Phil’s Blog
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Dear LREI Community,

Two exciting announcements:

Number 1

As families in the Lower School are aware, we recently completed our search for a new lower school principal.  I am thrilled to share with all members of the LREI community that Namita Tolia will join us on July 1, 2008 as the head of our lower division.  Please click here to read the announcement I sent to lower school families upon Namita’s appointment.  While there will be many occasions to do so in the coming months, I do not want to miss this opportunity to thank Sharon DuPree for the wonderful work she is doing as Interim Lower School Principal. 

I could not be more pleased with the outcome of our search process.  Namita is a warm, smart, thoughtful and passionate person.  The process to select Sharon’s successor was open to all members of the lower school community and included a number of representatives of the middle school, high school and Board of Trustees.   Leading the search was a committee made up of almost half of the lower school faculty.  This group was assisted by an ad hoc Parents Association Advisory Committee that acted as a liaison between the search committee and the parent body.  Each of the four finalists, selected from a pool of 18 first round candidates who, in turn, were selected from the hundreds of resumes we received, met with a large number (over 50) of lower school parents, the advisory committee, Suzanne Cohen—lower school assistant principal, Mark Silberberg and Ruth Jurgensen—the middle and high school principals, a group of fourth graders, a number of trustees, the senior administrative team, the early kindergarten and the entire lower school faculty. After all four finalists had finished their marathon visit, we had a day devoted to gathering feedback from each of the aforementioned groups. This information was added to all that we had received earlier in the process.  As our search drew to a close, the faculty committee and I spent many hours together evaluating our experiences with the four candidates and all that we had learned about these four educators and about the institution over the prior weeks and months.

As I stated earlier, I am so pleased that Namita will be joining us and am sure that when you have a chance to meet her you will be as impressed with her as those involved in the search are. I am equally thrilled with the process, described above, that brought Namita to us.  So many people gave considerable time and thought to this effort.  Members of the community gathered together in order to listen to, and learn from, each other.  Questions were asked and answered, assumptions were tested and understandings were challenged.  In the end I think that we all had a deeper understanding of LREI’s mission and of the essential role that the lower school holds in meeting these ends.  As the process came to its successful conclusion, all involved felt renewed support for the institution’s belief that each voice—each point of view—has value.  Decisions that consider the range of experience represented by the members of our community may be difficult and may create some dissonance. This is okay, however, as, even with this temporary discord, decisions made in an inclusive manner are inherently more productive and enriching for the community.   Thank you to all for your honest, thoughtful and supportive participation.

Number 2

Look out world, here we come!  Our middle school robotics team is one of two teams from the U.S. that has been invited to participate in an international robotics competition in Tokyo later this spring. This team, coached by middle school teachers Sherezada Acosta and Carin Cohen, has done very well in each of the four years that it has been competing in the FIRST LEGO League Tournaments.  Last year the team won the 3^rd place Champions Award and the 1^st place Team Work Award.  Earlier this year, the senior team, made up of seventh and eighth graders, placed first out of all participating schools in Manhattan in the Robot Performance category.  The rookie squad, made up of sixth graders, won the Champions Award.  A few weeks ago the team was awarded the 5^th place Robot Design Award in the All City Championship.  The judges in the tournaments in which we have competed over the years have been impressed with how articulate and resourceful our students are as well as with how well the team members work together.  It was for these reasons that they were chosen to represent the U.S. in the FIRST LEGO League Asian Open Championship.  A tremendous amount of hard work awaits these students between now and late April when they take off for points east.  We could not be prouder of the team and its coaches and look forward to hearing of their successes. Stay tuned, in the weeks to come, for more information on this exciting adventure. 

Finally (I know I said two items), congratulations to our middle school boys’ basketball team on their 61-23 victory over the Browning School for the league championship earlier this week.  Come out and watch the boys play in the opening game of the league’s end of season tournament on February 27^th at the Thompson Street Athletic Center. 

Exciting times,

Phil

January 10^th, 2008

Dear LREI Community,

 

Happy New Year.  I hope that this note finds your family well and having enjoyed some restful and rejuvenating time during the Winter Break.  On Monday morning the school was filled with children of all ages who, while looking a little sleepy, seemed quite happy to be back in school with their friends and teachers. 

