from the principaL

Spring Is Here, And So Is Testing

Dear Families,

We trust you had a wonderful, relaxing spring break. It is always good to have some family time and come back to school refreshed. Spring is here and with it comes our testing time. Whatever your philosophy is on testing, it still has to happen. It does help us in planning, teaching, and knowing how to help our students. Next week we start taking the NWEA test, first at Oak and then at Cherry. A month later, it will be time to take the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) test.  Teachers use the data provided by those tests to improve their lessons and help individual students. 

As always, we ask that you limit any vacations or visits to doctors during this time of year. We also ask that you bring your children on time and ready to test/learn. Thank you for your continued support.

As a side note, the lost and found bin is overflowing. Please come and get your child's clothing! 

 

Thank you,

Leslie Houfaidi

Oak Principal

from the Head of school

High School Update: SchoolWorks Visit

Dear AL Community,

This is to inform you that SchoolWorks, an educational consulting group based in Massachusetts will be visiting our school from Monday March 27 to Thursday 30. This visit is part of the due diligence process required by SchoolSmartKC before supporting a program. As announced at our all-school general meeting, SchoolSmartKC is an organization created by three foundations - Walton, Kauffman and Hall, to support education in Kansas City by funding expansion, improvement or turnaround programs.

The SchoolWorks School Quality Review consists of a set of standards to assess critical aspects of a school's culture, organization and academic program. During the three and a half day visit, the SchoolWorks' team will analyze instructional documents, visit classes, organize focus groups with students, teachers, parents, board members and instructional leaders.

A written report will be shared with our school to identify school strengths and areas of growth. The outcome is a prioritized action plan of next steps, including strategies, resources and timelines to accomplish goals.

On a different note, I would like to thank the 52% of parents who took the time to complete the 5Essentials Survey. I you have not done it yet, please click here. The deadline is March 31.  This survey is an important part of our continuous school improvement process. We want to hear from you! 

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Thank your for your invaluable support of Académie Lafayette.

Elimane Mbengue

Head of School
embengue@academielafayette.org

In This Edition: 

 

Click on any of the links below to be taken directly to the article: 

• Cherry STEM night
• Re-enrollment information
• IB Community Project Exhibition
• Host families needed for 17-18 interns
• French reading for summer break
• Oak journée culturelle
• From the classroom: mapping and cataloguing "stars"
• Marche des mousquetaires returns
• EiP: thank you
• AL progressive dinner party is back
• Food service information
• Nursing supplies still short
• Don't mask your passion for AL
• Date change: first-grade concert moved
• Counseling
• Sports: MS Girls' Soccer
• Advertising:
• Research Medical Center
• Camp Fire Heartland Summer Camp
• Brookside Real Estate Company

calendar

Upcoming Events

INFO SHARING

Cherry STEM Night Is Next Week

The Cherry campus is partnering with the math department at Rockhurst University to offer a science night focused on STEM. Students will explore stations related to math, science, engineering and technology and discover resources in our community that will spark their interest in STEM learning. Students and their families are welcome!

Come and enjoy fun and interactive activities:  KC Zoo, C.H.A.S.E. Sensorium, DNA extraction, Frozen Fractals, Engineering games, and many, many more activities! This night is made possible by AL PTSO, CERNER and Rockhurst University

The event will take place on March 29th from 5 to 7 pm at the Cherry campus. We hope to see you there! Click here to RSVP on Facebook!

INFO SHARING

Re-Enrollment Information

More information about the summer school and 2017-2018 school year enrollment will be sent out by the middle of April. Please watch this newsletter and your email for the link that will be sent out in the next few weeks. 

INFO SHARING

Community Project Exhibition 

As part of the International Baccalaureate program in the middle school, students in 8th grade have been working hard all year to complete student-designed community service projects. 

In September, students were asked to identify a need within the community and then, throughout the year, they worked with a teacher-advisor to create a way to address the need. We will be proudly showcasing this hard work at an expo on  Friday, April 14th from  2:30 - 3:30 at the Oak campus. If you would like to learn more about the community project, please join us at this time. Our 8th graders will be happy to show you their work and to answer questions for you about the process. (All 7th grade students will attend the expo with their homeroom teachers as they begin to think about the project for next year.)

