Question for Lafayette parents

[Anonymous]

DME is considering a cluster model for the Maury and Miner school communities. This would likely result in a total school population comparable to Lafayette (800-900). How does Lafayette manage such a large school? I went to a large suburban school and it was managed by creating randomly assigned cohorts of students that stayed together through elementary and worked with a subgroup of teachers. It was essentially two schools within a school. I'm wondering if Lafayette does something similar and how it encourages community and builds relationships at a large school. TIA!

[Anonymous]

No, Lafayette doesn't do this. I'm not sure there is anything unique to how they manage the school, but I think one of the most important things that makes it feel manageable is that it is also a physically large school (at least for an elementary school). With the exception of I think 4th grade, most of the grades are clustered together in the same wing/part of the school. Grades stay together for recess and lunch, and the outdoor area for recess is very large compared to other schools. PreK and K have their own playground space. Almost the entire outside space is utilized for before and after school line-up so that there isn't a bottleneck at a particular door. The hallways are relatively wide. Overall, this means that it doesn't feel crowded even though there are a lot of students.

[Anonymous]

My sister's school does a cohort (in a midwestern state), but it's not as large as Lafayette, and it definitely does not have the community feel of Lafayette (my kids graduated from there).

IMO the parent dinners did a lot to facilitate community. Every class had a parent dinner with the teacher, every year, sans kids.

Every class had 3 class parents: one for communications, one for parties, and one treasurer (who collected the teacher gift).

The school holds a lot of community events and announces them on the Chevy Chase Listserv, inviting the community and alumni. Our neighbor graduated from the school in the 70's and likes to go to events.

They also ask for a lot of volunteers.

I don't know if any of this has changed, but combined it did make for a strong community.

[Anonymous]

My kiddo went to Lafayette, we miss it. I think the principal also does a great job fostering a sense of community. She knew my daughter’s name within 2-3 weeks of the start of school. She is an amazing administrator.