Dear Lafayette Community,

This week, we have a note from PTA President Erin Feher Montoya. CORRECTION: Please see below for the complete message:

Now is the time.

To attend your first PTA meeting. To volunteer at a school event. To fight book bans and censorship in libraries. To organize donations for migrant families in your neighborhood. To work small, to give locally. 

The Lafayette PTA is immediately and diligently working on ways to not only support our children and our school, but to widen our reach and support the wider SFUSD public school community. Our resources are many, our community is strong, and we have the ability to make a real and lasting impact at this perilous time.

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.

I hope to see you all at our next PTA meeting this November 13.

Now is the time.

In this week's Dolphin Digest:

💖 Round-up: Ways You Can Help at Lafayette
🐬 Last PTA Meeting of the Year - November 13th @ 6pm
🎬 Lafayette Movie Night - Nov 16th
😊 School Social Work Newsletter from Emily Newman
🎭 Lafayette Musical Auditions - November 13th & 14th
📷 Lately at Lafayette (photos)
📅 Calendar at a Glance 
👋 Community (Non-PTA) Corner: Help Local Seniors with "One Hard Thing" - Saturday Nov 16th

• Come to this Wednesday's PTA Meeting ➡️ 6pm, Lafayette auditorium
• Step up to co-chair Stop, Drop and Go. Our current chair, Emily, is ready to show you the ropes! ➡️ Email lafayetteschoolpta@gmail.com 
• Help Social Worker Emily Newman with cultural displays. ➡️ Email newmane1@sfusd.edu
• Volunteer at the Book Fair November 18-22. ➡️ Signups coming soon!
• Nominate yourself or others for School Site Council (SSC) or English Learners Advisory Committee (ELAC). ➡️ See attached document for more info and fill out this form by November 21st 
• Be a yard monitor at lunch/recess. ➡️ Email lafayetteschoolpta@gmail.com 
• Help organize the Lost & Found. ➡️ Email lafayetteschoolpta@gmail.com 
• And keep reading this newsletter every Sunday to stay involved!

Please join us for this month's PTA meeting! It will be our last one of the year, since we'll have Lafayette Gives on December 11th instead of our usual meeting that month.

November 13th (Wednesday)

6pm

Lafayette school auditorium

Light refreshments and free child care (till 7:30) provided. 

We'll also have fun door prizes for attendees!

In order to be eligible to vote on our motions you must be a paid member of the PTA for a minimum of 30 days. The cost is $10 per member and anyone can join (parents, students, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.). Be sure to join the PTA today! Just 8 more members and we'll reach 250.

If you can't join in person, join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87387233183?pwd=VHA0MlpuMUtsc3dPSTJaazlzU0FsZz09

Meeting ID: 873 8723 3183
Passcode: 933176

Join us for a night of free family fun on Saturday, November 16th as we turn our school yard into an outdoor movie theater for a showing of IF.

[  Trailer  |  Common Sense Media Review  ]

Free popcorn provided! Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and any other snacks you'll need to get you through the evening.

Movie starts at 5:30pm. Be sure to arrive early and snag the best seat in the house!

In her School Social Work Newsletter for November, Lafayette school social worker Emily Newman shares about Native American Heritage Month, older students leading as "Recess Heroes," and more!

Check out Emily's School Social Work November Newsletter right here.

Emily is also looking for crafty volunteers to help her make displays at school celebrating various cultures. If that sounds like you, please contact Emily at newmane1@sfusd.edu.

From our School Musical Committee Director, Ben Bleiman:

We are thrilled to announce auditions for this year's Lafayette musical, SPAMALOT. This is - quite literally - one of the funniest musicals ever made, and the kids' version does not disappoint! The musical will take place later in the calendar year in 2025 than in the past. Five shows (plus tech/dress rehearsal), the week of April 14-18, 2025. 

Auditions are mandatory for ANY CHILD 2nd grade and above who wishes to participate in the musical. No exceptions. However, kindergarten and first graders do not need to audition. Lead roles/ensemble will require technical singing skills, dancing prowess, ability to focus, and a big sense of humor. 
 
We will have multiple choruses as in year's past for children who do not have a lead part, but once again. Any child grade 2 or above who wishes to participate must audition. 
 
Audition schedule: 
2nd and 3rd Grade - Wednesday, November 13th - 1pm to 3pm. (Teacher's room TBD)
4th and 5th Grade - Thursday, November 14th - 2pm to 4pm. (Teacher's room TBD)
 
Call backs: 
Wednesday, November 20th - 1pm to 3pm. (Auditorium)
Thursday, November 21th - 2pm to 4pm. (Auditorium)
 
Roles will be posted on Friday, November 22nd after school on the door of the Auditorium.
 
To audition, each student must prepare a 30-second, acapella song for our team of directors. This year we would also like them to tell us a joke. Any joke they want. They are allowed to have ONE friend join them in the audition room for emotional support if they want. 
 
Note: Your child can prepare any song that they choose for their audition. HOWEVER, if they are serious about getting a lead part or ensemble role, we encourage them to choose a song that shows off their technical singing abilities, theatricality, dance moves and vocal range. Also their sense of humor! 

Please use this link to register your children. 
 
Feel free to text me at 415.999.5053 if you have any questions. 
 
Let's break all of our legs! 

Thanks always to our Stop, Drop and Go volunteers!

And here are a few more images from Halloween. See more here, including a bunch of beautiful shots from Lafayette dad Madaly Ahmad, who was there all day volunteering to take pics! You can add your own pictures to that folder to share with the community and maybe end up in the yearbook.

Oh yeah, you made it this far, so you get a treat yourself! Submit your name here to get TWO extra raffle tickets at the PTA meeting this Wednesday, November 13th. Because you deserve an award for being such an engaged member of the community. And because it's nice to know you're reading.

NOVEMBER 11

- NO SCHOOL - Veterans Day

NOVEMBER 13

- RISE SF Meeting - 1pm @ Wellness Center (next to attendance office)

- PTA Meeting - 6pm @ Lafayette auditorium

NOVEMBER 16

- Movie Night - 5:30pm showtime

NOVEMBER 18-22

- Scholastic Book Fair

- Parent-Teacher Conference Week

NOVEMBER 25-29

- NO SCHOOL - Fall Break

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.

One Hard Thing 
SATURDAY 11/16/24
9:30 am - 12:00 pm 

Meet at: Richmond Senior Center 6221 Geary Blvd. 3rd Fl. 

More information: 
Email/Call Joey: 
Jyu@ggsenior.org
(415) 525-2571 
Sign Up on this Form
or visit: ggvillage.org/volunteer

"It’s no surprise that older people have a harder time taking care of their homes. Whether it’s weeding, clearing clutter, cleaning hard-to-reach areas, flipping a mattress, seniors often don’t have the strength, energy or stability to handle these chores. 

"That’s where 'One Hard Thing' comes in. One Hard Thing, a project of the Golden Gate Village (GGV), matches able-bodied volunteers with Village members needing help with the difficult chores they cannot handle on their own... [READ MORE IN RICHMOND/SUNSET BEACON]" 

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