4 November  2016

Le Journal



Principal News

Thankful All Year Round

Dear AL families,

As we come upon my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, being thankful should not be reserved for the 4th Thursday of November. There are things we can do together or alone to reinforce thankfulness every month: 
  • Spend some time outside (although I will admit these Oak mites have sure put a damper on being outside). When outside show simple things to your children or let them point things out they observe. Talk about the importance of nature for the needs of humans and animals. 
  • At mealtime, not only talk about others in need, but discuss how we have food on our table, all the things and people involved to be able to enjoy our meal.
  • Show your children what it means to be thankful. Showing by example is the most powerful method to influence your children. 

Enjoy your family time and thank you for all you do to make our school a better place.

 
Leslie Houfaidi
Oak Principal



calendar

Upcoming Events

November 9
Culver's Restaurant Night Out - 4 pm - 8 pm - See details below

November 16
3rd Grade Winter Concert
6 pm, Oak Auditorium


November 19
Holiday Art Market
10 am - 5 pm,
Cherry Gym


November 30
Early Release Day
Cherry: 12:45 pm
Oak: 1 pm

4th & 5th Grade Winter Concert - 6 pm, Oak Auditorium
November 14
Board Meeting
6 pm, Oak Music room


November 17
Oak Parent-Principal Coffee - 7:30 am, Library


November 22
Generations Day



December 1
Middle School Winter Concert - 6 pm, Oak Auditorium

November 15
Cherry Open House
6 - 8 pm


November 18
Cherry Parent-Principal Coffee - 7:30 am, Auditorium

November 23 - 25
NO SCHOOL



December 7
Kindergarten Winter Concert

Access the 2016-2017 School Calendar here

Info Sharing

Board Retreat Noticeretreat

An Académie Lafayette Strategic Planning Meeting will be held on Saturday, November 5th, at the Kauffman Center (4801 Rockhill Rd, Kansas City, MO 64110) from 8:30 am to 12 pm.

Agenda:
  • MAP presentation: 8:30 - 9:30 (60 min)- Break (10 min)
  • Reviewing mission vision values: 9:40 - 10:10 (30 min)
  • Expansion Plan: process, options, organizational charts, finances: 10:15 - 12:00 (1:45 min)


Info Sharing

Thankful Thursday LunchThankfullunch

We'd like to show our amazing teachers and support staff how thankful we are for all of the work they do for our kids! Rather than hosting it during the busy time of December, we will be hosting our Thankful Thursday lunch on  November 17 at each campus. Families can contribute by bringing food, drinks, and party supplies or by helping with setup and breakdown. Please click here to register for the Cherry campus, and here for the Oak campus. 


Info Sharing

Holiday Art MarketHAM2

Just a few weeks until our 5th annual Holiday Art Market! We've got amazing vendors, a killer iron-in-the-hat style raffle, delicious treats at the bake sale, and coffee & tea from our favorite Unbakery. As always, it's the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I know many of you have appreciated knocking out your holiday shopping before the madness kicks in. Make sure to like our Facebook page to stay up to date (Académie Lafayette Holiday Art Market). 

If you're interested in donating baked goods, please email Andi Swan, titian_chica@yahoo.com and if you'd like to volunteer, please email Annie Rousis at ClarkWorksCustom@gmail.com. We sure hope to see you there!



Info Sharing

Generations Day: Volunteers Needed!generations

Hundreds of invitations have gone out to grandparents, family members and special friends for Generations Day! Now we need to make sure our guests feel welcome when they arrive. We need volunteers to pass out name badges, direct guests to classrooms, assist with refreshments, and sign in guests who did not RSVP.  Sign up HERE
to help!

Remember -- Generations Day is not just for grandparents. Other family members, neighbors, or friends are welcome as well.


Info Sharing

4th Grade Harvesters Drivefooddrive

Dear parents,
 
Next Tuesday, the 4th graders will start collecting canned and dry goods (at the Oak campus only) to donate to the Harvesters food bank.  Our food drive will help hungry families in our community. The food drive will start November 8th and it will end on November 22nd (just in time to help families in need before Thanksgiving).
 
Please give what you can. One grocery bag of food can provide as much as 11 meals to a family in need. Every single donation helps, and together we hope our combined donations will make a real difference.  (No glass please!)
 
