Director’s Blog, June 2010
Dear LREI Families,
As we sprint towards the end of the school year—two weeks filled with all sorts of special events and celebrations to go—it seems like a good time to congratulate members of the faculty on some of their successes this year. I asked the faculty in all three divisions to volunteer specific honors earned this school year. The responses were:
Ana Chaney, middle school math teacher and math department chair, completed Bank Street College of Education’s Leadership in Mathematics Education program and earned a Masters’ of Science in Education.
MicahDov Gottlieb, high school Assistant Principal, was chosen to represent Brooklyn College’s Educational Leadership program at their NCATE (National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education) accreditation. In addition, he will be working with PBS on an episode of a new program called “Do The Math.” His record label “The Brooklyn Label” will be showing children how math is used in the recording studio. The group that will be featured is DobleFlo (a hip-hop duo), which features LREI alum Luis Lopez, ‘03.
Matthew Rosen, seventh grade core teacher, was awarded an National Endowment for the Humanities grant to attend a summer institute at Yale, The Lost World of Early America, in which he will explore themes in colonial American history, such as race relations, politics, economics, family and community life, and rites of passage. In addition, he was selected to be a recipient of the Richard Koppenaal Scholarship for superior academic achievement at NYU where he will continue with his graduate studies in English Literature and Writing in the fall.
Deborah Damast, lower school movement teacher/middle school dance teacher, was the recipient of the Outstanding Postsecondary Educator award from the National Dance Education Organization for outstanding contributions to dance education nationally and in the community. This award is given once every two years and nominations come from colleges and universities across the nation.
High school English teacher Ileana Jiménez has recently been awarded the Distinguished Fulbright in Teaching Award (which is different from the Fulbright Teacher Exchange). The Fulbright will allow Ileana to spend six months in Mexico conducting research at a major university, providing professional development to local teachers, and completing a capstone project on gender and education. Her Fulbright will extend from January through June 2011. She hopes to bring her research on gender and education back to both our English program and the high school’s program re-design focusing on global education and diversity.
Vin Scialla, high school music teacher/jazz band director was recently offered an album and distribution deal with Random Chance records for Snehasish Mozumder & Som, whom he performed with at Lincoln Center Out of Doors.
Elizabeth Simmons, seventh grade Core teacher, will attend the Klingenstein Summer Institute for Early Teachers. The Institute brings together approximately 75 teachers from across the country and around the world, and is especially designed to make teachers more effective leaders in the classroom and throughout the school.
Early childhood librarian Jesse Karp’s first novel, Those That Wake, will be published by Houghton Mifflin in Spring 2011. The young adult novel centers on two teenagers who stumble upon a dark force that secretly manipulates society, and their struggle against it. In addition, Jesse’s Graphic Novels in Your School Library, a non-fiction book about using comics and graphic novels in education, will be published by ALA Editions in Spring 2011. Finally, he is currently serving his second year on the American Library Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens Committee, a body devoted to selecting the best graphic novels for ages 12-18.
Stacy Dillon, Lower School Librarian, has been selected to be a member of the Newberry 2012 committee. What an honor! As you may know, the “Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children.”
MS Librarian and Library Department Chair Jennifer Hubert Swan has been accepted into the Cullman Center Institute for Teachers Summer Seminar taught by author Karen Russell this July, and will be chairing the 2012 YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Award for Excellence in Nonfiction committee starting in September. She is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute in the School of Information and Library Science where she teaches evening courses in young adult and tween literature.
Karyn Silverman, high school librarian, is currently Chair of the Frances Henne YALSA/VOYA Research Grant Jury, which awards an annual fund to research supporting the Strategic Goals and Mission of YALSA, and am currently a member of the YALSA Nominating Committee, which is charged with finding qualified candidates for all award committees and governance positions. In addition, I will be teaching a graduate class on Young Adult Literature at Queens College this summer.
Each summer, for many years, LREI awards summer grants to support program development. Two years ago we began to award a series travel grants to support travel by LREI employees that may be, but does not have to be, related to the curriculum. Click here to go to the Director’s blog to see a complete list of grant recipients.
We also had a very successful year for some of our academic teams. To read of their successes, please click here.
Best,
Phil
Updates and Announcements:
- Congratulations to the Class of 2010! Senior Project Presentation evening was a huge success. We are so proud of each member of this class.
- New photos are up on Flickr! Check out photos from the Spring Concert last week and from Field Day!
- Please remember to remind your student about appropriate dress for Graduation Day, June 11, 2010. No sneakers, flip-flops, t-shirts or jeans, please. Thanks!
- Please see last week’s blog about next week’s exam schedule and the last days of school.
- Summer reading assignments are now online! Please take a look here. Students will receive necessary texts this week and next, and if your student has any questions, he or she should ask teachers next week.
1. 6/8 – 6/9 Little REaD Book Swap! Are your kids’ bookshelves so full they’re about to buckle? You can start clearing them out for the first ever Little REaD Book Swap! On June 8th and 9th, bring those books that your kids loved a few years ago but will never read again to school to swap for something new. Drop off and pick up books from 8-9 AM and 2:45-3:45 PM next Tuesday and Wednesday. Please — only kids’ books in good condition. Foreign-language books are fine. Any leftover books will be given to the GO Project or other charities. Please help recirculate good books around our community!
2. We’re on Facebook and Twitter! So parents, students, faculty and the community have two new ways to stay in the LREI loop.
3. Please click here for the 2010-2011 school calendar!
4. Spring Admissions Alert:
Greetings! As the end of the school year approaches, the Admissions Office is already planning for Fall 2011. In order to best anticipate enrollment needs, it is helpful for the department to know the number of current LREI families who intend apply for admission for a sibling for the 2011-2012 school year.
In order to facilitate our planning for 2011-2012 we ask that you contact the Admissions Office by June 11th to provide your child’s name, date of birth, current grade and school name, and the grade to which she or he will apply for the 2010-2011 school year. In doing so you will assist the admissions office with entering this information into our database so we may provide you with information about the process beginning in late summer.
As a point of reference, please be advised that LREI offers an optional Early Notification Program for applicants to Fours, Kindergarten and First Grade who are siblings of current LREI students, children of faculty or staff, and children or grandchildren of alumni. This program expedites the admissions process for those who are members of the community and benefits the School by clarifying the number of places available in each grade for the general applicant pool. Applicants to Fours and Kindergarten must be four years old and five years old respectively by September 1st of the year in which a child will begin school.
Should you have any questions about the admissions process for your child, please contact the admissions office at 212.477.5316. You may also send us information about your child by sending the aforementioned details to admissions@lrei.org. We look forward to our continued work with LREI families.
Best wishes for a healthy spring!
The Admissions Team
5. Join us on the LREI Float to Gay Pride March 2010, Sunday, June 27th, 2010 12pm -end. March sign up to come. Contact: Carrie Borows, cborows@gmail.com for more details!
6. Click here for the 2010-2011 Ballot for Parents Association Officers. To cast your ballot, please print the form, complete it and return it to the receptionist in either building by Monday, June 14th.