November 26^th, 2008 Dear LREI Community, Amidst the intense political campaign and unfolding economic turbulence of this fall, life at LREI has continued as planned—students and teachers are focused on a wide range of experiences and materials, all with the goal of developing skills and a better understanding of the world around us. Our youngest students have begun their 14-year journey through the school and have done so with honesty, openness and admirable levels of curiosity. Our oldest students, the seniors, have spent the fall identifying the colleges and universities to which they will apply and are deep into this process at this time. We are so proud of these two groups and of everyone in-between.   

So while all is going very well at LREI, we are concerned about the deepening economic crisis.  As we make financial plans for the school, I am fortunate to have the advice of our talented Associate Director, Michel de Konkoly Thege, and the knowledgeable members of the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees, all of whom spend considerable time focused on the short and long term economic needs and health of LREI. Underlying all of their planning is a dedication to the core mission of the School. Since 1921, and through many challenging times, LREI has provided its students with a safe, caring environment where they develop a love of learning and self-confidence and become active, engaged citizens. 

In order to continue to fulfill our mission, we have had to make some difficult decisions, and I anticipate that we will have to make more. While our current financial position is stable, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to ensure that stability as we navigate through this time of economic turbulence. We must plan for the possibility  that the economic downturn will  result in greater demands on our annual operating budget. To ensure that we can weather these potentially adverse developments, we will continue to examine the ways in which we use the school’s resources. Although this examination has led to changes in the ways in which we operate internally, these changes will not diminish our effectiveness nor will they affect life in the classroom. Our number one priority remains maintaining the integrity of our progressive program. As the administration and the Board plan for the 2009-2010 school year, and beyond, our mission and the well being of LREI’s students, families, faculty and staff will guide us.   

We recognize that given current economic conditions, many families’ circumstances may have changed.  If you are not currently receiving Tuition Remission and feel that changes in your family’s particular situation may now qualify you for Tuition Remission, we encourage you to apply now.  Contact the Business Office to do so. 

The 2008-2009 Annual Fund has received early, strong support, which has been an enormous help. Thank you to all who have contributed thus far and to all as  you contribute in the months to come.  As you know, the annual fund supports all aspects of the school’s program that directly touch the student experience at LREI. Do not hesitate to contact me, or Michel, if you have questions or concerns. You may prefer to discuss these issues, and others that are on your mind, in person. While I am always happy to have people stop by to see me in my office at anytime, I am not always there. In order to make it easier to find me, I will be available for drop-in conversations in my Sixth Avenue office from 8:45AM-9:30AM on December 5^th, December 12^th and December 17^th.    

What for me speaks most powerfully during these uncertain times is the abiding strength of the LREI community. Ours is indeed an exceptional group of caring people, ready to stand by one another and our school in good times and bad. Thank you for your devotion to LREI and to each other. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Warmly,

Phil

Wednesday was a thrilling day at LREI.  As they greeted each other, teachers, students and parents were bubbling with excitement, thoughts, ideas and hopes.  No matter which candidate one supported, it was not lost on anyone that we were living in an historic moment.  Even our youngest students knew that it was a day to work hard to understand.  Each division had an assembly to mark the day.  These gatherings varied so as to be age-appropriate, yet all were joyful events filled with conversation, singing, speeches and, most of all, optimism.We are thrilled by the level of interest the students, in all three divisions, have shown for the candidates, the election process and the issues. 

As many of you know the election has been a part of the curriculum throughout the fall and for many of our students for much of last year, as well.  Our fourth graders worked with librarian Stacy Dillon to study electoral politics through a process of “electing” their favorite books. Stacy announced the winner on Wednesday. Congratulations go to Green Eggs and Ham.  The middle school students participated in a national mock election that allowed them to vote on the major party candidates for President and on local ballot initiatives.  I am looking forward to seeing the results.  In addition, one of our middle school advisory groups spent time out and about in the neighborhood registering more than a dozen people to vote.  In the high school, discussions, projects and assemblies dealing with the candidates and the campaign have been going on for quite some time.    Throughout the primary season the high school students created a series of debates with students portraying the candidates. Our high schoolers are to be commended for their deep understanding of each candidate’s beliefs.  One of our high school students even arranged for the candidates from the Socialist Workers Party to come in and speak to interested schoolmates about this party’s platform.  Over the past couple of weeks, many high school faculty and students traveled to Pennsylvania on the weekends to campaign.  A group of faculty and students spent last Thursday supporting the last moments of their candidate’s campaign as part of our Minimester—a series of three-day intensive classes in which all eighth – twelfth graders participate.  (See Ruth’s blog from two weeks ago to see all of the Minimester offerings.)  As I have said to a number of you, I have been in the school for five election cycles and have never seen this level of interest, education and commitment.  I hope that our students’ interest in civic involvement remains at this level. Excellent work, all.