 

I want to take a moment to bring your attention to some special events coming this month.  There are a number of events that will provide great wintertime activity. Most of the events and activities that I mention below can also be found on the calendar at www.LREI.org/calendar. 

 

LREI Alumni College Panel—January 10^th, 2007, 6:30PM at the high school, 40 Charlton Street.  This discussion is an opportunity to meet and speak with some recent LREI graduates and to hear from them about their experiences and about how LREI prepared them for college.  

 

LREI Athletics—Our basketball season is in full swing for all 10 teams!  I encourage you to attend a home game at the Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street (between Houston Street and Prince Street.)  You can find the schedules for all teams at www.lrei.org/athletics.  In addition, we post a sign in the Sixth Avenue lobby each morning announcing any home games that afternoon.  Upcoming home games include:

 

·        Our 5^th/6^th grade intramural league, an instructional/recreational league for our youngest middle schoolers, plays each Friday from 3:30PM-5:15PM. These are great games for young fans.

·        January 14^th, 4:00PM—7^th/8^th grade Boys vs. St. Luke’s School

·        January 16^th, 4:15PM—7^th/8^th grade Girls vs. UNIS

·        January 17^th, 4:00PM—Varsity Boys vs. Garden School

·        January 23^rd, 5:00PM—JV Girls vs. Steiner

·        January 24^th, 4:30PM—Varsity Girls vs. Birch Wathen Lenox School

·        February 21^st, 4:00PM—JV Boys vs. Trevor Day School

 

There are many other home games on the schedule.  Come out and cheer for our student athletes!!! 

 

Karamu! —On Friday, January 25^th from 6:00PM to 9:00PM the PA Multicultural Committee will host Karamu!, a celebration of food and the arts and community. Tickets will go on sale soon. This is one of the high points of each school year. 

 Finally, I encourage all families who are able to do so to make this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—Monday, January 21^st—a day on rather than a day off.  As stated by the Mayor’s Volunteer Center, “The mission of the MLK Day of Service is to realize Martin Luther King’s dream and legacy by breaking down barriers amongst people and establishing volunteer service as a means for social change.”  Among the service opportunities available on this day are: “Share the Dream, Live the Reality” will be held on Monday, January 21, 2008, from 9:00AM-3:30PM. The event will take place in Queens at Long Island City High School, 14-30 Broadway, Long Island City, NY.  Please register now to join hundreds of volunteers and help revitalize the community by painting murals, cleaning schools, and giving back to the community. Register online as an individual or group For additional questions, please call Shante Smith at 212-542-0798 or visit www.cityyear.org/newyork  5th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon On January 19th-21st, 2008, celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday by partaking in the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) 5th Annual Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon. The Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon is similar to a walk-a-thon but instead of walking you’re performing a service to help pantries and kitchens meet their immediate needs. Individuals and groups can sign-up through the Coalition’s Volunteer Matching System to serve at selected food pantries and/or soup kitchens on Saturday, Jan. 19, Sunday, Jan. 20, and/or Monday, Jan. 21. The time commitment is flexible and is meant to fit within a busy schedule. Service opportunities will be available in all five boroughs. For questions, contact Andrea Dispenza 212-825-0028 ext 202, adispenza@nyccah.org 

Children for Children (www.childrenforchildren.org) hosts an annual event on this day. Last year, more than 2,000 volunteers came together for this event and we look forward to another momentous day this year. Participants will have the chance to complete a wide variety of hands-on projects, benefiting many different New York City-based and international causes. See their website for more details. http://childrenforchildren.org/index.php?q=node/36

 

If you have suggestions of service opportunities available on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, please send me the information so that I can make it available to all.

 

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness.  This is the judgment.  Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”

 

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

As you can see, there are many opportunities to get involved in LREI events and events sponsored by other communities in the coming weeks.  I hope that all LREI families find them enjoyable and enriching. 

