Dear Lafayette Community,

It's a record... We have 360+ runners registered for the Donut Dash, not even counting those who register on the spot this morning! It's going to be so exciting to see everyone out there! Remember, Donut Dash fundraising is open until October 11th, so let's keep it going!

If you appreciate the Donut Dash, know that it is 100% organized by the PTA. Are you a member yet? It just costs $10 to join the PTA, and there's no requirement to volunteer. All are welcome: Parents/guardians, students, teachers, grandparents, Lafayette fans of all sorts. We've got 232 members at last count... But wouldn't 250 members be amazing?

In case you're wondering how many times you might ask your people for funds this year, this is what to expect: 4 fundraisers, with 2 happening in Fall (Donut Dash and Annual Give) and 2 next Spring (Read-a-thon and Gala/Auction). Hope that helps with planning, and THANK YOU for any/all contributions!

In this week's Dolphin Digest:

📖 Seeking Volunteer Readers! Give Extra 1:1 Help to Students
🛝 Seeking Yard Monitors - 11am-1pm Daily

🗳️ Voter Info - Proposition Endorsements from California PTA
🫧 National Custodian Day - October 2nd
💻 For Multilingual Families: Tech Night - October 2nd
🚘 Volunteers Needed: Parking Fundraiser October 5th, 6th
🍩 Race Day Details + Still Time to Raise that Donut Dash Dough! (DEADLINE October 11th)
🍂 Mark Your Calendar for Lafayette's Autumn Carnival - October 26th
😱 Help Needed at the Lost & Found!
✋ Looking for Parent Members in School Committees
📷 Lately at Lafayette
📅 Calendar at a Glance 
👋 Community (Non-PTA) Corner

Back by popular demand, it's Lafayette PTA's Volunteer Reader Program! Last year, at the request of our teachers, we arranged for volunteers from the Lafayette community to come and read one-on-one with certain students. We heard rave reviews from the teachers, so we're doing it again this year!   

Could you be a Volunteer Reader? Good news: All you need is patience and 30 minutes once a week, and you're qualified for this role! 

Sign up to be a volunteer reader!

Email lafayetteschoolpta@gmail.com with any questions.

Do you find great satisfaction in opening milk cartons? Sorting compost/recycling? Seeing if your kid eats the meal you painstakingly prepared the night before? Getting some sun on “the yard” while helping supervise the controlled chaos that is recess? If you said "yes," we've got just the thing for you. 

We're looking for volunteers to help supervise the children during their much needed lunch and recess break. This is a great opportunity to interact with students at each grade level. It is a truly rewarding and fun experience.

Time commitment is 2 hours a week. We need volunteers daily, but especially for Tuesday and Thursday from 11 to 1. This is a position we'd like volunteers to be available to do several weeks in a row if possible as the kids appreciate the consistency (and it makes the job that much more rewarding!).

To volunteer as a yard monitor, please reply to this email to get started. Thank you!

🗩

"It would be a game changer."

- Principal Kassebaum

(Talking about having volunteers on the schoolyard during lunch recess)

For the November 5, 2024, Statewide General Election: California State PTA, or CAPTA, takes positions on statewide ballot measures that have the potential to significantly impact the lives of California’s children, youth, and families.

CAPTA supports each of the following four measures slated for inclusion on the ballot for the November 5, 2024, Statewide General Election.

• YES on Prop 2 - $10 billion for school bonds
• YES on Prop 3 - Marriage equality
• YES on Prop 4 - $10 billion for climate protection
• YES on Prop 5 - Affordable housing

Studies were undertaken to research the content, background, impact, and PTA authorities associated with each ballot measure; links to these study reports are shown on CAPTA's website, along with links to the ballot measures as posted by California’s Secretary of State.

Download the PDF of CAPTA's 2024 Ballot Measures Flyer to share and advocate locally.

• To honor Mr. White's love of sports, have students wear their favorite sports team jersey, shirt, hat, etc.
• Have students make a card or draw a picture for Mr. White, Lulu, and/or Penky. Or write a card yourself! Cards can be dropped off at the school office.
• Make sure your students know that Wednesday's the day to give the custodial staff an extra-special fist bump and say thanks!

For families who speak a language other than English at home, Lafayette's English Learners Advisory Committee presents Multilingual Tech Night on October 2nd at 5pm at the school's library.

Get help using apps you need as a Lafayette family, like ParentVUE, Seesaw, Google Classroom, and Konstella! All of your tech questions, answered!

Interpreters will be there to support Chinese and Spanish speakers, and for all other languages, staff will be prepared to use the district's phone service for interpretation. 

To attend, send an email to Lori Brook (brookl@sfusd.edu).

• 1 person 4-6pm, Oct 5 (Sat)
• 1 person 6-8pm, Oct 5 (Sat)
• 1 person 12-2pm, Oct 6 (Sun)
• 2 people 6-8pm, Oct 6 (Sun)

Don't forget, fundraising goes until October 11th, and all funds go to the PTA to support our school!

