Thank you!
Dear Families,
This Tuesday evening, the parent reps surprised me with a lovely party to celebrate my son, who is due in April. Not only did we enjoy delicious treats (which the faculty shared with me the next day!), but I received a needed LREI onesie and beautiful blanket. I thank them and all of you for your good wishes during this school year. That said, I am happy to share the plans for my leave.
I intend to remain at school until the end of the week of April 5. The baby may decide otherwise! After that date, Sarvjit Moonga, Vice-Principal, and Micah Dov Gottlieb, Dean of Students, will take over as interim principals until the 2008-2009 school year is wrapped up. Please continue to communicate with them as you have with me. When the school year is wrapped up, English instructor Julia Heaton, who has spent this school year serving as Academic Dean for the high school, will be interim principal through my leave. She will have the continued support of Sarvjit and Micah, of course. I intend to return on November 16, 2009, with some appearances here and there until then. For instance, I will attend the Class of 2009’s graduation on June 5.
A few people have had questions about communication with me while I am on leave; communication will take place primarily through the interim principal. Sarvjit, Micah, and Julia will keep me posted on anything urgent. My advisee group will be guided by Stephen MacGillivray, who has been meeting with me and our group all year.
Again, thank you so much for the advice, guidance and support. I look forward to connecting with you in these final weeks.
Please note exam week dates for Trimester III have changed!
June 1 through June 3: Regular classes
June 4: Review Day for Trimester III classes
June 5: Graduation Day (regular arrival time for all students; all students attend graduation at 1 PM)
June 8: Reading Day (library open all day, review sessions)
June 9 through 11: Exams for Trimester III
June 12: Last day of school, regular start time.
All the best,
Ruth
Update and Announcements:
- The school’s calendar can be accessed by clicking here.
- Click here to view the 2008-2009 LREI Calendar. You can also now access the 2009-2010 calendar here! Note that school will begin on the Wednesday after Labor Day this year, not Thursday. Middle School and High School orientation will be on the Tuesday after Labor Day. Lower School phase in schedules, for our early childhood classes, will be distributed during the summer.
- Our incredible boys and girls basketball teams have made it to the playoffs! For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.
*Class of 2009 Families, please read the updated and revised important letter from Ruth Jurgensen, High School Principal regarding Senior Project.
*Please read this important announcement from our Academic Support Center.
*Director’s Drop-In–Phil will be available for drop-in conversations in his Sixth Avenue office from 8:45AM-9:30AM on Thursday, February 19th and Friday, March 6th. Drop in, ask a question, and hear about what is going on at LREI. Can’t make these times? Give a call or send and email.
*The senior class is trying to locate a space in which to hold their prom. If anyone knows of a good space for this event, or has a contact of some sort, kindly email Vio Picayo at vpicayo@yahoo.com. Please respond as soon as possible, as time is running short before this late May event. Thank you.
*A special event has been added to the calendar: On April 21, at 6:30 PM, in the cafeteria, Freedom Institute will be here to meet with all high school parents interested in drug and alcohol education for their teen. All high school parents are welcome to join this evening of education and discussion.
*To Parents and the Wider LREI Community,
You are cordially invited to the Lower School Art Show in the Bleecker Street Auditorium Thursday, February 19, 10:30-6:00 and Friday, February 20, 8:30-3:00. There will be an opening for children, parents and caregivers on Thursday, February 19 from 3:00- 4:00.
The Lower School Art Show is a chance to share with the LREI community the artwork of children from the Fours to the Fourth Grade much of which is connected to our Social Studies program. This year’s show looks exciting.
Teachers will bring classes throughout the day of Thursday, February 19 to view their artwork with each other. This gives students a chance to appreciate each other’s work and to share their unique expressions and ideas.
We hope that you can drop by!
Sincerely,
Ann Schaumburger, Lower School Art Teacher
1. Big Auction Update:
Dear Parents,
With the auction just a month away and so many fabulous items to choose from, we thought you would enjoy a weekly preview of some of the things you can bid on the night of the auction. We are aware of how thoughtful people are about spending and we wanted to give you the opportunity to start thinking ahead and perhaps use the auction to buy not only for your own family, but to possibly take care of special gifts throughout the year- Mother’s Day, gifts for grandparents, a special birthday, a family vacation, an anniversary dinner, and of course, the kids in your life. So please enjoy this week’s sneak peek of our 2009 Big Auction, take a look at the auction list, and feel free to pass this web page along to friends and family who may want to participate in the bidding!
Also take a look at this special page! Whether you like skiing the slopes or fun in the sun, plan your next vacation with the Big Auction in mind! There is something for everyone – take a look and dust off your suitcases!
