J.Lo Performs At Elementary School Graduation

Students at a Staten Island, New York, elementary school for autistic children sure like the way Jennifer Lopez moves.

Teacher Kathy Amati and a paraprofessional showed the video for Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” to the students at P.S. 37. The children liked it so much, they wanted to watch it every day.

They learned the lyrics and the dance moves from the video.

With their teacher’s encouragement, they wrote to Lopez, hoping for pictures or an autograph. Instead, she asked to come to their graduation.

On Tuesday, the singer-actress performed “Let’s Get Loud” for a group of eight 10- and 11-year-olds at their graduation ceremony.

“It was a dream that came true for these kids,” said Bill Fiorelli, principal of P.S. 37 in Staten, Island, New York, referring to a surprise visit that Jennifer Lopez made yesterday to the school, which caters to children with autism and multiple disabilities.

Only hours before a graduation-like ceremony for the kids was the school notified that the superstar would be in attendance. Neither the kids nor their parents knew Lopez was coming, said Principal Fiorelli. Only after the children were assembled in the school’s gymnasium did Fiorelli say, “We have a special guest,” and introduced Lopez to a burst of applause.

Lopez sat in the first row of the ceremony for 40 minutes and then went back to the kids’ classroom where she spent another 35 minutes with the children and their parents.

“She was very lovely,” said Fiorelli of the star, who was also “very complimentary with the children and told them they did a great job.”

Fiorelli added, “It will be a day the staff and students will never forget.”