Some of the projects this year include the following:

• working with local restaurants to collect excess food and then delivering it to a hospice community
• volunteering at local animal shelters
• an awareness campaign on understanding autism
• spending time playing cards with residents of nursing homes
• product drives for children in need

INFO SHARING

Host Families Needed For 17-18 Interns 

Would you like to  host an intern next year? Our interns are native French speakers and interested in a career in education. They work in Kindergarten classrooms and live with  host  families in the community. For a semester or a school year, host f amilies provide the intern a private room, shared bathroom, and meals when you are together as a  family.  

It's a great way for your children to practice their French at home! 

Questions? Interested? Contact Diane Balagna at  dbalagna@academielafayette.org .

INFO SHARING

French Reading For Summer Break!

L'école des Loisirs  is  offering the MAX book club for summer: i nstead of getting one book every month, subscribe now and receive 8 new French books altogether before the summer break! With your subscription, your student can now listen to the books online when you create an account with Ecole des Loisirs. Through the school, you'll enjoy a group discount rate, and for every 12 subscriptions made through Académie Lafayette, the school receives a free subscription, too!  DEADLINE for the summer subscription: April 25th

 

Explore the eight different sets of books, leveled for kids ages 0-16+ at the English Ecole des Loisirs website. (Note that the levels are designed for French kids, so you may consider going down a level.)

Subscribe directly online at www.regroupmax.com/en:

1. Click the "Reduced rate subscription." Enter your student's last name ("subscriber family name"), first name ("subscriber first name"), Académie Lafayette in the "name of group location" field, your student's grade and teacher, and the OAK street campus zip code - 64113. Click continue...
2. Select which book set you would like; be sure to select the USD price (not the Euro price). Click "Add this subscription to my order," you will then have the option to "add another subscription", if you want, otherwise you can continue to the next step by clicking "Approve your Order".
3. Create an account to have access to the audio versions of the books.
4. Payment through PayPal. There is a note in orange about printing out a form or filling out a form with the "subscription number," you do not need to do that; they have all the information they need!

Questions? Contact Jessica Wallace, jwallace@academielafayette.org or (816) 361-7735

from the Oak counselor

Oak Journée Culturelle

Dear Oak parents,

Thanks to the great response we received last year from the pilot program of Journée Culturelle, we are doing it again! The theme for this year's program is "Le sport et les traditions dans le monde", or " Sports and Cultural Traditions Around the World". 

Unlike the Winter concert, which is mandatory for students and teachers, the Spring Journée Culturelle is voluntary. Teachers are volunteering extra time to help students learn songs and dance from around the world. However, not all teachers are able to do this because of other classroom commitments.

In addition, even if your student's class is participating,  not all students will be in the performance. We understand that spring is a very busy time for some students (and their parents) with sports and other activities, so performing opportunities were offered on a volunteer-basis. 

However, even if they are not in the production, all students will participate as audience members during the daytime performance in May.

There will be a repeat performance that evening,  May 17th,  from  5:30 to 7:30  for parents. Please plan to join us!

One other thing -- please do not come to the daytime performance because of space constraints.

Thank you for your strong support of our school.

Lara Troutner

from the classroom

Mapping And Cataloguing "Stars"!

In the 1780's, William Herschel gave up his passion for music to map out the shape of the Milky Way star system, using only measurements and a homemade reflecting telescope.

On March 10th, 2017, our 8th graders gave up one morning of academics to catalogue the headstones at Highland cemetery, using index cards and digital cameras.

The purpose: create a detailed and accurate mapping system of all the headstones to help relatives find where their loved ones are buried, as many records have been lost or destroyed. Students worked hard in a raw 35˚F weather, tagging, cleaning and uncovering more headstones in the process.

Students will catalog the graves digitally and share with the Black Archives of Kansas City at a later date. They will also upload and update the records online through findagrave.com. We know that every method has its limitation but in 2017, Google is on our side....

Does our accomplishment compare to the important work of William Herschel, one of history's greatest astronomers? Definitely not; but through this service learning project, our students are able to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Furthermore, their work helps restore the dignity well over-due to a forgotten place, full of "bright stars", each with a history of its own.

INFO SHARING

Marche des Mousquetaires Returns!

