Lafayette is excited to partner with Seattle Audubon’s Finding Urban Nature (FUN) program is an environmental education and science enrichment program for 3rd graders.  The FUN program depends on parent and community volunteers like you who have the desire, time, and commitment to work with your own child and their classmates.  Seattle Audubon’s Finding Urban Nature (FUN) program is an environmental education and science enrichment program for 3rd graders.

As a FUN volunteer you will: Lead a small group of five or six students through each of the lessons, introducing the plants and animals present in the schoolyard habitat. There are four, hour-long outdoor lessons in the fall and four more in the spring, held weekly during school hours and on school grounds. Lessons begin with a brief introduction in the classroom, followed by the hands-on portion of the lesson outside. No previous teaching or science experience is necessary.  Seattle Audubon provides training, all materials, and support throughout the program.

The FUN program has been lauded by students, teachers, and families for the past 29 years.  Your volunteerism will ensure that your child and future students will benefit from this unique program.

The Lafayette Science Garden Program is one of our students’ favorite things about our school!  Last year we were excited to announce the donor partnership with The Robins Family Trust to expand our science garden.  Because of this generous donation, Lafayette has integrated the garden into every aspect of our curriculum, including art, science, writing, and social studies. With the addition of  a dedicated classroom, we taught over 120 classes last year giving teachers and students the opportunity to create and learn outside the bounds of normal class work.  This year we will continue our growth with the addition of a hydroponics towers , more outdoor classroom space, integration into the new state science curriculum and more fun!

We cannot leave out a big thank you to our Principal, Mrs. Chaput, for helping so much with room set up and to the Robins Family Trust, without their support, none of this would have happened.  As always, the Garden Team welcomes parent visits and help!

At Lafayette, students are expected to read 20-30 minutes 4-7 days/week as homework.

Raz-Kids Plus is a blended learning platform that provides effective teacher-led instruction, developmentally appropriate reading practice, formative assessment, and data-driven reporting to improve the reading skills of every student, at every level.

Raz-Kids Plus offers diverse leveled reading books for students to choose from, depending on their interests, as well as incentives for completing reading activities.

Reading levels on Raz-Kids are different from the reading level we use to test students, Fountas & Pinnell.

This should work on desktops, laptops, tablets, iPads, and even smartphones.

Download the mobile app: Raz-Kids Plus Mobile App

TO LOGIN: https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login

High-quality mathematics instruction ensures that students become problem solvers. We believe all students can develop deep conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in mathematics. In doing so, we help our students grapple with real problems, think mathematically, and create solutions.

At Lafayette, all students are expected to Show Respect, Make Good Decisions and Solve Problems in safe ways.  Students are expected and taught through the RULER and Second Step curricula to use appropriate language; keep hands, feet and body to self; and resolve conflict using words and getting adult assistance if needed.  Sometimes students have difficulty regulating their emotions and have outbursts.  This disrupts the learning environment and can upset your child. 

Topics you can discuss with your child include:

• Students should report any incidences or concerning behavior to an adult if it disrupts their learning or sense of safety.

• Identify staff they trust to discuss their feelings.

• Understand that all students have different needs and have empathy for students who are struggling.

• Encourage your child how they can help to support a welcoming and inclusive learning community.

Seattle Arts & Lectures’ (SAL) Writers in the Schools (WITS) program connects professional writers with public school classrooms throughout the Puget Sound region to elevate the voices of all students as they discover and develop their authentic writing and performance voices.  Since 1994, the program has served over 100,000 students throughout the Puget Sound region. WITS Writers-in-Residence provide a professional writer to inspire a vibrant culture around writing for both students and teachers. Through working with professional, published creative writers, students are empowered to tell their own stories and given new tools to do so. By weaving the residencies into the school day, the program reaches students who might never elect to attend an after-school program in creative writing. Through WITS, students become authors of their own lives.

The Lafayette PTA has committed to shifting a portion of our donations to the nonprofit, West Seattle Public School Equity Fund. The amount shifted is voted on by the members each year at the PTA General Budget Meeting in April/May.

“The West Seattle Public School Equity Fund operates simply: a portion of the PTA budgets from well resourced public elementary (and K8) West Seattle schools is contributed to a shared fund, which is managed by parent and/or staff advisors from each of the participating schools. The funds are then distributed annually to historically under resourced public elementary (and K8) West Seattle schools.”