Enrichment Opportunities Offered by the Lafayette Elementary TAG Office
The Lafayette Elementary School TAG Office offers many ongoing enrichment activities throughout the school year. These programs are offered before or after school. Some of these programs are:
Chess Club - Currently more than 70 students K–5 participate in our after-school chess program. Beginning and intermediate levels of play are offered. Through small group coaching beginning players learn strategic moves that help improve their level of play. Intermediate students develop strategies that enhance their level of play. The intermediate group competes internally each week to establish membership of the competitive team. The competitive team participates in matches with other Boulder Valley schools.
Destination Imagination - Students K-5 participate on teams with seven members coached by parent volunteers. Each team meets regularly to work out solutions to a problem determined by the Destination Imagination program national advisors. K–2 students participate in a non-competitive problem and give a performance at the Boulder Valley School District DI Event. Students in grades 3–5 compete at the district, state, and sometimes national levels. Learn more by reading the Destination Imagination brochure (download) or visit their web site (www.idodi.org).
District Literary Magazine - Each spring the Boulder Valley School District TAG Office publishes a literary magazine containing poems, stories, and artwork produced by Boulder Valley students. Lafayette Elementary School students are encouraged to use their literary and artistic talents to develop submissions for the magazine. Every school receives a copy of this publication.
Drama Club - Students in grades 3–5 meet weekly after school to hone their acting skills. A production is written, rehearsed, and videotaped. The videotape is then shared with the entire student body. Students also enhance performance skills for participation in Lafayette Elementary School’s yearly musical production and the club performs live for our primary students.
Games Club - Students in K and 1st grade play a variety of cooperative and strategy games in this fun activity. This year's club will be offered as a bilingual activity, encouraging native English and native Spanish speakers to share their languge and learn a new language while having fun.
Geography Bee - 4th and 5th grade stuents participate in the National GeoBee sponsored by National Geographic Magazine.
Lego Clubs - This program features a real-world challenge, to be solved by research, critical thinking and imagination. Guided by adult coaches, students work with LEGO elements and moving parts to create solutions and present them for review.
Photography Club - offered to 4th & 5th grade students. Students learn to use digital cameras and computer programming to develop/create pieces of photographic art. These students are also able to enter various art contests.
Spelling Bee - Both primary and intermediate students participate in a spelling bee at Lafayette Elementary. The school winner from the intermediate division then moves on to the Boulder Valley District Spelling Bee. Winners may go as far as the state and national level bees.
Student Newspaper - In our newspaper created for students by students, fourth and fifth graders write and publish their own work. Students meet once a week after school to generate interesting topics that are covered in three published newspapers: December holiday issue, spring issue, and end-of-year issue. The entire student body receives copies of the newspaper.
Super Saturdays and Sometimes - The Boulder Valley School District Office of Advanced Academic Services offers schools the opportunity to write grants for money to provide before-school, after-school, or weekend enrichment activities for students. Working cooperatively, the TAG Office and PTA won a grant for the National PTA Art Reflections Program. Students submitted entries in literature and the visual arts. This year's Super Saturday's activity is Junior Lego League in 2nd and 3rd grades. Each year we apply for these grants that benefit many students at Lafayette Elementary School.
Other Co-Curricular Opportunities for enrichment offered at Lafayette Elementary:
Choir - The Lafayette Cougar Pride Choir is a diverse, non-auditioned group of singers from grades 3-5 who perform for the school and community throughout the year. Cougar Pride members perform songs in many languages and musical styles as they consistently strive for excellence.
Intramurals - One day a week after school students in grades 3–5 may elect to participate in a wide variety of intramural sports activities. Offerings include flag football, floor hockey, climbing walls, basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, and training for the annual Bolder Boulder 10k race.
Mexican Dance Club - offered to K - 5th grade students. Students learn traditional Mexican dances. Dressed in authentic costumes, these students perform throughout the school year.
Outdoor Education - Fifth grade students participate in an outdoor education program that provides opportunities to experience real life ecology structures and connections to the outdoors through an overnight outing with teachers and parents.
Science Fair - A school-wide science fair is open to all students K-5. Students display their science projects for viewing by students and parents. The fair is presented as a non-competitive activity.
T.E.A.M.S. (Technology & Engineering to Enhance Science & Math) - CU engineering students enhance science learning after school as part of a weekly program for 3rd - 5th grade students. A National Science Foundation (NSF) award was presented to the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory (ITLL) of the CU College of Engineering and Applied Sciences to continue efforts to partner with the six Lafayette schools to enhance our science and math curricula. The program places CU engineering students once a week in an after school club atmosphere. The CU students use engineering as a vehicle to integrate hands-on science and math instruction, exposing students and teachers to the joys and challenges of engineering in an inquiry based way that helps them understand the relationship between math and science.