Le Journal
AL News & Updates
|
|
|
Dear AL Community,
I like to say that charter schools walk on two feet: academic accountability and financial accountability. Those are the main causes of failure and closure of charter schools. Académie Lafayette has always managed resources responsibly while offering a high quality education.
The budgeting process starts with setting our enrollment projections, assessing our staffing needs, and determining a competitive compensation and benefits for our staff. When adjustments are needed, we have to take into account their affordability and sustainability in the long run. Despite adjusting our salary scale three times over the past five years, we are not yet where we desire to be. Our competitors receiving more funding per student and our immersion program being more expensive to run make it harder to keep up with inflation and other schools.
Transportation is another big chunk of our budget, as it is not currently 100% funded by the state. This school year, AL has only received 38% of the real cost of student transportation. Most years, we only receive 12%. We find ourselves having to fundraise to buy more buses that can also serve for field trips and after-school programs.
A variable in our budget is attendance. When our student attendance dips, so does the payment we receive from the state, and our budgeted revenue is affected. Summer school attendance impacts our school year funding significantly as well. This is one of the reasons we encourage all parents to enroll their children in our summer program but most importantly, to attend school on time regularly.
Per our charter agreement, we also have to maintain a minimum of 8% of reserve fund, calculated per the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education formula, to protect us in case of an emergency. Our school budget is discussed monthly at board meetings. If this topic interests you but you cannot attend in person, you can catch the recording online on our YouTube channel.
Have a great weekend,
Elimane Mbengue
Head of School
|
|
February 4
MS Girls Basketball Championship Game, 2 pm, Southeast HS
February 6-10
Spirit Week
February 10
AL PTO K-3 Girls VIP Dance, Cherry, 7-9 pm
February 13
Board Meeting, Armour Cafeteria & Online, 6 pm
February 14
K-5 Valentine's Day Parties
February 15-16
Parent-Teacher Conferences
(2/15: 11 am to 7 pm, 2/16: 8 am to 4 pm)
February 17
NO SCHOOL - School Improvement Day
February 22
Finding your Fit" College Informational Meeting, Armour Flex Room, 6 pm
February 24
AL PTO 4-8 Girls VIP Dance, Armour, 7-9 pm
|
1/20-1/27
Armour: 0
Cherry: 2
Oak: 1
1/28-2/3
Armour: 0
Cherry: 0
Oak: 1
|
|
|
- MS Girls Basketball Championship Game is Today
- Spirit Week is Coming
- MS Auditions for Upcoming Play
- LEGO Robotics Club Information
- Upper Room Care Update
- Kindergarteners Visit Museum at Prairiefire
- Spring and Classroom Pictures Information
- Order your K-8 Yearbook Today
|
|
- Food Pantry Now Open
- T-Shirt Tuesday Reminder
- Free Books at Armour
- Girls Just Wanna Have Fun VIP Dances
- AL Sibling Enrollment Open
- Parent Notifications Update
- Job Openings
- Communication
- Ad: Franck's Real Estate Corner
|
|
|
MS Girls Basketball Championship Game is Today |
Our MS Girls Basketball team won the Gold Division Champions trophy against KIPP
(31-18) on February 2. Let's congratulate the entire team again for their amazing performance and wonderful achievement. They are awesome!
The championship game is today at 2 pm at Southeast High School. Our cheerleaders will be part of the cheer/dance championship competition as well.
|
|
February 6-10 is a spirit week to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs! All students are invited to participate.
-
Mahomes Monday:
- Cherry and Oak: wear a headband or a bandana with your uniform
- Armour: wear a #15 jersey, Mahomes shirt, red shirt, or headband with your uniform
-
"Sock it to the Eagles" Tuesday: wear crazy socks with your uniform
-
Winning Wednesday: wear any KC sports team gear with your uniform
-
Tailgate Thursday: wear sunglasses or a hat with your uniform
-
Red Friday: casual day, wear any red or Chiefs gear
|
|
MS Auditions for Upcoming Play |
Is your middle school student interested in auditioning for our inaugural high school theatre production? We are looking for a few middle school students to fill out our cast – there are some younger roles in the show and we are excited to have some younger energy in our company! Our Town is a Pulitzer Prize winning play about small town life in turn of the century America. It is not a musical, so no singing and dancing – but lots of time to be on stage with named roles and speaking parts!
