Dear Lafayette Community,

It's a special week! With parent-teacher conferences happening, we grown-ups have the chance to come inside the school and learn about what our little ones are up to all day. Also, it's Book Fair Week, which is always magical. It's like a little bookstore just appears at school, and everyone gets to visit! More about the Book Fair (including evening hours and how to volunteer) in this newsletter.

Speaking of magical times at Lafayette, how about that Movie Night? Our schoolyard became a movie theater and we got to watch a touching family movie together (or run around in the dark, equally exciting for some). Huge thanks to Mimi Clarke and Claire Mooney for making another wonderful Movie Night happen! Keep reading for Movie Night photos at the end of this newsletter.

In this week's Dolphin Digest:

📘 Book Fair - LOTS of Volunteers Needed!
💵 Support Our Students: Donate to the Lafayette Annual Giving Campaign!
❤️ Save the Date - Love & Luck Party - February 8
🎨 Reflections Program - Deadline December 6
🦽 Coming Up: Inclusive Schools Week - December 2-6
📷 Lately at Lafayette (photos)
📅 Calendar at a Glance 
👋 Community (Non-PTA) Corner

We need Book Fair volunteers EVERY DAY this week, so please sign up if you can! Filling our volunteer shifts means that the students will have help finding books and won't have to wait too long to buy them. We want them to get right back to learning, not spend a bunch of time in line!

The Scholastic Book Fair is this week from 8 am - 2 pm each day. We will also offer evening hours on Nov 19th and 21st from 5 to 6:30pm.

Some important reminders about this year's fair:

• Your children will have the chance to visit during the school day! Each class will visit the fair with their teacher. Parents will have the opportunity to visit the fair during parent-teacher conference times. We are also excited to share that we will be open late on Tuesday, November 19th and Thursday, November 21st from 5 to 6:30 pm for any families who wish to visit after school hours!
• Once your child's teacher has scheduled their time slot, you will be informed which day their class will be visiting so that you can remember to either set up an eWallet for your child (recommended) or make sure to send them to school with some cash.
• We strongly encourage that families set up an eWallet for your child so that they do not have to carry cash. It’s a simple process - go to our Book Fair website, and click "Get Started" on the eWallet section of the page.
• If you or your child cannot buy a book during the fair, don’t worry - there is an online store as well! During the class visits, we will be providing students wishlists so that they can write down books they are interested in and bring the list home. Books can then be purchased online using our Book Fair link, and the purchases will still benefit our school.
• Families are welcome to contribute to their child’s classroom by purchasing from the Teacher Wish Lists. Each teacher will list items that they would love to have for their classroom. Families who are able to are encouraged to purchase these classroom donations during the Book Fair, and the books will be shipped directly to their teachers.

Big thanks to Meghan Butler & Anna Jordan for co-chairing the Book Fair! 

Did you know our Annual Give Campaign is happening? This campaign has been how Lafayette PTA funds the bulk of our budget year after year. In other words, it's a big one! Help fund field trips, school supplies, teacher requests, additional staff and our STEAM program. Every donation counts!

Hot tip: This is our last fundraising request in the calendar year 2024, so it's a good time to get those tax deductions and corporate matches! Lafayette PTA's Tax ID is always at the bottom of this newsletter.

Donate today and make a difference in our students' lives.

There are prizes! When donating through PayPal, please select "Anonymous" only if you wish to opt out from reward participation.

Contact the AGC Committee at lafayettegives@gmail.com

Don't forget to save the date!

On February 8, 2025, we are hosting our annual party, fundraiser and auction, Love & Luck: A Celebration of a New Lunar Year and our Commitment to Community Care. Our team is already hard at work on planning and we would love for you to join us.

If you want to volunteer to help in any way, sign up right here. (Disregard the question about the kick-off meeting that's already passed--now is the perfect time to get involved.)

Does your student enjoy art, music, and dance, or have an interest in writing, producing films, and taking photos? Then let them unleash their inner artist with PTA Reflections!  

The theme for the 2024-25 Reflections Art Program is "Accepting Imperfection"  

All Lafayette students are invited to participate and submit original artwork in one of six areas. The submission deadline is Friday, December 6th, 2024. 

• Dance Choreography
• Literature
• Photography
• Film Production
• Music Composition
• Visual Arts

* interpretation of the theme is highly considered during the review process. 

To learn more about selection criteria in Reflections, visit www.pta.org/home/programs/reflections/awards.

Lafayette Elementary participates in this program every year.  Lafayette students Odile Miranda, Orion Montoya, and Abigail Ow were the finalists for last year’s program, “I am hopeful because." Abigail received an Award of Merit from the State, 2nd Place! 

Reflections Art Program Website:

https://capta.org/programs-events/reflections/ 

The National PTA Reflections Program has been bringing the arts to life for more than 10 million students since 1969. California State PTA and its members, families, and kids are at the forefront of this amazing program, which increases community awareness of the importance of arts in education. 

For questions please contact:  

LafayetteReflections@gmail.com

Shannon Hughes: shannonhughes8@gmail.com  |  415-259-8113

Ciara Piron: sfishome@gmail.com  |  415-370-1680

Lafayette is excited to celebrate another Inclusive Schools Week! This week is a time to focus on what inclusion means and how we can be advocates for inclusion. There will be presentations from community members such as the BORP Adaptive Sports organization and a Special Olympic Athlete. There will also be multiple lessons in class focusing on inclusion, diversity, and advocacy, as well as schoolwide projects that can be seen on classroom bulletins. This is a great time to talk to your child(ren) about what they are learning and how they can be inclusive everyday. You can learn more and browse the district wide event offerings here.

Now for the Do We Really Have To Say This?? files... 

Recent photo evidence shows that some don't know: This parking behavior is not OK. Not in the morning, not at pickup time.

• DO NOT park on the opposite side of the street against the flow of traffic, double-park, or block the white curb.
• DO use Stop, Drop and Go in the mornings, or park legally for pickup/dropoff if not using SDG -- these are our only choices when driving.

Whew, let's lighten the mood! Look at this crowd from Movie Night on Saturday. Our community is amazing.

NOVEMBER 18-22

- Scholastic Book Fair

- Parent-Teacher Conference Week

NOVEMBER 25-29

- NO SCHOOL - Fall Break

DECEMBER 2-6

-Inclusive Schools Week

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