spots

Lafayette’s Academic Success - Fall 2026

Lafayette students across all grade levels have been working hard throughout this trimester! Results from our fall Star assessment window have come in, and our students are looking great! Lafayette students as a whole have been outperforming their peers across the district for years, and the positive results continue to roll in. What’s also exciting is that Lafayette’s English Learner students, also known as ELs or Multilingual Learners (MLs), have made impressive gains, significantly outperforming their peers across SFUSD and already surpassing our current School Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) goals for the 2026–2027 school year. 

This success reflects the incredible work of our teaching and support staff, strengthened by instructional coaching and professional development led by our Assistant Principal, Ms. Yin, and our Instructional Coach, Ms. Price. It also highlights the impact of targeted English Language Development instruction provided by our PTA-funded ELD teacher, Ms. Peck. Our team pushes each one of our students to engage in appropriately rigorous content every day. Even our youngest students, like the Kindergartners pictured below, are working hard to develop the skills they need to succeed.

Check out our fall 2026 Star results below for the kindergarten Early Literacy assessment, as well as the Star Reading and Star Math assessments for 1st through 5th grades.

Student Council Elections

A shout out to all of our brave 4th and 5th graders who campaigned for Student Council office, and congratulations to our newly elected Student Council leaders!

• Co-Media Specialists: Conor Johnston (4th) and Kyra Ramos (5th)

• Co-Treasurers: Noah Ahmad (4th) and Adan Lee (5th)

• Co-Secretaries: Kit Blasdel (4th) and Ryan To (5th)

• Vice President: James Wang

• President: Mourad Hamdouch

We’re excited to see these student leaders share their ideas, represent their peers, and help shape our school community!

STEAM in Action

A big thank-you to the 4th graders from Mr. Rayala’s class who shared their STEAM projects at our PTA meeting! Sharing their work gave families a closer look at the creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving that STEAM brings to our students. We appreciate these brave 4th graders for bringing that learning to life for our community!

Our 3rd graders also put the power of magnets to work in STEAM this week! Students explored how to design a magnetic dog door closure using everyday items. They participated in a Magnet Relay, compared discoveries about which items are magnetic, and applied their learning to begin engineering their own models. What a fun way to combine scientific exploration, creative thinking, and problem-solving!

💦 Splash Awards!

Let’s give a big splash of appreciation to this week’s 3rd–5th Grade Splash Award winners! These students are putting our Lafayette values into action by showing kindness, including others, lending a helping hand, and making thoughtful choices.

We’re proud of our upper-grade Dolphins for setting a positive example and helping make Lafayette a caring, welcoming community. Keep making waves! 🐬

Other Announcements & Updates

📸 Makeup Picture Day

Makeup Picture Day is Monday, November 9, from 8–10 a.m. If your student missed the original Picture Day or your family would like makeup photos, please send your student ready for pictures. Families can order online or pick up a paper order form from the main office.

🚲 Bike Security

Over the past several weeks, we’ve received reports that two bikes were stolen from our bike racks while left locked up overnight. These incidents remind us that our eight-foot fence and bike locks cannot fully prevent bike theft, which is a widespread issue in the Richmond District and SF as a whole.

Please take your bike or your student’s bike home each day and secure it indoors overnight. Avoid leaving bikes outside overnight, including on the schoolyard.

District Announcement 

How Does Your School Board Make Decisions? Join Us On Nov. 7 To Find Out! 

Join our BoE Saturday, Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for a special meeting of the Board of Education to learn how the San Francisco Board of Education works and where you fit in. You’ll learn who does what (the Board vs. the Superintendent), what the Board is focused on for students, and how you can take part as the Board sets new goals for 2028-29. This is a hands-on session, not a lecture. You’ll work in small groups, share your ideas, and ask questions. Watch this invite from SF Board of Education President Phil Kim and SF Board of Education Vice President Jaime Huling 

SF Board of Education Study Session #4 on School Reorganization: Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. 

🐬 School Tours Update! 

