Lafayette Elementary School

2645 California Avenue Southwest

School District

Seattle Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 03, 2022

My daughter is in Kindergarten here. Her teacher speaks to all of the parents every morning and has great communication with the families. I always know how my daughter is doing and how her day went. She loves classes like garden science and is learning her numbers and letters quickly. There is no shortage of parent volunteers for this class. We feel really fortunate to be in this school district and in Mrs. Smith’s Kindergarten class at Lafayette.
Submitted by parent on February 15, 2022

Small school community with highly involved PTA. Great garden program and enrichment opportunities. There are many wonderfully talented teachers. This has become mired by the poor leadership and permissiveness that gives some groups more power and influence over the direction of the school leading to discrimination against students and families.
Submitted by parent on December 02, 2021

Lafayette is served by incredible, caring teachers, wonderful staff and an awesome team of parents, who are highly involved. We love it's small, community feel!
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2020

A principal who is part of the problem. Defensive and ignorant of her shortcomings. We are leaving the school because of it. In our four years there, 2 teachers have been amazing and 2 have been absolutley horrible. Racism and bullying has been pushed aside and not handled well at all. We are leaving because we are not safe or supported by the principal.
Submitted by parent on July 03, 2019

Overall Lafayette has been very good from an educational, social and communal standpoint. My only complaint is that they don't have an HCC program considering how many HCC eligible students they have. Fairmount is at capacity for their HCC program and students on the wait list have nowhere to go. I wish Lafayette could fill that void.
Submitted by parent on July 03, 2019

11 out of 10. Before our first (of three) started at Lafayette, we heard some complaints about shifting principals but on the whole, the intel was extremely positive. We looked seriously at private schools, and that remains an option for us financially. That said, we value the community much higher than other factors, so we stuck with Lafayette since it is much closer than the private alternatives. We made the right decision and it is not even close. Not only have the teachers been exceptional at Lafayette, but also all of our friends in private schools complain often about the lack of community. Most of the students at Lafayette live within a half a mile from the school. For us, that has meant extremely close ties, less driving, and more time developing relationships in our immediate community. For these reasons, we would rate our experience an 11 out of 10.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

Great teachers, great school environment. The school community is involved in everything.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

I've had 2 students through Lafayette and we have had some amazing teachers and only 2 that were 'blah' (that's out of 11). The school has fostered a wonderful community for parents and many spend hours on the playground together at pick up.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

Great. I have two boys who have attended the school and have had great experiences. The teachers are very knowledgeable and caring and my boys have thrived.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

We have had a great experience with Lafayette. The garden and STEAM programs have been a great addition to the curriculum.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

We love Lafayette and are so thankful to be in a neighborhood school community!
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

My daughter has loved every year at Lafayette. She has had fantastic teachers all along the way who recognize and honor the differences in each child. There are numerous enrichment opportunities for the kids and we've appreciated the dedication of the staff and PTA. It's a great village!
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2019

We have loved our 5 years so far at Lafayette. The leadership and teaching staff are wonderful. The PTA and parent involvement is strong and provides a warm welcoming environment. Highlights of this school is the strong community, the parent network, the amazing Enrichment program ( after school activities of all genres including theater, art, coding to name a few), the Garden program and many community building PTA run events all year round. I am proud to be a parent and PTA board member at this school. I have been here 5 years and will be here for another 7 as my 3 children advance through.
Submitted by parent on June 19, 2019

We have loved our time so far at Lafayette. The PTA and parent support is second to none and we have many extra programs in place such as: Garden Room, STEAM Wednesdays, and Enrichment.
Submitted by parent on June 19, 2019

Excellent! We couldn't have asked for a better experience for our children. They are getting a solid education, have fun at school, are learning to show respect for everyone, and lines of communications are strong. There are also fantastic Enrichment classes and after school care offered on-site and the PTA is very active.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2019

We love our school. Every year it’s gets better and better. Great leadership, great teachers and an amazing pta and parent community that bring a vast array of programs and support.
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2019

Excellent. Our son loves going to this neighborhood school with his friends. He is getting a great education. The community is fantastic.
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2019

Honestly, I'm disappointed. I had high hopes for Kindergarten as the springboard to a creating an engaged and excited learner. Instead, the *one* area we highlighted at the beginning of the year as a potential issue in terms of our child's development remained unaddressed for the entire year. This strikes me, ultimately, as a failure of leadership.
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2019

Not great. We were really disappointed - our child is in kindergarten and never really loved going to school. Discipline was out of line with current standards and current research into how very young kids process , move, and learn. The administration always kindly and promptly listened to our concerns, but nothing was ever done to actually address them. I know many people love this school, but we did not.
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2019

My daughter just finished K and we couldn't be happier with her experience at Layfayette. She had an awesome teacher who communicated well and was very flexible to different types of learning. My daughter loves the art program, garden, PE, and can now read at an appropriate level.