2. The deadline is Monday! Please take a look at this wonderful (and free!) summer opportunity for young women in the high school community:
Running Start is accepting applications for their 2009 Young Woman’s Political Leadership Retreat.
WHAT: Running Start encourages high school girls from across the country to channel their leadership into politics. Participants will meet extraordinary women leaders of diverse backgrounds and learn the importance of having more women in political leadership and running for office. EVEN if the you’re not interested in politics, this is a great program way to practice public speaking and learn to collaborate with other young women.
WHO: Open to rising sophomores, juniors and seniors in high school
WHERE: American University, Washington D.C.
WHEN: July 15-19, 2009 (no applications will be accepted after February 16,
2009)
COST: The program is entirely FREE of charge, and travel scholarships are
available.
Young Women’s Political Leadership Program:
July 15-19, 2009 Washington, DC
Application deadline: February 16, 2009
The Young Women’s Political Leadership Program encourages high school girls to channel their leadership into politics. Running Start is hosting our second annual program this July to train high school girls in political leadership skills and to plant the seed that they should run for office. Fifty girls chosen for their leadership potential from around the country will come to Washington, DC for this exciting program. The girls are chosen from public, charter and private schools and we pride ourselves on recruiting a diverse group of young women to attend our program. The program is entirely free of charge, and travel scholarships are available.
The program, which takes place at American University over 4 days and 3 nights, allows the participants to meet extraordinary women leaders of diverse backgrounds and to learn about the importance of having more women in political leadership and of running for office themselves. They learn by doing through the highly interactive sessions. By the end of the summer retreat, they will have gained confidence in their own leadership abilities, and be ready to bring their leadership to their schools and communities. The girls learn about political leadership by working with inspirational women leaders, including Congresswomen and other elected officials and leaders in business, media and the law.
The program trains the girls in important skills necessary for political leadership including:
Public Speaking and Presentation: Students will learn how to structure a speech and adjust to an audience, as well as learning and practicing the importance of posture, tone and answering post-speech questions.
Advocacy: Students will learn the art of persuasive speaking and will practice basic debate and advocacy.
Persuasive Writing: Students will learn critical thinking skills that correlate to the kinds of applications necessary in advocacy and politics. The girls will examine campaign materials, floor speeches, as well as grammatical and literary tactics that are often incorporated into successful persuasive writing.
Campaigning: As a culmination of the program, the students will create a campaign for themselves tying in the aspects learned from the workshops throughout the leadership program, and they will give campaign speeches to the class and their parents.
Our goal is to create political leadership programs for high school girls across the US, so that young women can learn the value of political participation and the importance of their leadership in this area.
3. Class pictures are here!
4. A perfect gift!
LETTERMAN JACKETS NOW AVAILABLE!
Wool Letterman Jackets now available through
the LREI school store.
These beautiful warm, winter coats are now
available by special order only. The cost is
approximately $200 per coat. Each is personalized
with your name. For orders: Contact Kasey Picayo at
picayosmith@aol.com. See attachment for photo.
5. Update from the Red is Green Committee
Our 2 recycle drives this month are off to a great start! Already we’ve collected over 560 batteries. Did you know that batteries can be 100% recycled? Or that it is illegal in NYC to throw rechargeable batteries in the trash?
We are also partnering with Project KOPEG (Keep Our Planet Earth Green) to recycle cell phones and other e-waste. And, we’re raising money for Little Red at the same time. In our first week we’ve collected over 30 cell phones, 80 ink cartridges and an assortment of phone chargers, ipods, pdas and digital cameras. But we can do better! Cell phones contain many toxic substances that pose a serious threat to our environment. The amount of cadmium contained in a single cell phone is capable of polluting 158,200 gallons of water or the equivalent of 2.4 million cups of coffee (statistic taken from projectkopeg.com).
The average American cell phone user owns 3 or more cell phones and replaces his or her cell phone every 18 months. If every LREI family asks their friends, relatives and co-workers for their old cell phones, ipods, pdas or used ink cartridges we can keep these harmful toxins out of our landfills and ultimately out of our environment. Set up a box in your apartment building or office and start collecting these items as well as raise money for LREI. For more information, check out their website at www.projectkopeg.com. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email the Red is Green committee (lhommen@hotmail.com or kbeck2@nyc.rr.com).
March’s recycling drive:
wine corks and Bear Naked Granola bags.
And don’t forget to check out Lets Go Green’s website, for eco friendly water bottles, garbage bags, light bulbs, paper goods etc. LREI receives 25% of all sales as profit.
Thanks for all your help. Start collecting and keep recycling!