 My family decided that we would vote very early on Tuesday morning.  All agreed that the excitement of Election Day and avoiding lines was a good reason to set our alarm clocks to rouse us before the usual time.  The plan was to vote and go out for a celebratory breakfast before the school day began. As I sat on the edge of my four year old son’s bed, watching him at peace and allowing him a last moment’s rest before our adventure began, I realized that there was a possibility, that is now a reality, that the first face he really remembers as the face of a leader, of a President, will be a Black man’s face. That for him and many others this simple fact will change their assumptions and judgments, the goals they will have and the plans they will make.    Am I making too much of this?  We will have to wait and see, but I don’t think so. While there is still much work to do, the fact that in a few short months the United States of America will have an African-American President will have a long lasting and far-reaching impact.  I am eager, for myself and for our children, to see what the future holds. One final thought, I hope that the future holds a recognition that two people choosing to commit themselves to each other is good for everyone and that all people should have the same right to be a family.  So even as we celebrate Tuesday’s victory, we should not ignore Tuesday’s defeats.  We need to keep our eyes on any discrimination that needs our continued focus and energy. 

On a completely different note…..I want to take this opportunity to remind you of some important upcoming due dates. 

Irwin Scholar applications are due Monday, November 17, 2008. Each year LREI offers merit scholarships to students moving from our eighth grade into the ninth grade who have demonstrated exceptional accomplishment and promise in the areas of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service. 

Sibling and Alumni/ae Admissions to the Fours, Kindergarten and First Grade:LREI offers the option of Early Notification to siblings of current LREI students, and to the children and grandchildren of LREI alumni. Should you wish to participate in this program, please download the Early Notification form from our web site and submit by Monday, December 1, 2008.  Please note that all Early Notification application files must also be completed by this date. 

Tuition Remission deadline for applying for Tuition Remission is December 15, 2008. 

Re-enrollment contracts will be mailed to all families no later than January 15, 2009. 

Re-enrollment contracts are due on February 1, 2009. 

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Dear LREI Families,

Thank you to those who were able to join us last Wednesday for our Building for Action event. It was wonderful to have so many of you there, along with alumni, past parents and staff, to share in the tremendous support for LREI that was in the room.  For those of you who were not there, you might want to visit our web site, click on the Building for Action button to view much of the information we shared on the 24^th.  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can watch the Then and Now slide show that was a crowd favorite at the event.  Or, just click here. 

As you heard last week, or will see on the web site, we announced plans to renovate and green all of the classrooms in the Sixth Avenue buildings over the next few summers—we completed the majority of the middle school classes this summer—and to add a great deal of space to the Charlton Street campus, as well as to renovate current Charlton Street spaces.  This work grows out of the strategic plan created by the Board of Trustees, and a large group of LREI community members, in 2000.  In addition to creating improved spaces for our current student body in the lower, middle and high schools, this campaign will create a larger high school building to provide for the planned increase in the high school student body.  A larger high school student body will be more attractive to many prospective families, will allow for an increasingly academic program and will support our tuition remission program for all three divisions and ongoing increases to faculty salaries and professional development funds. 

In the weeks and months to come there will be many opportunities to learn more about Building for Action.  There will also be opportunities for those who want to join the Building for Action team.  There will be a drop-in information session on the morning of Wednesday, October 8^th from 8:15-9:30, in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.  I will be available to discuss our goals and to answer any questions you may have. 

I look forward to continuing the conversation. 

Best,

Phil

Dear LREI Community,

I am writing this to you mid-day today, the first day of school. As I write, the upper classes in the high school have been dismissed and the ninth grade is continuing their orientation. The middle school is moving from a morning with a schedule of abbreviated classes to an afternoon filled with family conferences. Our youngest students are all gone for the day, having spent some time in their new classrooms as part of the phase-in schedule and the upper elementary students are enjoying lunch and recess. The past few hours have been filled with excited reunions and the eagerness to return to school that we see each year on this most wonderful of occasions. The school year is off to a terrific start and over the next few days all students will begin their full program.I look forward to sharing their many and varied successes with you.