Our next school tours are on Nov. 10 and Dec. 15, and we’d love your help welcoming prospective families!

As a volunteer tour guide, you’ll:

• Lead families along a planned route through classrooms and campus highlights.

• Share your family’s Lafayette experience.

• Answer general questions and help prospective families feel welcome.

Sign up below:

• Morning Tours

• Afternoon Tours

Thank you for helping future Dolphins discover what makes our community special!

Repeated Reminders

👁️‍🗨️ November Focus: Bullying Awareness & Prevention 

At Lafayette, we’ll observe Bullying Awareness Month in November, building on our ongoing commitment to a safe, welcoming, and inclusive school community.

Throughout the month, teachers in kindergarten through fifth grade will teach Second Step’s Bullying Prevention Unit, along with additional bullying prevention health lessons provided by our School Health Department. TK students will continue fostering an inclusive community and supporting social-emotional wellbeing through their Kimochis and Creative Curriculum.These lessons help students recognize bullying, respond safely, seek help from trusted adults, and support one another.

Families can reinforce this learning by talking with children about kindness, inclusion, and speaking up when someone needs help. Thank you for partnering with us to help every student feel safe, valued, and connected.

👬 Navigating Student-Student Conflict

When a concern involving students arises, we encourage families to connect with staff directly so we can understand what happened, share important context, support students, and protect student and family privacy.

Who should you connect with? 

• School day concerns: Your child’s classroom teacher 
• RNC concerns: Ms. Angie (angie@richmondsf.org) 
• YMCA concerns: Ms. Alicia (ABrennan@ymcasf.org) 

If concerns escalate or additional support is needed, please don’t hesitate to include Mr. E (ellingsonj@sfusd.edu) or Ms. Yin (yin-pollackn@sfusd.edu).

Thank you for helping keep Lafayette a caring, respectful community!

🚘 Traffic & Safety Support

Over the past several weeks, Supervisor Connie Chan’s office has coordinated with SFPD to provide traffic and safety support at District 1 schools. Our administrative team has been checking in with officers to support respectful, collaborative traffic management that responds to our community’s needs.

We appreciate this support and are seeing encouraging signs: congestion appears to have decreased, and morning drop-off is beginning to feel safer. Please continue to use Stop, Drop, & Go or find legal parking during drop-off.

We also need volunteers to keep Stop, Drop, & Go running! A few minutes of your time can make a big difference. Sign up to volunteer.

Attendance Reminder

• Reporting Full-Day Absences: Whenever possible, please report absences through your ParentVUE account. Instructions: English | Español | 中文

• Partial-Day Absences or Changes: Please contact our clerk, Yuki, directly at 415-750-8483 or sch664@sfusd.edu.

📱 Cell Phones & Smartwatches: OFF & AWAY

A quick reminder that cell phones, smartwatches, and other personal devices should be OFF and AWAY during the school day, including before/after school activities and events.

If a device must come to school, please help your student follow these expectations, including keeping smartwatches turned off, put away, or in School Mode.

If you need to reach your student during the school day, please contact the office at 415-750-8483. 

Thank you for helping us keep students focused on learning, friendships, play, and being present in our school community!

📱Class Group Chats

Class group chats, including WhatsApp groups, help families connect and coordinate classwide events and activities. Please keep these spaces welcoming, inclusive, and focused on building community.

Please use appropriate private channels for political or social advocacy and school-related concerns. For school concerns, contact school administration directly; for PTA matters, reach out to the PTA. Thank you for helping keep class chats positive and useful for everyone.

🚌 Field Trip Chaperones

Planning to chaperone a field trip? Please review the updated chaperone requirements and instructions, including guidance for using the ASCIP platform and completing the required Mandated Reporter training. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this new requirement and for making field trips possible! For platform support, contact ehelp@ascip.org.

Thank you for continuing to make Lafayette such a welcoming, connected, and joyful community. Looking forward to seeing everyone this week! 💙🐬

In Partnership,