Dear Lafayette Community, 

I hope you're doing well this three-day weekend. If you missed last Wednesday's PTA meeting, catch up with the slides here! And whether you made it to Lafayette Night Market or not, keep reading for pictures and more. 

See you back at school on Tuesday!

In this week's Dolphin Digest: 

✋ Volunteer Corner
🥟 Lafayette’s First Night Market: A Brilliant Success!
📖 Get Ready to Read! Introducing the Lafayette Read-a-thon, March 3-9
☕ Coffee with Mr. K - February 21 @ 8:30am
🏆 African American Honor Roll - March 4 @ 6pm
🌞 Summer Camp Recommendations from Our Community
📝 Help Plan for Next School Year - SURVEY
📷 Lately at Lafayette (photos)

African American Honor Roll is happening at Lafayette on March 4 at 6pm. Volunteers needed during the event as well as before and after! Email lafayettevolunteers@gmail.com if you can help at all.

Read-a-thon Committee needs helpers. Some tasks take as little as 2 hours! Needs include counting donations, supporting during the author visit (take pictures, coordinate book purchases, etc.), and getting kids hyped by visiting classrooms to publicize the Read-a-thon. Please reach out to LafayetteReads@gmail.com if you can help with any of these tasks. Thank you to Justin and Margaret for being our copy-making heroes last week!

Stop, Drop and Go is looking for one or two new co-chairs. You could learn the ropes during the current school year and take over next year. According to the current chair, Emily, it's mostly emailing! Reply to this email to get started.

What a night! Our first-ever Lafayette Night Market was a brilliant success 🌟. We had up to 300 participants to celebrate our school’s incredible cultural diversity. After several years without a multicultural night, it was clear that our community was eager to gather and enjoy the rich traditions that make us who we are.

The potluck was nothing short of gourmet, with over 50 dishes, desserts, and drinks representing 30+ cultures—a true feast for the senses! From delicious homemade food to lively music, arts and crafts, and warm conversations, the energy in the room was unforgettable.

A huge, heartfelt thank you ♥️ to our incredible volunteers who made this night possible—setting up, serving, leading activities, and staying late to clean up. We especially want to recognize Mr. K, who went above and beyond 🚀—helping shape the event and stepping in wherever needed. He was there serving food, standing in the rain to assist with parking, and staying until the end to help clean. 

This night was proof of the magic that happens when our community comes together. 

You can see the shared photos here, and if you have pictures from the event, please share!

We can’t wait to build on this amazing night and celebrate again next school year!

Le and Jessica

Lafayette Night Market Co-Chairs

[Editor's note: SO. MUCH. GRATITUDE to Le and Jessica for making the whole thing happen! Erin, our PTA president, said it was "a huge undertaking to pull this off with no institutional knowledge remaining" and that these two took on the big lift of "signing on to an event that existed only as a story or hazy memory for most of our current families." Jessica and Le, you not only brought back multicultural night, but created something new and special. THANK YOU!]

Each year, the Lafayette Read-a-thon celebrates our community of readers while raising money for our school. 

This year’s Read-a-thon Week is Monday, March 3rd through Sunday, March 9th. Please plan to maximize your student’s reading time that week, and help them sign up sponsors among family, friends, and neighbors. Everyone who turns in a reading log will get a prize!

If they haven't already, your students will receive their reading logs and pledge forms this week from their classroom teachers. New this year: In response to popular demand, you can use an online fundraising option instead of the old paper pledge form! It's super quick to create your student's fundraising page, and then you can text their link to friends/family or share on socials!  

QUICK LINKS:

• Sign up for the book swap (March 1st - get fresh books and give away old ones)
• Create your student's page to fundraise online - easy to share far and wide!
• Download extra forms here if you lose yours. Everyone needs a paper reading log to turn in!

Contact us at LafayetteReads@gmail.com with any questions. 

Happy reading,

Claire Mooney, Meghan Butler, and Patricia Wada, Read-a-thon Co-chairs

February 21st

8:30-9:30am

Lafayette cafeteria

This Friday, head to the cafeteria after drop-off for a little coffee talk with our principal, Mr. Kassebaum!

In response to popular demand, Mr. K has scheduled this one earlier in the day. So come on by for some casual conversation about all things Lafayette!

Next month at Lafayette, please join us for the African American Honor Roll, an evening to celebrate students of African American descent in Grades 3-12 who have earned a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA) or higher.

• March 4th @ 6pm, Lafayette auditorium
• Refreshments
• Book signing and presentation by author and artist George McCalman
• Family portrait sessions
• All are welcome!

Volunteers needed! Please email lafayettevolunteers@gmail.com to raise your hand. 

Since we know many families will be looking for day camps for their kids over the summer, we thought we'd ask you all: What camps do you recommend? Let’s help each other figure out summer!

View the list here!

Have a recommendation to share? Reply to this email to let us know!

The Lafayette PTA does not vet or endorse any particular summer camps. We share this list as a service to our community.

Lafayette staff and the PTA are getting ready to start planning for the next school year. Yes, already! Principal Kassebaum asks that we all complete this Family Community Survey, to help understand families' perspectives and priorities for the next school year.

It won't take you long, and it's important for your voice to be heard. So please fill it out this week!

This survey will also help the PTA plan for next school year, so NOW is the time to share your thoughts on what we should continue to fund.

Another week of amazing volunteers showing up to run Stop, Drop and Go, rain or shine. Thank you!

Members of Lafayette's Student Council presented at last week's PTA meeting. They shared about the work they have been doing, including looking into options to improve school lunches. We hope to share more from these amazing students soon! Great job, Felix, Alexandria, Vivienne, and Sophia!

And finally, a few more pics from Lafayette Night Market. So good! More here (and add your own).

FEBRUARY 17

- NO SCHOOL - Presidents' Day

FEBRUARY 21

- Coffee with Mr. K - 8:30am, Lafayette Auditorium

MARCH 1

- Neighborhood Book Swap

MARCH 3

- Read-a-thon begins

- Parent-Teacher Conference Week begins

MARCH 28-APRIL 4

- NO SCHOOL - Spring Break

APRIL 26

- RESCHEDULED: Party & Auction to Benefit Lafayette Elementary 

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