Of special note, as you have heard, we did significant construction in the middle school and the high school over the summer. I invite you to visit the middle school classrooms which are as functional as they are beautiful. I also extend an invitation to all to attend a gathering on Wednesday, September 24th to hear more about our plans for both sites.

I have attached two letters to this week’s blog. Click here to read a note from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community, reminding families of students new to LREI about our family orientation, LREI 101, which we ask you to attend on Monday, September 8th at 8:45AM. The second is from the parents of a student in our Early Kindergarten introducing their son, who has a physical disability, to the community.

A reminder of a few upcoming events:

Monday, September 8th, from 8:45AM-10:15AM I ask that all new families attend LREI 101, our orientation program for new families. This gathering is an essential component of your entry into the LREI community. We will meet in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria.Monday, September 8th, 6:00PM, Michael Patrick, ’71, Chair of the LREI Board of Trustees and his wife, Carol Sedwick, invite new families to a reception in their home at 6:00PM, 250 West 94th Street, 15E.Wednesday, September 24th, the LREI Board of Trustees will host an event to share plans for the future of LRIE.  Please plan on attending this evening event.  You will receive an invitation shortly. 

_{Finally, mark your calendar for your child’s curriculum night:}

_{Fours-First Grade—Thursday, October 2nd, 6:00PM (new date)}

Second-Fourth Grade—Tuesday, October 7th, 6:00PM

Middle School—Tuesday, September 16th, 6:30PM (correct date)

High School—Monday, September 22nd, 6:30PM

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Best,

Phil

June 21, 2008

Dear LREI Families,  

The school year is now officially over. The students have left for the summer, the faculty has had its celebratory end-of-year lunch and we have said our goodbyes.  The classrooms have been readied for Summers at LREI, our summer camp, which begins bright and early on Monday morning.  As we look back over the past few weeks, and the whole school year for that matter, there has been no shortage of opportunities to watch our students, your children, at their best.  As always, one of our grandest events was our high school graduation.  Please visit www.lrei.org to see photos of this year’s commencement exercises.   Thank you to all 564 LREI students for your hard work this year. We are very proud of you.  Thank you to each LREI family for all that you have done to support the school and its progressive mission.  We are grateful for your participation. Thank you to the parent reps, committee chairs and the PA Executive Committee.  Thank you to Kasey Picayo, outgoing co-president of the Parents Association. Kasey has been a superb advocate for the school and its families and will, I am sure, continue to be an active and important member of the LREI community.  Another special thank you to Marthe Jocelyn, parent of one of our wonderful seniors, who will be moving away from the school next year.  Marthe, a trustee and member of the LREI community for many years, was one of the founders of the Literary Committee and an active participant in many, many LREI activities and initiatives.  Marthe, thank you for all that you have done and, knowing you, will do in the future. 

To all, have a wonderful summer. 

Best, 

Phil

June 5, 2008 

Dear Lower and Middle School Families, 

As the school year comes to a close, your families are involved in a variety of culminating activities—potlucks, recitals, award ceremonies, performances and concerts.  No doubt about it, LREI is a busy place.  Clearly, the most significant conclusions are filling the lives of the twelfth graders.  In the days to come, the seniors will share their Senior Projects, celebrate their time together at the annual Senior Banquet and participate in our 63^rd Commencement Exercises—tremendously important events in the lives of our seniors and their families.   

While the school year is winding down, this summer is shaping up to be one filled with much excitement.  Only a few days after school ends our summer program, Summers at LREI, begins.  This program, the summer camp and the Summer Institute for middle school aged students, will fill the buildings with activity until the end of July.   

As if that is not enough for one summer, the Sixth Avenue buildings and the Charlton Street building will be undergoing significant work this summer.  Over the next three summers we will be updating, renovating and “greening” all lower and middle school classrooms and offices, as well as a number of the larger, community spaces.  With new lights, floors, paint and cabinetry, at the end of this process the rooms will be brighter with better storage and will be more environmentally responsible.  This summer, the work will begin with the middle school classrooms and the two fourth grade rooms.  In the coming summers, we will pay equal attention to all Sixth Avenue spaces.  All work on the Sixth Avenue campus will be completed in time for school to begin in September. 