You can create a fundraising page here: https://givebutter.com/donutdash2024. Click the "Make Your Page" button and follow the prompts. Then, text the link to your top contacts or post on your favorite social media!

🗩

"So easy! I just sent the link to my family and they started donating!"

- Kristen C., Lafayette parent

Need help? Find instructions on how to set up your page here (scroll down to Fundraising). 

If you want to collect funds manually, you can still use this form.

 

RACE DAY DETAILS

• Sunday, September 29th
• Starting line: Stow Lake Drive next to Pioneer Log Cabin Meadow 
• 5K starts at 8:30 am 
• 1 mile starts at 9:15 am 
• The course – Please take a moment and familiarize yourself with the course. See attached for the maps for the 5k and 1 mile. Note: for both races you’ll start and finish the race at the same spot. Both courses are the same as last year.
• Parking – Of course public transport and biking is always a great option, but if you plan on driving, the best place to park is around Stow Lake (there’s lots of spots that early in the morning).
• Donuts and allergen-free treats – All finishers will get a donut. We’ll also have allergen-free treats on hand.
• Bottled water – We encourage you to bring your own water bottle but we will also have bottled-water on hand.
• We’ll be handing out prizes at the end of the event so make sure to hang around!

Lafayette's beloved Autumn Carnival is back! Make sure to save the date.

Autumn Carnival Oct 26th (12–4pm) will have:

• Inflatable slides and obstacle course

• Various carnival games (for prizes)

• DJ (music)

• Photo station with hay bale pyramid and props

• Pumpkins for sale, pumpkin crafts

• All the activities, food, and beverages from Teacher/Parent tables!

• Cakewalk (nut-free)

• Costume contest

WE NEED 10 MORE LEAD VOLUNTEERS! This year, we are looking for parents that would like to lead part of the event duties. Please take a look and sign up if you are interested. 

We'll also need volunteers to sign up for shifts staffing the various activities. Look out for that announcement in the next day or so!

Details of games and activities will be provided on the day of the event. For more info on the Autumn Carnival email co-chairs Mariela (mariela.pauli@gmail.com) or Priscilla (priscillalindsey81@gmail.com). 

Thank you ALL in advance for your participation and time. We are super excited to get the party started!

The Lost & Found is getting unruly! Lafayette dad Eliot, who is now super busy spending his days as "Mr. Eliot" teaching Room 218, needs help keeping Lost & Found organized so that items can be reunited with their owners.

Flexible schedule, but this would be great for someone who has a little time after morning drop-off most days to check for names, and who can occasionally spend a little more time straightening things up.

A huge THANK YOU to Eliot for so diligently taking care of Lost & Found. He saw a need and took the initiative to do something about it! And thank you to Gail S. and Le K. for responding to last week's call for volunteers! 

We could use another helper, so just reply to this email to get started. The (growing) team will show you the ropes.

Our school committees are looking for more parent members. These are meaningful ways to contribute to your child's school, so please check them out!

English Learners Advisory Committee

What is it? ELAC is a committee for parents or other community members who want to advocate for English Learners. 

ELAC: What We Do!   

Multilingual Learner Program Guide: A guide for parents and students who speak languages other than English at home

Interested in ELAC? Contact Ms. Brook at brookl@sfusd.edu or fill out this form and bring to school: ELAC Flyer [pdf]

School Site Council (SSC)

What is it? SSC is a group that represents parents, students, community members, and school staff in the school governance process.

About SSCs

Interested in SSC? Contact Mr. Kassebaum at kassebaumk@sfusd.edu. 

Student art in the hallways: The ABCs of Scientific Drawing. Beautiful and instructive!

HUGE thanks always to our amazing Stop, Drop and Go volunteers for running the program every morning so our students can get to school safely.

🔼 These total heroes ran SDG one morning by themselves -- just TWO volunteers instead of five! Thank you, Tory and Keith! Y'all made it work.

Dolphins: If you ever walk by and see a big backup, any adult is welcome to grab an orange vest and jump in to help. 💪

🔽 Grade-level playdates last weekend were SO much fun despite the chilly weather. Big thanks to Danielle Ober for organizing these and bringing so many Dolphins together!

OCTOBER 2

- National Custodian Day

- Lockdown Drill @ 10:40am

- Multilingual Tech Night @ 5-6pm - Lafayette Elementary Library

OCTOBER 5 & 6

- Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Parking Fundraiser - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

OCTOBER 9

- Walk & Roll to School Day

- PTA Meeting @ 6pm - Lafayette Auditorium, childcare provided

OCTOBER 16

- Earthquake Drill @ 10:40am

OCTOBER 26

- Autumn Carnival

OCTOBER 31

- Halloween Festival

NOVEMBER 6

- Secure Drill @ 10:40am

Community announcements are shared as a service to our members and are not from the PTA. Do you have events, resources, or other info to share with the community? Email lafayetteschoolpta@gmail.com to request a spot in the Dolphin Digest.

Thanks for reading this week.

Go Dolphins! 🐬

Patricia Wada

VP, Communications 2023–25

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Lafayette Elementary PTA

501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization

Tax ID# 94-6172049