Harvesters most needed items: 
  • Food:
    • Canned vegetables (low sodium)
    • Canned fruits in 100% juice
    • Dried fruit (no added sugar preferred)
    • Canned chicken, tuna, salmon (packed in water)
    • Brown rice
    • Whole grain pasta
    • Dried beans or canned low sodium beans
    • Peanut, almond, or sun butter
    • Canned soup (chicken, tomato or vegetable)
    • Cereal - hot and cold (whole grain, low sugar preferred)
  • Household Products:
    • Soap
    • Deodorant
    • Shampoo
    • Toilet Paper
Thank you for your help,

The 4th grade classes


Info Sharing


bills_coins.jpg November 7-11 is Coins for the Cabinet week at Académie Lafayette. AL students have the opportunity to fill two huge jars with pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters.  All proceeds go to help the Kansas City Medicine Cabinet. The organization provides eyeglasses, crutches, and prescription drugs for those who cannot afford them.  
  • Monday - bring in pennies
  • Tuesday - nickels
  • Wednesday - dimes
  • Thursday - quarters
  • Friday - WILD CARD DAY - change or bills are welcome! 


Info Sharing

Character Education At OakCharEd

Oak is starting off the year strong with character education! Last month Mme. Troutner visited all the classrooms at Oak to talk with students about  respect. In October and November we are focused on empathy and will begin lessons centered on "walking in someone else's shoes" and anti-bullying. 

We define Empathy as:
  1. Having the ability to understand, care about and share another person's feelings.
  2. Standing up for students that are being bullied, teased or excluded.
  3. Being kind
Please talk with your students about being kind to others with both their words and actions. All students reviewed the AL bullying policy and had discussions about bullying and making safe and positive choices at school.

We celebrated r espect last month during our character assembly as we honored our citizens of the month as well as many of our talented students. Our next assembly will be focused on empathy and anti-bullying!

Citizens of the Month

Middle School

Jackson Coleman
Gus Thomas
Louisa Gear
Spencer Duffendack
Donyae Watson
Ruby Harris
Andra Brown
Aliya Watne
Greta Linebach Dehart
India Williams
Isabella Ogilvie
Lilli LaFollette
Maya Burton
Anabella Verkler






4th & 5th
Simao Genot- Mauvois
Maya Cunningham
Anna Duffendack
Kaya Alvegaard-Struble
Vivan Kuntz
Madison Wafer- Lyman
Lucia Thomas
Elijah Dastrup
Vivian Nodland
Victoria Mitchell



Info Sharing

From the PTSOPTSO

Congratulations to all who participated in this year's Allez 5k! The Allez5k was a major success for the Académie Lafayette community! Thank you to all that came out! 


Shout out to our top runners:
Female:
Age 6-9:
 Isabelle Musselman-Watson 31.34 (69th overall) 
Age 10-14: Molly Hendrickson 22.44 (17th overall) 
Adult: Malynda Eshleman 22.51 (18th overall)

Male:
Age 6-9: Henry Acorn 21.05 (10th overall) 
Age 10-14: Ilyes Ait Abdelkader 17.40 (2nd overall)
Adult: Brian Verkler 17.36 (1st overall) 
Adult 60+: Drew Henson 20.45 (8th overall)

  • Don't forget about our upcoming Restaurant Give Back night at Culver's next week! Wednesday, November 9th from 4-8 pm visit the Culver's on State Line to participate. 
  • If you have not picked up your trash bags from earlier this year, you will be contacted by Meghan Flavin to arrange a pick up. We have reordered and have a small number of extras. If you are interested in purchasing please email: meghkflavin@gmail.com for availability. 


Info Sharing

Adopt A Family For The HolidaysAdoptafamily

holly-berry-wreath.jpg
The Holiday Season is fast approaching and Académie Lafayette is preparing to make it a little brighter for some of our own school families in need this year. We greatly appreciate your generosity in sponsoring a child or family. Please contact School Counselor, Lara Troutner at Oak by Friday, November 11th if you are interested in giving to a child or family this season. You can contact Mme Troutner by phone 816-361-7735 or by email at  ltroutner@academielafayette.org


Info Sharing


All students will be photographed on Picture Day for the yearbook.  Students should wear casual clothes. You can order online at MyLifeTouch.com. Please use the Picture Day ID located on the flyers that were sent home in backpacks. 

