Kindergarten News!
Message from The Lafayette Elementary Kindergarten Team: To Our Incoming Kindergarten Families, the Kindergarten Team at Lafayette is so excited to meet you and welcome your little ones to school here in the Fall. Our goal is to make sure you and your child are feeling comfortable about what to expect, and we look forward to getting to know you this year. To our returning families, welcome back, we look forward to continuing our partnerships with you! Some important information:
No Jump Start: Lafayette will not be participating in Jump Start this year. However…
Kindergarten Playdates: The PTA has organized two Kindergarten playdates, which will be held at the Lafayette playground on Sunday, August 20th at 10am-12pm and Saturday, September 9th at 10am-12pm. Come by to let the littles play and get to know other Kinder families and students! PTA members will also be available to answer questions. We hope you can join us!
Family Connections: Families will have a chance to meet with their student’s Kindergarten teacher before the school year starts. Your teacher will meet with you and your child to get to know you better, find out more about your child, and answer any questions you may have.
Once you find out who your child’s teacher is, you can sign up for a Family Connection Conference with them at the appropriate link below.
Your Child’s Teacher: You will be receiving a postcard from the school in mid to late August letting you know who your child’s kindergarten teacher will be. Once postcards have gone out, you can expect to receive communication from the teacher regarding scheduling a Family Connections meeting, when to drop off school supplies, and other information about the start of the school year.
First Day of School: The first official day of kindergarten is Monday, September 11th, 2023 (please note that kindergarten starts later than other grade levels). Drop off and pick up for all grades happens on the playground, so look for your teacher’s sign on the first day, and that is where your child will line up and be released every day. Note that Kindergarten classes start five minutes earlier at 7:50am, and release at 2:20pm. Take a virtual tour of Lafayette HERE!
Tears and Cheers: Kindergarten parents and caregivers are encouraged to stay after drop-off on Monday, September 11th for “Tears and Cheers” (and treats and coffee!). Enter through the school’s main entrance and head left to the Lafayette Cafeteria. Administrators and PTA parents will be onsite to hand you a tissue or high five you for making it to full time school and answer any questions you may have about the school year ahead for your student!
School Supplies: School supplies lists for all grade levels can be found at this link. Note that many of the supplies on these lists are intended to be shared in classrooms. Backpacks, water bottles and anything that says it should be labeled with your student’s name will be kept and used by your student. Anything else may be collected by the teacher to be shared with the class as a whole. Where teachers have asked for a specific brand or color, please try to purchase that specific item. If your student wants something unique or personal, please purchase that in addition to the specific items the teacher has requested.
Room Parents and Volunteering: Room Parents are vital to the joy (and sanity) of the classroom! Start thinking about whether this is a role you would consider taking on for your child’s classroom. Each classroom ideally has two or more Room Parents. The PTA Room Parent Coordinator will have resources to help make this job a breeze. Main responsibilities are creating volunteer signup sheets for your classroom, assisting the teacher and PTA with parent communications, and coordinating class gifts and resources your teacher may be needing. It’s a very rewarding position, and a great way to get to know fellow Lafayette parents! Many teachers also welcome approved volunteers in the classroom during the school year, so be sure to fill out your volunteer application early so you don’t miss out! More volunteer info HERE.
Stay Informed: Sign up to receive PTA emails and follow us on Facebook and Instagram - you don't have to have a PTA membership to stay informed but we would love if you joined us. We will be resuming our weekly newsletter emails soon!
We know kindergarten is a big milestone in your child’s life, and we can’t wait to work with you to ensure that your child has a successful (and fun) year!
Sincerely, The Lafayette Kindergarten Team