Work on the Charlton Street building is part of a larger effort.  In 2003 the Board of Trustees approved a Strategic Plan that called for the high school to grow to 240 students in a site that supported this larger student body and our expanding program. In order to fulfill this plan the School purchased, debt free, the townhouse directly to the west of the 40 Charlton Street building.  The plan is to combine the two buildings into a larger, improved facility.  At a special Board meeting in mid-May the Trustees voted to begin this work this summer.  The work on Charlton Street has started already and will continue through the summer and into the school year.  The more disruptive work will be completed by the time school begins in September.  This project, as I have explained to high school families, will continue throughout the 2008-2009 school year in the rear of the building and in the townhouse adjacent to the high school.    All work on our Charlton Street campus will be completed by September 2009.  While I am not able, now, to share the complete plans as they are still evolving, we are looking forward to doing so in the fall—on September 24^th to be exact.  

We are very excited about the coming months and the improvement that they will bring to our buildings and to the program.  I will send home periodic updates of the projects in both buildings.  Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.   

Best, Phil

spring

1. the season of the year following winter and characterized by the budding of trees, growth of plants, the onset of warmer weather, etc.
2. the first stage and freshest beginning

culminate        cul-mi-nate

1. to reach the highest point or degree
2. to come to completion; end

Spring has clearly sprung.  The weather is warming, the trees are budding, the ball field is full each afternoon, as are the benches in Little Red Square—with students, parents and faculty taking advantage of the season.  While spring is a moment of new beginnings, as I walk the halls of the three divisions at this time of the year, the more prevalent feeling is that of a beginning of culmination, a coming to completion.  All LREI students and families will have opportunities to participate in or witness these endings in the coming weeks.  Among these events have been or will be:

·        the upcoming middle and high school sports awards ceremonies;

·        the middle school musical, Into the Woods;

·        the first grade Learning Center, Funky Earth Café and block neighborhood;

·        the second grade city constructions;

·        the fourth grade immigration play;

·        the eighth grade Sustainability, Day of Learning.  On this day the eighth graders led workshops for all middle school students dealing with issues of sustainability. They also organized two assemblies featuring outside speakers;

·        the seventh grade trip to Philadelphia and the eighth grade trip to Gettysburg and Washington, DC;

·        the fifth grade Grecian Festival;

·        the seventh grade’s mock Supreme Court hearings;

·        the publication of IE, our literary magazine;

·        Senior Project presentations;

·        and ArtACTION, an exhibit of high school art, organized by senior Ella Suanders-Crivello, that will raise funds for a variety of causes. More information in each division’s blog;

and countless other moments taking place in each classroom and around the City.

For each student there will be many opportunities to demonstrate all that they have learned this year. For older students, there will be tests and quizzes and papers and presentations.  For all there will be projects and events, including those listed above. Clearly, you will be invited to share in your child’s culminating events.  There are also a number of events that are open to the whole community.  Keep your eye on the blogs for more information.  As a preK-12^th grade school, among our most important culminating events are the publication of our college list (we will email it to you next week, once all decisions have been made) and, of course, Commencement—an essential event.  Enjoy these opportunities to celebrate our students’ growth and learning and their many, many successes. 

Happy culmination,

Phil

Dear Families,  I hope this note finds you well and rested after your children’s Spring Break.  I want to use this week’s blog to share a few updates and thoughts.   

