Introduction & Mission

Lafayette Elementary School is one of the largest elementary schools in the District of Columbia with more than 900 students from pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade. The school has a well-deserved reputation for academic excellence, talented teachers, happy kids, and an engaged parent community.

Lafayette’s mission is to help our students reach their full potential through creative, challenging, and fun learning experiences in a supportive, nurturing environment. An emphasis on integrating the arts into all subject areas enriches every student’s learning experience at Lafayette and beyond.

HIstory

Lafayette Elementary School was established in 1928 in the northwest neighborhood of Chevy Chase, D.C., to meet the needs of families moving into new residential communities located along the Connecticut Avenue corridor. The current school building opened in 1931. In 1978, the building was expanded, adding an early childhood wing and converting the original school space to an open-space concept. In 2015-2016, the school underwent an extensive modernization to increase the overall area to 120,000 square feet to accommodate a capacity more than 800 students. The school site shares its grounds with Lafayette Pointer Park and the Lafayette Recreation Center, affording the children plenty of room to play and explore outdoors.