LAF Update
November 22
Even a Minute Impacts Staff
All teachers live by the clock and that minute is calculated in their errands to the post office, Starbucks or to a local deli for lunch. This "minute" has impacted teachers picking up their students from lunch or a related arts class which in turn impacts other staff and the students.
Please be mindful of this when you are just running into LAF. I am fine with you pulling up on the lawn if there are no unnumbered spots available.
Dates to Know
November:
27 ~ Early Dismissal - Lunch will not be served - 12:45 pm Dismissal
28 ~ No school - Happy Thanksgiving
29 ~ No School - Thanksgiving Vacation
December
Conferences Early Dismissal - Monday, 12/2 - Friday, 12/6
Lunch will not be served - 12:45 pm Dismissal
11 ~ 4th Grade Holiday Concert - 7:00 p.m.
12 ~ 5th Grade Holiday Concert - 7:00 p.m.
13 ~ Report Cards Available on Parent Portal
20 ~ Hickory Pizza Day
23-31 ~ Holiday Recess - Schools Closed
January
2 ~ School Reopens
Welcome Officer Ribaudo
Gently Used Toy Drive
Lafayette School and Second Chance Toys are teaming up to collect for children in need during the holidays.Please consider dropping of gently used toys in the LAF lobby between November 18th – December 6th. All toys will be donated to NORWESCAP Early Head Start in Denville, NJ.
• Donate your outgrown toys
• Help deserving children
• Keep plastic toys out of our landfills
PLASTIC TOYS ONLY, CLEAN & WORKING, NO MISSING PARTS, OPERATIONAL BATTERIES
Student Email Accounts
Homework at LAF
English Language Arts (ELA):
The LAF teachers, Heather Rocco, ELA Supervisor, and I have spent time researching the extensive benefits of developing lifelong readers. We want our homework to reflect our goal of teaching all kids to love to read. The most powerful way to achieve this is to require that every student at LAF read 20 - 30 minutes a night. Research shows that the more time students have their eyes on print the more successful they are in school and outside of school. We also know that reading is the first activity to be skipped when other after-school activities or homework is taking place. Depending upon the student, an online or paper log may be assigned to track pages or time, but we will not be requiring students to write a report or paragraph. These activities actually discourage reading and turn many students away from books. Grammar sheets, spelling tests, etc. do not impact achievement as much as reading good literature does.
Math
Stacy Winters, Math Supervisor, the LAF team leaders and I explored the opportunities for homework in the 2.0 version. Each lesson has a Homework and Practice Page that will go home with the students for homework. All students will be required to complete all or part of the front page. Teachers may assign the back page to some students or students may give the back page a try. Depending upon the daily schedule or the demonstration of understanding, the teachers may assign a review sheet instead of a practice page. If the homework is not assigned, the students can use any one of the online math programs introduced in their class to assist students in increasing their fact fluency. We expect that math homework practice should take no longer than 20 minutes. If your child is working beyond 20 minutes, they should stop and write a note on the paper or email their teacher. We do not want homework to cause frustration. If your child cannot complete the homework independently in the time noted above, then the teacher needs to be aware so they can reteach the concept the next day.
Misc.
In some cases, teachers may also ask the students to complete unfinished work from the day, study for a test or pre-read social studies and/or science material.