Check your child's back pack next Wednesday for a reminder postcard about the second annual Marche des Mousquetaires! The school Jog-a-Thon will be held on May 11th at Cherry and May 12th at Holmes Park (for Oak students). Every student gets to participate in this fundraiser that combines exercise and fun! 

Kick-off date is March 31 and parent packets will come home that day. Thanks for your support!

INFO SHARING

EiP: Thank You!

The EIP Committee would like you to meet some of our loyal partners. This week we want you to meet "4 Dads Cooking Shrimp". These 3 men (dads) are responsible for years of entertainment and amazing food. They have donated countless hours, sacrificed weekends of their time to cook for others, and committed themselves to our little French school like no others. John Tootle, Sean Stoy and Hugh Wooden came up with the idea of "cooking big" as an auction item eight years ago. "Let's do shrimp for 24," John said. The other two agreed, and the rest is history. 

To date these amazing men have raised over $35,000 "for the children", as Hugh likes to say. 

This year will close the door for these gentlemen, but open it for another group. John, Hugh and Sean are putting down their aprons and ready to pass their spatulas on to the next group of people that want to keep this great tradition alive. They have offered mentorship and equipment to the next group as well. 

A big thank you for all of your hard work, partnership, and amazing fundraising ability over the years gentlemen!

INFO SHARING

The AL Progressive Dinner Party Is Back! 

A moving party feast offering hours of epic food and spirits held at several homes in succession with a single course served at each one. One price | food, drink, and all revelry included.  Yes, it's as awesome as you're imagining.

• APPETIZERS: 6:00-7:15 pm: Carol Saunders, Meghan Flavin, & Jennifer McGreal (Dinner places assigned here)

• DINNER: 7:30-9:15 pm 
• Jon & Anne Hoffman
• Mike & Kristian Reynolds
• Jeff & Valerie Johnson
• David & Hilary Lemon

• DESSERT: 9:30-11:30 pm: Ryan & Bethany Merrigan

Buy tickets here! Limited number available so carpe diem, folks. All funds benefit our fabulous PTSO programs.

INFO SHARING

Food Service Information

Please remember that milk accounts and meal accounts are separate. Milk is included with the purchase of a school lunch or breakfast. If your child brings lunch, he/she can purchase a regular milk, chocolate milk or juice for 25 cents. Parents can send a quarter or purchase a milk card for 20 drinks for $5. 

Just send money with your child to the office or your child's teacher in an envelope marked "MILK MONEY". 

INFO SHARING

Nursing Supplies Still Short

Thanks to Research Hospital, Brookside Campus, Nurse Alexis Cook has a lot more bandaids. Research VP Rob Schlicht brought over 1,200 fabric bandaids to help fill the empty shelves just before Spring Break.  

However, there are many other items that we still need to finish out the school year. Please consider helping us replenish our dwindling supplies.  

We need the following medications (we prefer chewable to avoid spills from the liquid medication): 

   * Children's Tylenol (Acetaminophen) 

   * Children's Ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil) 

   * Children's Benadryl (Allergy relief, Diphenhydromine) 

We also need: 

   * Halls Honey Lemon cough drops  

   * Cotton Balls

   * Kleenex

Thank you! 

INFO SHARING

Don't Mask Your Passion for AL

Help make the night a great success! Click here to volunteer! 

Also, don't forget to order your tickets for Evening in Paris on  April 29. You can purchase them at  https://eveninginpariskc.com.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

INFO SHARING

Concert Date Change

The 1st grade concert will take place on  Thursday, April 6th at 6:00 pm  in the Oak auditorium. This is a change of date. In order to put on a fantastic show, we decided to give kids and teachers a little more time to prepare. Students should wear uniforms. Please come see our wonderful concert! 

From the counselors

Sports

Middle School Girls' Soccer 

Our season gets underway  this Saturday the 25th at  noon with our first game! We will be playing at the IL Stadium, aka Joseph Bryant (3500 E. Meyer Blvd). We'd love all the support we can garner. This team has come together over the last month and worked hard. There may be a small entrance fee of $2 per person. 

AL in the community

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

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

Congratulation to our sponsor, the  ER of Brookside at 6601 Rockhill Rd , for receiving patient satisfaction scores in the top 20% of all emergency rooms nationally. In addition, they are undergoing a renovation and expansion from 11 rooms to 20 rooms. The remodel includes innovative technology in every room to further expedite the already really fast service.   

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