LAF Newsletter
October 7th
A Message from Mrs. Russo
Yesterday, Heather Rocco, English Language Arts Supervisor, provided an overview of the Units of Study in the area of Reading and Writing. Listed below is information to support her presentation:
Curriculum Profiles: http://www.chatham-nj.org/page/778
Units of Study: http://www.heinemann.com/unitsofstudy/reading/
New Jersey Learning Standards: http://www.state.nj.us/education/aps/cccs/lal/
We continue to have many exciting events coming up in the month of October so keep your eyes open for the weekly updates sent each Friday.
Halloween: Monday, October 31st
With Halloween quickly approaching, I would like to share with you a new approach to managing our food events at LAF. In consultation with the PTO Executive Board and the LAF team leaders, it has been decided to unify how we manage the food during the Halloween parties. This is an idea we are experimenting with and it may or may not become the norm at LAF. We appreciate your patience as we try to accommodate everyone's needs, are fair in our process, and do not add to the burden of our teachers or parents.
We are trying this equitable approach to support the teachers and parents and to ensure that all of our students are provided safe treats and a fun time. The room coordinators will create a grade level menu and then share the ingredient lists with Mrs. Kelly, LAF Nurse. Once approved, room coordinators will share the lists with the room parents.
Finally, Mrs. Kelly will send an email to all parents. Those parents who indicated that they wanted to be informed of events with food will sign off electronically that their child will participate or that their child will bring in an alternative snack. Once again, we appreciate your patience as we try to accommodate everyone's needs, are fair in our process, and do not add to the burden of our teachers or parents.
Lafayette's Halloween Parade will begin at 1:50 p.m. in the back of the LAF building. Each classroom party is scheduled by the homeroom teacher according to their schedule. LAF Halloween guidelines:
- Students can come to LAF dressed in their costumes.
- We encourage all accessories to be left at home due the fact that many of these items are often left behind.
- Costumes cannot promote use of drugs, alcohol or weapons of any kind,
No pretend “prop” weapons such as water pistols, knives or swords.
Costumes may not be offensive or inappropriate in any way.
Students choosing to wear costumes must be able to sit in their desk without distracting others and participate fully in all class activities.
Effective Today!
New Dellwood Avenue Parking Instructions
On September 12th, Chatham Borough Council passed new parking ordinances on Dellwood Ave to keep our students safe as they exit the footpath behind Lafayette School.
The ordinance essentially moves the parking back two house frontage widths from the crosswalk on the borough side of the crosswalk. The borough and township boundaries meet at the crosswalk, with the borough on the Fairview Ave. side and the township on the Longwood Ave. side.
The new borough safety rule was enacted to improve drivers’ ability to see our children, because driver line of sight to the footpath exit is blocked by a bend in the road. This new ordinance says "No Stopping or Standing" in this pedestrian safety zone, on both sides of the street. This means cars can neither park nor stop briefly to let a child off, nor wait with an engine idling, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in within about 200 feet of the crosswalk.
On the township side of the path after school, the rules remain the same. There is one side of the street parking after school. Parking is allowed on the school side but not on the non-school side after school. If you are driving from the Township side after school, please consider driving to Fairview and then coming up Dellwood Ave. in order to park on the school side in the township without doing a K turn on Dellwood.
In addition, on the township side, please follow the standard New Jersey law that says you cannot park within 25 feet of a crosswalk. This is, again, to allow driver visibility of the children coming out of the footpath.
Walking on lawns: While most adults would prefer to walk in the street rather than on private lawns, children and adults, in order to avoid walking between parked cars and the 2 way traffic on Dellwood, are permitted by law to walk in the utility easement, which is a 10 foot wide strip from the curb.
Please see the attached map, where green means parking is ok after school and red means no parking. Borough road signs will change in early October to indicate the new rules.
Food Drive
PTO News
Fall is in full swing at Lafayette! I hope this finds you and your children enjoying the new school year. Our PTO members have been busy planning many events and activities. Please see the details below and join in the fun!
Book Fair - October 18th-21st
A great tradition continues at Lafayette, Eat and Shop at the Book Fair! Shop anytime from 3:15-8:00pm on Tuesday, October 18th. From 5:00pm-8:00pm Oink and Moo BBQ truck and the Ice Cream truck will be onsite with food for purchase. They will have plenty of food available and you’ll have no need to cook! This is a wonderful night for the LAF community and we can’t wait to see you there!
The Book Fair is always an exciting time for our students! The children will preview the books in school on Tuesday the 18th and create a wish list. You may send cash or check in with your child for the books you wish to purchase. Please make all checks out to LAF PTO. Each class will have an assigned time to shop between Wednesday and Friday during the fair. All proceeds benefit the Lafayette Library Media Center. Mae Hacking and Terry Cooper have done an amazing job arranging this great event!
Our Book Fair requires many volunteers. Please sign up today at http://signup.com/go/LE48og
MINI MARATHON
Mini Marathon practices are underway and the children are getting ready for race day. Come out and cheer on our runners, Monday, October 24th (rain date Tuesday, October 25th). If you are still interested in volunteering for practices or race day, please contact Brenda Colvin at brendaduke@yahoo.com A huge thank you to Brenda and her terrific team. See you on race day!
ASE
Thank you to everyone that registered their child for an ASE class. Classes will begin on Tuesday, October 18th. A very special thank you to Cecille West, Jennie Braza and Cindy Marrinan for organizing these fantastic classes for our students!
GREEN TEAM
It’s National Walk to School Month and Farm to School Month! We celebrated National Walk to School Day with guest Police Officer Anthony LoPorto on Walking Wednesday, October 5, 2016.
Lafayette School is celebrating National Farm to School Month this October. The Vegetable of the Month is squash and it will be featured throughout the school, including specialty squash dishes prepared by Chartwells and announcements on Lafayette Live. Thank you Chartwells!!
Wear Green Day on Wednesday, October 19th! In conjunction with Respect week, show your earth friendly support and wear green! We will continue our Wear Green days the 1st Wednesday of each month along with walk to school day and waste free lunch day. Thank you to Kathy Abbott, Natalia Lacy and Monika Schaefer for their hard work!
RUMMAGE SALE
This year’s rummage sale will take place on Saturday, November 19th. This great event requires many volunteers. Please consider signing up at http://signup.com/go/NEgNgA Early donations will be accepted on Saturday, November 5th from 12:00pm-2:00pm at 14 Pembrooke Road (Chatham Township) and 1 Maple Street (Chatham Township). Thank you to Carole Bhalla and Barb Marshall for this very special event!
Dues/General Fund
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the many parents that have already paid their PTO Dues and have generously donated to the General Fund. It’s been fantastic! If you have not paid your dues of $20, please send in a cash/check (made out to LAF PTO) with your child or pay online. We will continue to collect for the General Fund throughout the year. Thank you again for all of your support!
https://squareup.com/store/lafpto
Kathryn Himstreet