The Cougar Connection

Principal's Message

Dear Lafayette Elementary Community,

The weather this weekend was beautiful. Robin spent the weekend getting her son prepared for outdoor education and at a hockey tournament. I, Megan, went to Moab, Utah on a whirlwind trip. It’s absolutely worth the two seven hour drives- if you haven’t been, I highly recommend a trip! Thankfully, I didn’t die canyoneering and only walked away with some proof-of-bravery bruising.

We have an exciting week ahead of us! We kick off the week with picture days. Schedule LINK. Next week, parents and guardians will receive an email from Mike Oliver Photography with ordering information.

We are so excited to celebrate our terrific iReady Reading and CMAS growth this week. In collaboration with our PTO and district leaders we are thrilled to honor our hard-working students and staff.

Our Kindergarten raised $912 for our school with the support of Eats and Sweets! Last spring kindergarten students wrote persuasive essays about new ice cream flavors. Our very own, Braileen wrote an essay about Strawberry Cookies and Creme and won! Please see a picture of Bobby, the owner of Eats and Sweets and our Cougar team.

The October Count window is September 26th - October 10th this year. Monday, October 2nd is the State of Colorado’s Official Pupil Count Day! The amount of money our school gets from the State of Colorado is based on how many students we have on our official “Pupil Count Day.”

Please avoid scheduling vacation or medical/dental appointments on this day.

Reminder: No School September 25, despite BVSD menu items that day.

Monday, September 25 there is no school for students as it is a district professional development day. The BVSD printed menu calendar lists menu items on this day in error, but there is no school that day. Other menu items for the remaining month are listed correctly. View the BVSD calendar.

Go Cougars!

Sincerely,

Megan Weir, Principal and Robin Stone, Dean of Students


	Fun in The Garden!

Fun in The Garden!

Important Dates and Upcoming Events

BVSD Calendar Link

BVSD Lunch Menu Link

Specials--Art, PE and Music Rotation Schedules LINK

**** Remember tennis shoes for PE class so students can move and play safely.

September-Character Trait: Responsibility

18 School Picture Day 1

19 School Picture Day 2

20 Fifth Grade Garden to Table

21 Class Picture Day

21 Schoolwide Growth Assembly

22 Picture Retake day

25 Professional Development Day. No school for students.

28 PTO Fundraiser at Smashburger

28 4th Grade Field Trip ~ Plains Conservation Center

28 PTO Meeting September 28th from 7-8:30 pm

30 Lafayette Elementary Colorado Rapids Community Night at 7:30pm

Pets on Campus

Lafayette loves dogs and other animals, but to keep everyone safe, pets need to stay home during pick-up and drop off!

Used Shoe Drive

***The Used Shoe Collection will take place the week of October 2 - 6, 2023. Shoes will be collected in the vestibule.

The Used Shoe Collection, in partnership with Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM), is an opportunity for the BVSD community to re-purpose shoes during the week of International Walk to School Day. Donated shoes will be sorted by Eco-Cycle staff members and sent to Soles4Souls, another non-profit organization, who will redistribute the shoes to be used by members of less fortunate communities around the world. Since 2006, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 50 million pairs of shoes in 129 countries. Soles4Souls utilizes new and gently used shoes as a resource to help entrepreneurs in developing nations with an opportunity to start and sustain small businesses (4Opportunity) of their own. Learn more at soles4souls.org.

Guidelines of the Used Shoe Collection:

~Accepted: New or gently used shoes of all kinds.

~Not Accepted: Dirty, ripped, or torn shoes.

Please:

Pair clean shoes to drop into the box in the school vestibule (front door).
Tie or band the pairs.
Avoid putting the shoes in a plastic bag.

Unusable shoes are NOT being recycled and will go to the landfill. Please make sure all donated shoes are in usable condition and can be upcycled to others.

Book Fair

What: The Scholastic Fall Book Fair

Where: MPR (back of library)

When: In person shopping October 10 & 12 from 2:50-7:50.

Who: Everyone is invited!

Why: To shop for great books and raise money for our school library!

Website: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/lafayetteelementaryschool11

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to help set up, run, and pack up the fair. Click here to sign up. Your help is appreciated!

If you can’t make it to the Fair in person, you can shop at our school’s Online Book Fair from Oct. 5-18. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. 25% of every online purchase comes back to the library.

We want all students to have the opportunity to get a book at the fair. If purchasing a book is a financial hardship, your child can select one free book from the fair. Please email our librarian (jessica.arment@bvsd.org) to let her know you would like a Scholarship Book for your child.

If you would like to purchase a book for a teacher, you can find their “wish box” inside the fair with the books they love. We look forward to seeing you there!

September Gifted and Talented News

Lafayette Elementary is a Gifted and Talented School. Please see our monthly newsletter for upcoming events and information. LINK

CMAS Results Information

Last spring, elementary, middle and high school students participated in the Colorado Measures of Academic Success, or CMAS state-mandated tests. Third through eighth graders took mathematics and English language arts tests, while ninth through eleventh graders took grade specific Colorado PSAT or SAT exams. Fifth, eighth and eleventh graders also took a science test. Student individual reports from Math and Language Arts from last spring are available electronically via the Parent Portal of Infinite Campus. To access your child’s CMAS results, please log-in to your Infinite Campus Parent Portal account following these directions. A printed version of these reports will be available at Lafayette Elementary. Please reach out to Robin Stone if you need a paper copy of these results. robin.stone@bvsd.org.

Free and Reduced Options

School breakfast and lunch are now FREE for BVSD students. Other important cost savings available for families who qualify and complete the Free and Reduced Lunch Application

Each student will be allowed one complete breakfast and one complete lunch for free every day. In order to receive them for free, students must take an entire meal. For example, taking only a yogurt at breakfast or a piece of fruit at lunch would not be free.

Lunch includes an unlimited salad bar. Second entrees and a la carte items (like sides of fruit, salad bar, or milk WITHOUT a full lunch) must still be paid for. Students who would like to purchase those items can still use available meal account funds.

Even though lunch is now free, it is still very important that families complete the free and reduced meal application, as it waives and reduces fees district-wide for families, can impact transportation for some families, and impacts important funding for individual schools.

It also qualifies families for a 50% reduction in Lifelong Learning tuition, and waived tuition for BVSD Online classes (excluding the $50 registration fee). Child Care families will continue to apply for financial assistance through the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

Visit the Free and Reduced Price Meals webpage for information on applying for free or reduced meals or contact your school directly.

School Aged Care Adventure Camp Registration is Open

For non-school days on the 2023-24 calendar (including professional development days, Thanksgiving, Winter and Spring Breaks), School Age Care will provide full-day Adventure Camps at the following schools:

Aspen Creek K-8
Crest View
Mesa
Heatherwood
Flatirons
Monarch K-8
Coal Creek
Ryan

Registration is open to any enrolled elementary-age student in the district; students do not need to attend their home school on these days. Field trips to area attractions are planned on many of the days. CCAP financial assistance is available. See this newsletter for more information.

Character Trait Television

Each Wednesday, announcements are shown virtually in the classroom and feature our students, their artwork, and other talents throughout the school. Please enjoy last week’s CTTV.