• First, it is my pleasure to announce that Sandra “Chap” Chapman will be returning as our Director of Diversity and Community next year.  When Chap began in her current role last July it was as Interim Director of Diversity and Community.  As you know there was a small, dedicated group of parents, teachers and administrators who interviewed a number of candidates and hosted half-day visits by Chap and another finalists.  Thank you to those parents who attended the group interviews and to the members of the PA and the affinity groups who participated in interviews and discussions. In the end, it was clear that Chap was the best candidate and I am thrilled that she will be continuing her work with families, faculty and students in all three divisions. 
• As her first official act, Chap has asked for me to remind you of two events next week—actually one event being offered at two times. We invite you to participate in ”Bringing the Conversation Home: Strategies for Addressing Challenging Diversity Topics Your Child Brings Home,” happening on Tuesday, April 8^th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria and Thursday, April 10^th at 6:00PM in the Charlton Street cafeteria. These conversations will focus on real situations that have occurred in LREI homes throughout this past year.  The situations deal with issues of class/wealth, race/ethnicity, gender, and family structure. These have been interesting and fruitful conversations in the past and I encourage you to join in this year.  Please RSVP, particularly for the Thursday evening session, as it will only take place if we are expecting sufficient parent participation.  You can email Chap at schapman@lrei.org or let the receptionists know that you will be attending.
• Over Spring Break 47LREI students traveled overseas on school sponsored trips: 
  • Fifteen eighth graders traveled to France with their French teachers Sharyn Hahn and David Lee.  This group visited Paris, Versailles, took the train (TGV) south to Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence, then off to Nimes, St. Jean de Vence, Monaco, Aise, and Nice. 
  • Nineteen eighth graders traveled to Spain with Gabrielle Keller, Middle School Spanish teacher, Margaret Andrews, middle school math teacher, and Victor Diggs, seventh grade core teacher.  This group went to Madrid and Barcelona, visiting the new Prado, a comprehensive Picasso exhibit at the Reina Sofia and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral as well as strolling, shopping and eating along the Ramblas in Barcelona. 
  • Thirteen high school students visited the Gunter-Stohr-Gymnasium, the school with which we have had an exchange program for the past five years. These students stayed with a host family in Munich, attended school, visited many museums, the Royal Residence and Dachau, as well as reuniting with friends made when the German students visited us in October. Many students traveled with their host families over the Easter weekend.  Some went skiing in Austria and others visited Verona and Venice.   
  • Finally, we are nearing the departure date for seven of our middle school robotics team members and their coaches—Sherezada Acosta, Carin Cohen and Steve Neiman—who will travel to Tokyo for a global robotics tournament.  In the coming days you might see afternoon bake sales that this group is organizing to help pay for some sight seeing excursions and to support the other US team that has been invited to attend this event.  

 It was wonderful to welcome your children back to school on Monday. They all seemed to have grown so much in just two weeks! One of the aspects of the spring that makes it such a fruitful time of the school year is that students fully inhabit their grades. When they entered school in September they were essentially still operating as members of the grade they had left in June. For example, new fifth graders still had one foot firmly planted in the lower school.  Students’ slow journey through the fall and into the winter supported, encouraged, nudged and demanded their maturation into fully-fledged members of their current grade.    Upon returning from a two week break on Monday there was absolutely no part of last year left in them.  We have even started to see glimpses of next year from time to time.  There is a confidence and easiness in the students in the spring; the student’s work, individually and in groups, is graceful and smooth in a way that it was not just a few weeks ago.  Much will be asked of all LREI students in the coming weeks.  The last quarter of the school year will require that the students continue to develop skills and competencies while putting to use all that they have experienced and learned in the past seven months.  Each child will have a number of opportunities to share with their families and the community all of the abilities that are part of their new selves and that will support them as they, in a few short months, take that step into the next set of challenges.   

Best, 

Phil

Dear Families,  I hope this note finds you well and rested after your children’s Spring Break.  I want to use this week’s blog to share a few updates and thoughts.   

• First, it is my pleasure to announce that Sandra “Chap” Chapman will be returning as our Director of Diversity and Community next year.  When Chap began in her current role last July it was as Interim Director of Diversity and Community.  As you know there was a small, dedicated group of parents, teachers and administrators who interviewed a number of candidates and hosted half-day visits by Chap and another finalists.  Thank you to those parents who attended the group interviews and to the members of the PA and the affinity groups who participated in interviews and discussions. In the end, it was clear that Chap was the best candidate and I am thrilled that she will be continuing her work with families, faculty and students in all three divisions. 
• As her first official act, Chap has asked for me to remind you of two events next week—actually one event being offered at two times. We invite you to participate in ”Bringing the Conversation Home: Strategies for Addressing Challenging Diversity Topics Your Child Brings Home,” happening on Tuesday, April 8^th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria and Thursday, April 10^th at 6:00PM in the Charlton Street cafeteria. These conversations will focus on real situations that have occurred in LREI homes throughout this past year.  The situations deal with issues of class/wealth, race/ethnicity, gender, and family structure. These have been interesting and fruitful conversations in the past and I encourage you to join in this year.  Please RSVP, particularly for the Thursday evening session, as it will only take place if we are expecting sufficient parent participation.  You can email Chap at schapman@lrei.org or let the receptionists know that you will be attending.
• Over Spring Break 47LREI students traveled overseas on school sponsored trips: 
  • Fifteen eighth graders traveled to France with their French teachers Sharyn Hahn and David Lee.  This group visited Paris, Versailles, took the train (TGV) south to Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence, then off to Nimes, St. Jean de Vence, Monaco, Aise, and Nice. 
  • Nineteen eighth graders traveled to Spain with Gabrielle Keller, Middle School Spanish teacher, Margaret Andrews, middle school math teacher, and Victor Diggs, seventh grade core teacher.  This group went to Madrid and Barcelona, visiting the new Prado, a comprehensive Picasso exhibit at the Reina Sofia and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral as well as strolling, shopping and eating along the Ramblas in Barcelona. 
  • Thirteen high school students visited the Gunter-Stohr-Gymnasium, the school with which we have had an exchange program for the past five years. These students stayed with a host family in Munich, attended school, visited many museums, the Royal Residence and Dachau, as well as reuniting with friends made when the German students visited us in October. Many students traveled with their host families over the Easter weekend.  Some went skiing in Austria and others visited Verona and Venice.   
  • Finally, we are nearing the departure date for seven of our middle school robotics team members and their coaches—Sherezada Acosta, Carin Cohen and Steve Neiman—who will travel to Tokyo for a global robotics tournament.  In the coming days you might see afternoon bake sales that this group is organizing to help pay for some sight seeing excursions and to support the other US team that has been invited to attend this event.  

