This week, we experienced significant bus delays due to needing to return students to their elementary campuses when no one was home to receive them.

As a reminder, per our transportation guidelines, parents or guardians must be home to receive their children from the bus. For students attending Oak or Cherry, a parent or guardian should be home by 3:00 p.m. For students attending the Armour campus, a parent or guardian should be home by 4:00 p.m.

Please remember that if the bus driver is unable to drop off your child, they will be brought back to the school. Repeated incidents will result in a suspension of transportation services.

ALIHS Cross Country fall practices began August 12 but sign ups are still open until the end of the month. Just come out and give it a try. Fill out the interest form here. Anyone is welcome!

Did you know that more than 80% of K-12 school systems in the United States have athletic booster clubs that support their student-athletes? A group of parents are working to establish a booster club to support AL's many wonderful sports programs at all campuses. Please fill out this form to indicate whether you are willing to get involved with this initiative.

Our middle school Boys Soccer tryouts will be held next week on Monday (8/26), Wednesday (8/28), and Thursday (8/29) from 4 pm to 5 pm. I am looking forward to working with all of our very talented players this season to bring the cup back home. All players of any abilities are welcome. 

Our schedule for practices will be Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm weather permitting. Please click here to sign up.

Questions? Contact Colin Arians, carians@academielafayette.org.

After-school math club for middle schoolers will begin soon. In math club, we play some games, explore some different topics, and work some math contest problems.

Math club typically runs a few different days of the week. I am still in the process of deciding which days will work best, and will try to make a schedule that accommodates as many students as possible. Email Bill Kalahurka at bkalahurka@academielafayette.org if your middle schooler is interested.

Would you like your child to learn valuable life skills, be part of a team, and give back to the community? Cub Scout Pack 50 and Scouting Troop 50 are accepting all school-age boys and girls (yes, girls are allowed!) from K-12. We primarily serve Académie Lafayette (and Hale Cook) families. There will be an informational meeting for interested parents on Monday, August 26th from 6:30-7:30 pm at Keystone United Methodist Church (406 W 74th Street). Please join us! If you have any questions, text or call Joe Blasi at 314-304-4553. More information can be found at https://beascout.scouting.org/

The robotics club is offered to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders at Oak in the fall. We are also looking for parent volunteers. Click here for more information and to sign up.

GreenAL Oak is recruiting volunteers! If you have an interest in waste reduction, sustainability, recycling, biking & walking to school, litter clean-ups, native plants, grant writing, and/or environmental education we would love to hear from you. The level of commitment varies and is tailored to each member's availability. Please email GreenAL.AcademieLafayette@gmail.com to learn more and look for our GreenAL table at upcoming back-to-school events.

We are launching our new volunteer management system in order to make it easier for families like yours to get involved. Ready to make a difference? Sign up today to be a part of our vibrant community and contribute to our shared success!

We are also compiling a directory of businesses associated with the Académie Lafayette community - business owned by current families, alumni, community supporters, etc. If you own a business and would like to market your efforts to our community - share a product, increase traffic, provide a discount or simply get the word out about what your business offers - please fill out this form. Please submit one form per business. Our goal is to publish the first directory in August.

We need every family, regardless of eligibility status, to fill out the 24-25 Free and Reduced Meals application. Type Academie Lafayette and follow the prompts. To change the language, click on the three little lines in the upper left corner. This is a critical step to get many grants and funding. If you have questions, you can call 816-800-8771 and ask for DeAnn Gould, or email dgould@academielafayette.org. You do not need your student's ID number to fill out the application - just leave it blank and proceed with the other mandatory questions.

Need help? All meals can be paid for by logging into your child's Tyler account, where you will also find a current balance.

Breakfast and lunch menus are published on our website once received from the catering company. You can find more information about meals on that page as well.

The Académie Lafayette Parent Teacher Organization (AL PTO) is an all-inclusive organization that supports our school, staff, and students. As a member of the AL community, you are automatically a member of the PTO. There are no association fees.

Connect with the AL PTO

Please visit our website, ALPTO.org and connect with our Facebook page to learn more about the AL PTO.

The AL PTO Board has several vacancies, including President, Secretary, campus Vice Presidents for Oak and Armour. If you’re interested in getting involved in the AL PTO or the AL PTO Board, please contact Caroline Knecht, Vice President of Communications at carolinevknecht@gmail.com.

Trash Bag Sale Fundraiser

Fundraisers help support the AL PTO, and our first fundraiser of the year is almost here. The annual Trash Bag Sale will begin early in the school year and pick-up will be in October. All sales will be conducted online. More information and a link to purchase will be available in upcoming newsletters and at ALPTO.org.

Spiritwear

Join the pride of AL with uniform-approved Spirit Wear for the whole family. Options are available for elementary, middle and high school. Please visit the AL PTO website for a link to the store.

Students have their pictures taken twice a year, in the fall (individual, casual) and in the spring (individual & class picture, in uniform).

Picture days are as follows:

• K-5 fall pictures: September 6 (casual).
• Fall retakes for all students: October 4 (casual)
• Spring & classroom pictures: February 28 (in uniform - no retakes)

The Student Success Nights will be held next week on Wednesday, 8/28 for Armour families and Thursday, 8/29, for Cherry and Oak families. This is a parent/guardian-only event. You will learn more about curriculum, expectations, classroom schedules, procedures, and what's ahead this year!

• If you know someone who is not receiving this newsletter, encourage them to contact communication@academielafayette.org.
• In addition to the weekly newsletter, the periodic all-calls, and email blasts, we also use Facebook to communicate with our families. Please "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/LafayetteKC/ and join our private FB group! 
• Changing emails? Phone number? Let us know at communication@academielafayette.org.