Funding cuts threaten vital programs at Lafayette Elementary School, a public school serving diverse communities in the Outer Richmond of San Francisco. Our STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) and English Language Development (ELD) programs are being cut by the school district. We are also losing a classroom teacher from our 4th/5th grade teaching team, resulting in a combination class and increased class sizes in those grades. These cuts would disproportionately impact our students from low-income and immigrant households. We are writing to ask that you join our amazing parent community in saving these vital programs and positions. Your donation can help the children of our community thrive.

The Lafayette PTA will host a special fundraising gala and auction on May 18, 2024, at the historic Harrington’s in San Francisco. Our aim is to save ELD and STEAM and add a teacher back to the 4th/5th grade team part time.

Your support can enrich the lives of our entire student body. At Lafayette Elementary, a National Blue Ribbon School, we serve an exceptionally diverse community. There are 23 home languages spoken and representation from over 35 countries. Only with your help, we can keep providing the following experiences to our diverse student body

Specialized support to English language learning students (most often from families who speak languages other than English in their homes) through our ELD program. English language learners make up 22% of our school population. Our ELD program has been an indisputable success since we initiated it, with graduation rates out of the program going from 9% to 28% in the first year.
Transformative exposure to science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) through Lafayette's award-winning STEAM program. Lafayette received the Title 1 Academic Achievement Award and the STEM Special Designation Award for excellence in Math and Science. Our rigorous and engaging STEAM Program is integral to those accomplishments.
Enhanced teaching for our fourth and fifth graders, who will see their student-teacher ratio rise to 33-to-1 due to funding cuts. “The research is crystal clear that smaller classes lead to better student outcomes in every single way that can be measured,” says Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters. Smaller classes allow students to get more individual attention and result in better grades, better test scores and fewer disciplinary issues. The PTA will fund a new teaching position to support these students and ensure they get the attention they deserve.

We need your help, and we deeply value and appreciate any generous tax-deductible donation or support you can offer to help us reach our urgent fundraising goal of $185,000.

Questions? Contact Mike Winn, mikewinn1978@gmail.com

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Peace Towels (2) from Lena Corwin