 It was wonderful to welcome your children back to school on Monday. They all seemed to have grown so much in just two weeks! One of the aspects of the spring that makes it such a fruitful time of the school year is that students fully inhabit their grades. When they entered school in September they were essentially still operating as members of the grade they had left in June. For example, new fifth graders still had one foot firmly planted in the lower school.  Students’ slow journey through the fall and into the winter supported, encouraged, nudged and demanded their maturation into fully-fledged members of their current grade.    Upon returning from a two week break on Monday there was absolutely no part of last year left in them.  We have even started to see glimpses of next year from time to time.  There is a confidence and easiness in the students in the spring; the student’s work, individually and in groups, is graceful and smooth in a way that it was not just a few weeks ago.  Much will be asked of all LREI students in the coming weeks.  The last quarter of the school year will require that the students continue to develop skills and competencies while putting to use all that they have experienced and learned in the past seven months.  Each child will have a number of opportunities to share with their families and the community all of the abilities that are part of their new selves and that will support them as they, in a few short months, take that step into the next set of challenges.   Best, Phil

The following note from Phil was published for the opening celebration of the Visibility: Lesbian and Gay People We Love photo exhibit.  The exhibit is currently up in the Sixth Avenue auditorium and hallway and will be there until Spring Break.  Please feel free to drop in and visit this wonderful show. 

Dear LREI Community,

Thank you for joining us for the opening of this year’s Visibility: Gay and Lesbian People We Love photo exhibit.  I am sorry to miss this wonderful event.  While not here in body, I am with you in spirit and as a fellow supporter of the School’s social justice mission.  This mission was clearly present at the student organized opening at the high school last week.

Thank you to Keith and Kim, to the other members of the LGSA, to the many volunteers and to Chap for the time and energy and care that has gone into creating this show.  Thank you, as well, to all who have contributed photos.  Without your participation and, in many cases, your courage, this show would not be possible.   

We host this exhibit every other year and are often asked the same two questions as we approach the opening.  The first question concerns the goals for the exhibit.  This is an excellent question and one that we spend a good deal of time discussing.  As a school and as a community we need to support colleagues who are not afforded the same rights as others.  LREI has always been active in the fight for equality and social justice.  We host this exhibit to give voice and hope to those who must hide part of themselves from family, friends and colleagues.  I have never had to hide who I love from anyone.  As a matter of fact, society has always encouraged me to be very open about this part of my life—whether when I was in school or now as an adult.  Yet many people risk rejection and injury for sharing this joy with family and friends.  Often, when discussing the visibility exhibit, it is suggested that the prejudice against people who are lesbian or gay does not exist anymore.  Unfortunately this is not so.  Witness the tragic killing of Lawrence King in Oxnard, CA just a few weeks ago.  King, a middle school student, was shot to death in school, reportedly because he was gay. 

The second question often comes from parents of our youngest students.  They ask about our sharing and discussing this exhibit with our youngest students.  As you view the photos in the exhibit a number of themes will emerge for you–dignity, friendship, equality and courage, among others.  But most of all, the theme or feeling or emotion that you will take away from viewing these beautiful photographs is love—love for family and friends and parents and children—and I can think of no reason that, of all things, we should ever question the appropriateness of love, the power of love, the importance of love and the right to love.  This seems to me to be a wonderful topic for discussions with young children, and with people of all ages, for that matter. 

Enjoy the show,

Phil