 

Best,

 

Phil

Dear LREI Community,

 

December, as you know, has been filled with special events during the school day and well into each evening.  As I look back over this long list of meetings and performances, on the eve of the Winter Break, I realize that of all of the events and occasions in which I have participated in the past few weeks, none was more interesting than one of our regular, weekly principals’ meetings earlier this month.  Each week I meet with the three principals, Cari Kosins—Director of Afterschool and Summer Programs and Chap Chapman—Director of Diversity and Community.  For the meeting in question I invited the music teachers and, for the first time, the president and vice-president of the high school student body. The first item on our agenda was the program for our annual Winter Assembly.

 

The student leaders contacted me late last month as their constituents had questions and frustrations about our annual pre-winter break, all-school get-together.  Jesse Towsen, the president, put it quite plainly, “We think the assembly is boring.”  In addition to wanting the group to discuss ways to make the assembly more enjoyable, the students had significant questions about how we choose the songs we sing at this all-school gathering.  A number of years ago we decided to have the songs and readings focus on the themes of peace and light—images present in the winter traditions of many cultures and religions.  We consciously stayed away from songs that came out of any specific religious tradition.  We also decided not to attempt to sing songs from all religions as this is not only impossible to do but ignores the students who do not identify with a particular tradition.  This was one of the things with which the students were most frustrated—why did the adults feel as if we as a community could not acknowledge the religious traditions represented in the room.  A good question, one I have thought quite a bit about and a topic about which I have strong feelings. 

 

While we are a community that believes strongly in having, discussing, displaying and living according to a set of values and beliefs, for better or for worse we have become cautious and uncomfortable when discussing religion and spirituality.  When we bring the whole school together, almost 600 students and over one hundred adults, for an all school assembly we are making a statement that “this is an important event.”  To have a song that comes from a specific religious tradition at the center of one of these assemblies also makes a big statement and leads us to many questions.  Among them—Can we represent all religions?  Do we even want to try? How do we support the children who come from families that do not subscribe to any organized religion, whether or not they are spiritual people?  If we sing songs of a particular faith at an assembly is the school “endorsing” one faith over another?  The high school students answered these questions by asking one of me.  “Why,” they asked, “can we have an assembly to introduce the Hindu celebration of Diwali to the student body” (which we have done for the past few years), “but we would not be allowed to have a Christmas assembly?”  An excellent question and one that raises issues of power and privilege, familiarity and ignorance. 

 

While we cannot support or endorse any one faith, or the having of faiths and religious beliefs in general, we also have to make sure that our students and families don’t feel as if they have to check their beliefs at the door.   LREI students of deep religious faith should feel just as comfortable discussing their beliefs as those students who are not members of any particular religion are in discussing theirs.  We must find ways to have our students understand the importance that religion holds for many, many people, to celebrate the diversity of spiritual beliefs in the same way we celebrate other differences between us and to foster an understanding of the history of religion in human society.  In a country where the depth of one’s beliefs is seen, by some, as a measure of one’s fitness to be President, our children must have, in order for them to grow into informed and active citizens, an understanding of the power that belief holds for a great many people.

 

The faculty will be spending some time this spring, and into the fall, examining the role discussions of religion might play in our school.  We will examine our current practices and look for new ones in order to ensure that no one feels excluded due to their beliefs.  We will look at the ways we teach about religion in history, literature and arts classes.  And we will find time to talk with the children, and with you, about this interesting, difficult and important topic. 

 

I am looking forward to this exploration. We will learn a lot.  We will become more understanding of our colleagues and neighbors and we will be a stronger more thoughtful community for having challenged ourselves with this discussion.

 

A last word.  I was persuaded.  We will sing a few songs this year that stem from specific religious traditions and will, in the New Year, discuss how this felt and make plans for future events.   Please do not hesitate to email or call if you would like to discuss this topic.

 

I wish you all the best and a Happy New Year,

 

 

PS I want to correct an omission.  In last week’s blog, I should have thanked the members of the Literary Committee for the many weeks and months of planning that made Book Week—the author visits, book fair and Literary Evening—possible.  What an amazing event!  Thank you and we are already looking forward to next year’s event. 

 

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