The show will take place on April 28th-30th. Rehearsals will be after school and/or evenings and on some weekends throughout the months of February, March, and April. Middle school auditions are this coming Thursday, February 9th, from 3:45-4:45. Please fill out this form prior to auditions and email Kate Absher at kabsher@academielafayette.org with any questions! |
|
LEGO Robotics Club Sign-Up Information |
LEGO Robotics is a seven-session, after-school club where students will put together and program LEGO robots. The club is open to 3rd and 4th graders at Cherry and Oak.
To add your student to the lottery for a seat please click here. Sign up by Feb. 14th. |
|
Upper Room will provide services during the 2/17 school improvement day from 7 am to 6 pm to those that utilize Upper Room services. Please reach out to Upper Room for more information. |
|
Kindergarteners Visit Museum at Prairiefire |
Oak kindergarten students had a blast learning about natural history at the museum last week. |
|
Spring and Classroom Pictures Information |
Picture day for individual spring and classroom pictures is scheduled for Monday, March 6. All students should be in uniform. Click here to order using the codes below.
-
Oak: individual photos – FM400346, class pictures – FM400347
-
Cherry: individual photos – FM400337, class pictures – FM400336
-
Middle school: individual photos – FM400333, class pictures – FM400334
-
ALIHS: individual photos – FM400339, class pictures – FM400340
|
|
Order your K-8 Yearbook Today |
The 22-23 k-8 yearbook orders are now open until 3/15/23. Cost breakdown:
- Softcover: $15
- Hardcover: $20
- + $5 for your student's name on the cover
- + $8 for your student's name and portrait on the cover
|
|
When Académie Lafayette moved into the Armour campus, the previous school left hundreds of books behind. All 3 librarians at our 3 campuses have taken some books for their libraries, but there are still hundreds left. I’ve donated some of the books to thrift stores and to libraries, but we still have many books to give away. The books are located in the Armour campus uniform closet space, some in boxes and some displayed on tables.
If anyone is interested in a box or two or 3 for their preschool, home library, church, mission work, etc., please reach out and I’ll make arrangements to meet up.
Diane Rizzo, VP PTO for ALIHS
|
|
Don't forget to wear your 2022 raffle t-shirt every Tuesday for the remainder of the school year! |
|
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun VIP Dances |
Let's dance! Girls, grab your special VIP* and your dancing shoes for a night filled with fun! The evening includes a picture wall, snacks, a raffle, and lots of fun dance music!
AL PTO is hosting two fun evenings to accommodate everyone who would like to attend.
-
K-3rd grade students: Friday, Feb. 10 at the Cherry campus
-
4th-8th grade students: Friday, Feb. 24 at the Armour campus
Tickets are $30 per student/VIP couple. An extra guest (student or VIP) can be added for $5.
* Who is a VIP? Any special adult in the child's life, including a parent, guardian, relative, or family friend.
|
|
Last Week for 7th Grade "Basics" Drive |
This is the last week for the dignity drive benefitting "Giving the Basics". This is one of several Service as Action projects that the students are taking part in. You can find the bins in the lobby of our Armour Campus, or you can also drop off basics at the Cherry or Oak front desk with Mme Dissel's name on it. The drive will run until February 3.
What are the basics? The basics are human dignity products that are not covered by government assistance. They include deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, toilet paper, kleenex, baby wipes, diapers, incontinence pads, feminine hygiene products, soap, trash bags, dishwashing liquid, laundry soap, Ziploc bags, and cleaning solutions. They take any open or partially used toiletries, however, they do not accept expired toiletries.
|
|
New Students Only: Apply to Reserve Your Child's Sibling Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, and 9th grade seat |
Please note this only applies to new siblings not currently enrolled at Académie Lafayette. All current pre-K through 11th grade students will re-enroll in the Tyler system at a later date. If you have a new incoming child or sibling entering in the fall of 2023, please apply here now until Wednesday, March 1st, 2023 for the 23-24 school year. The process will take you less than one minute! Sibling applications received after the deadline will be placed on the waiting list. For additional information, click here. Questions? Email enrollment@academielafayette.org. |
|
- Changing emails? Phone number? Let us know at communication@academielafayette.org.
- Looking to build your community? Get going today by joining our private Facebook group. You will need to answer the security questions.
-
Click here to find the required parent notifications.
- Sign up to receive school text messages by texting "Y" or "Yes" to 67587.
|
|
Armour MS & ALIHS
201 E. Armour Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64111
816-800-8771
|
|
Cherry K-5
3421 Cherry St
Kansas City, MO 64111
816-888-7400
|
|
Oak K-5
6903 Oak St
Kansas City, MO 64113
816-361-7735
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