For Cherry students:
Retake Day:  Tuesday, November 29

For Oak students:
Retake Day:  Friday, December 2


Info Sharing

After School Clubs At CherryCherryclubs

We are currently seeking parents who wish to be involved and to volunteer a skill for the Cherry Campus Children. We envision four after school clubs: 
  • Home Economics: Kids will learn to cook simple things and some light sewing skills.
  • Chess Club: Kids will learn to strategize and dominate in the game of chess.
  • Writing Club: Kids will learn to love to write and to be creative in the process (no volunteers needed).
  • Science Club: Kids will learn to hypothesize and to think scientifically. 
Each of the clubs needs 1-2 volunteers, except writing club which has been filled. Volunteers must be able to manage up to 6 children and must be patient. Volunteers must not only be passionate about a subject but also must have some knowledge of the subject. You will need to plan your own lessons. If materials are needed there may be funds available to purchase them. We'd ideally like to meet once a week and ideally on Wednesdays from 3:35 to 4:35 (after school) at the Cherry Campus. 

Interested? Contact Leslie Kohlmeyer, lkohlmeyer@academielafayette.org816-606-1646


from the classroom

8th Grade Field Trips: Part 2Fieldtrip

As a follow-up activity to our trip to the Black Archives of Mid-America Kansas City ( read about it in last week's newsletter), the 8th grade took another field trip to see "The Nine Who Dared" at the Coterie Theater. The performance depicted the true experiences of the students who attempted to integrate Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. Students read a nonfiction piece last year that concerned Thurgood Marshall and Brown versus the Board of Education and desegregation. The play and all of these texts directly relate to the novels the students read in 7th grade (To Kill A Mockingbird) and 6th grade (Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry).
 
Before the performance, we had the pleasure of working with Pancho Villegas, who performs for the Coterie and also serves as a teacher in classrooms. Mr. Villegas visited the English classes and provided the students with background historical information to understand the context of the event, and he also provided several hands-on activities to attempt to put our students in the shoes of the Little Rock students. As a result of these activities, our students were able to practice the important skill of empathy.
 
After the performance, our students took part in a forum with students from other schools regarding the events that transpired. Again, our students' questions and comments were quite impressive, so much so that a student from a local high school remarked to one of our students that "she didn't think about things like that when she was in 8th grade". We will make more connections to the performance when we study "A Raisin In The Sun" later this winter. We will also look at nonfiction texts this year regarding enforced segregation in Kansas City and the desegregation attempts in our Kansas City schools.
 
Students then completed a journal entry after the performance to reflect on their thoughts. Even though some students surely were not thrilled about having to write (I was starving too), it was an amazing sight to see 68 young adults sprawled on the floor, tables, and couches of Crown Center completing a journal entry in almost complete silence for 10 minutes. Thank you again to the 10 (!) family members who accompanied us that day as your assistance in supervising our young adults was much needed. Most importantly, thank you to our young adults for acting like adults and representing Académie Lafayette as the best school in Kansas City once again.
 
Patrick Sprehe



sports

Middle School Boys & Girls Basketballbasket

basketball_old_court.jpg
Registration for middle school boys and girls basketball is open. If your child is interested in playing, please contact coach Djiba. Both girls team and boys team will compete in the Kansas City Metro League.
Girls have already started practice and boys will start on  Tuesday, November 2, 2016 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM at the Cherry campus gymnasium.

Contact: Coach Djiba,  edjiba@academielafayette.org


AL in the community

Thankful For VolunteersAlcommunity

A few weeks ago, AL parent Shelly Doucet volunteered to make copies and cut out Milius Money for Mrs. Milius, 3rd grade English teacher. Karla Vogt, her mother-in-law, as well as Victorine Ngom, helped her. Thank you for making a difference! 


Report your sightings of Académie Lafayette parents, staff, or students accomplishments to  communication@academielafayette.org.  



Research Medical Center, Brookside Campus, is a proud sponsor of academie lafayette


Oak Street Campus
6903 Oak Street
Kansas City, MO 64113
816-361-7735

Cherry Street Campus
3421 Cherry Street
Kansas City, MO 64109
816-888-7400

www.academielafayette.org