Le Journal
AL News & Updates
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Two Critical Challenges for this School Year
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Dear AL Community,
Since the pandemic, school districts around the country have been confronted with two major challenges: student transportation and critical teacher shortage. Académie Lafayette is no exception.
TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES
In June 2022, the board voted to contract with First student for our school transportation after a 5-month request for proposal without any candidates. Since the beginning of this school year, the bus service some of our families have received has not been up to our standards of care. Our administrators have been working closely with First Student all week to brainstorm ways to help our families. Real-time updates are posted on social media and emails informing impacted families are being sent out. We are very attentive to parents' feedback and suggestions. We hope to share more information next week.
FOREIGN TEACHER VISAS
As an international school, we recruit teachers from all over the world. We team up with American consulates abroad to help expedite visa appointments so our teachers can arrive faster. All have been extremely helpful and responsive. Unfortunately, we are not having the same experience with the American Embassy in Dakar at the moment. Four newly recruited teachers (three Senegalese and one French) are the only ones having trouble finding appointments despite our multiple requests for expedited visa appointments. For this reason, a special email will be sent next week with steps you can take to help us bring these teachers to our school.
Have a great weekend.
Elimane Mbengue
Head of School
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September 12
Board Meeting, 6 pm, Armour Cafeteria
ALIHS Cross-Country Meet, 4 pm, Gillham Park
September 13
PTO Meeting, 6 pm, Armour Cafeteria
September 14
ALIHS College Fair, 6 pm, Cherry Gymnasium
September 21
Cherry & Oak PTO Mixers, 4 pm, campus playgrounds
September 22
Armour MS & ALIHS IB Programmes Information Night, 6 pm, virtual
September 26
NO SCHOOL - School Improvement Day
September 28
Cherry & Oak Parent-Principal Coffee, 7:45 am
2023 7th grade France Trip, 6 pm, Oak Auditorium
September 29
Armour Parent-Principal Coffee, 7:30 am
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Access our live calendar here.
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Covid Cases
8/26-9/1
Armour: 9
Cherry: 2
Oak: 2
9/2-9/8
Armour: 6
Cherry: 1
Oak: 4
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Dear AL Parents,
This year, a major focus for all three campuses is to improve our engagement of parents. We want to partner well with our students' families- they are our students' first teachers. We are working with an organization called Coaction Collective to build our capacity and train our teachers. One action step we are taking is to make relationship-building phone calls to our families. Teachers will be reaching out via phone during the first quarter, so if you receive a phone call- please know it is a positive thing. 😊
Thank you for your support, and we will be talking to you soon!
A.L. Principals- Jean-Claude Diatta, Maritza Paul, Heather Royce
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- Board Meeting Notice
- ALIHS Cross-Country Meet
- 7th Grade France Trip Meeting
- Can You Temporarily Host a New Teacher?
- From AL PTO
- ALIHS College Fair
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- Volunteer Opportunity
- K-5 Fall Pictures
- MS Cheer Team Tryouts
- Supply Drive
- Communication
- Ad: Franck's Real Estate Corner
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The Académie Lafayette Board of Directors will meet in person in the Armour cafeteria (201 E. Armour Blvd) as well as virtually at 6:00 pm on Monday, September 12. You can view the meeting live on our YouTube channel. Click here to read the agenda.
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What: 2nd Cross-Country Meet for ALIHS
When: Monday, Sept. 12
Where: Gillham Park
Time: Races begin at 4 pm
Those wishing to help out in some way please contact Coach Mendenhall at jeffery.a.mendenhall@gmail.com. There are plenty of ways to support the team on race day!
This will be our first league meet. Your attendance will help motivate our athletes!
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7th Grade France Trip Meeting
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Dear 7th grade Families,
We will have our first trip meeting on Sept. 28 at 6:00 in the Oak auditorium for the May 15-29, 2023 France trip. There will be a slideshow informational presentation with time for questions at the end. It has never gone over an hour so don't worry that it will drag on. We will cover the sign-up, what the trip entails, activities the students might participate in, and any concerns you might have. It will be the only in-person meeting we will have before the November 1st cutoff date.
Leslie Houfaidi, France trip coordinator
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Can You Temporarily Host a New Teacher?
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Académie Lafayette hires teachers from all over the world, who bring not only their language to share but also their culture and personal experiences from their home country and beyond. It's truly part of what makes AL so special!
We are still expecting 8 more teachers to arrive over the next few weeks, Académie Lafayette is looking for families who could host a new foreign teacher for about 2 weeks and help them in getting set up here in the US.
Not only are some of our teachers starting a new job, but they are also moving to a new country, often alone - can you imagine? Staying with a host family at the beginning of their stay here can go a long way in making sure teachers feel welcomed and supported right from the start.
- Do you have a guest room available?
- Do you live close to one of the three campuses?
- Do you have some extra time to help a new teacher get situated in the US (help find an apartment, offer rides to run errands, answer questions about living here, give tips on finding a car,...)?
For more information about hosting or if you would like to help our new staff in some other way, please contact Jessica Wallace, HR Coordinator, at jwallace@academielafayette.org or call the Armour campus at (816) 800-8771.
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PTO Meeting This Tuesday
Come learn more about the work of AL PTO, the proposed budget and our goals. Please join us on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6 pm at the Armour campus. Pizza will be provided and child care is available for elementary-aged students.
Playground Mixers
Meet and mingle with other AL families at the Oak and Cherry campus playgrounds on Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 4-6:30 pm. Light refreshments available. Come when you can, leave when you need to!
Trivia Night
Join AL PTO on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Plexpod Westport Commons for a fun-filled, adults-only night for a great cause. More information and tickets are available at ALPTO.org now.
AL PTO Trash Bag Sale
There are only a few weeks left to order your trash bags for the AL PTO fundraiser. Easily place and pay for your order online! Please include your student's name when placing your order. Then, pick up your order on Oct. 6 or Oct. 8 at the Armour Campus.
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Service learning is a major component of our identity as an International Baccalaureate (IB) school.
As a result, we will be offering volunteer opportunities to students and promoting the value and importance of making a difference in our community.
We encourage AL families to participate in opportunities such as this one!
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Fall picture day for k-5 students at Oak and Cherry is scheduled for Monday, October 3. Fall pictures are in casual wear. Casual day guidelines must be followed. The make-up day will be November 7 for all campuses.
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Middle school students wanting to join the Académie Lafayette Cheer Team are invited to come to check out the team and try out for the 22/23 school year. See clinic and tryout details below.
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Armour MS & ALIHS
201 E. Armour Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64111
816-800-8771
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Cherry K-5
3421 Cherry St
Kansas City, MO 64111
816-888-7400
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Oak K-5
6903 Oak St
Kansas City, MO 64113
816-361-7735
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