Director’s Blog, May 2011
Dear Families,
We are so proud of the seniors’ acceptances to a terrific set of colleges and universities-a wonderfully varied and interesting list! Working individually with Carey Socol, our Director of College Guidance, and her associate Analisa Cipriano, LREI ’05, in order to choose schools that match the students’ specific academic and personal ambitions. Our seniors are confident that they have chosen exactly the right schools for them. The college process, which also involves families, advisors, teachers and the high school principal Ruth Jurgensen is comprehensive and inclusive.
Click here to see a complete list of acceptances earned by the class of 2011.
Now that they have chosen the schools that they will attend for the next four years, what will the members of the class of 2011 take with them to their new campus homes? We know, through the experience of our alumni, that the class of 2011 will arrive academically and intellectually prepared to succeed. College will be challenging, as it should be, but our alumni tell us, year after year, that they have had the academic preparation required to thrive in the next stage of their academic career.
One tool for success was noted at this past January’s Alumni College Panel by Lily Wiggins ’07. (Lily is currently attending Pitzer College. She started at LREI at five and is the recent recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship to study in Indonesia next year.) Lily told us, “LREI really fosters good relationships between teachers and students. When you go to college, you have the confidence to email them, to get into the classes you want or meet with them outside of office hours because we were used to meeting with teachers at LREI.”
We hear this quite often. LREI not only prepares students with the necessary academic and communication skills, but also with the ability to be advocates for themselves and their beliefs. Taylor Bello ’10, noted:
“My bio class, my chem lab and my chem class all have over 300 students, which was bigger than my whole high school. That was a big change, but because the relationships between teachers and students at LREI are so strong, I was able to go up to professors, talk to them, so they could recognize my face when I raised my hand in class and call me by my first name. Don’t be afraid to talk to professors when you get to college because it makes a huge difference and LREI definitely prepared me for that.”(Taylor is a pre-med student at Boston College. She started at LREI in ninth grade.)
An important component of LREI’s preparation for success in college is providing our students with a range of academic experiences. According to Kai Furbeck ‘10, (Kai, who started at LREI in Kindergarten, is now finishing his first year at Brown University):
“Academically, [at LREI] there’s a lot of room for self-directing and self-motivating and pursuing things you wouldn’t necessarily get a chance to pursue in the classroom. I got the opportunity to take a lot of honors courses where I would meet with teachers individually outside of class or in small groups, and basically, anything you could think of that you wanted to learn, there would be a teacher who knew something about it and could either jump in and learn about it, or if there weren’t many teachers who knew about it, you could find someone willing to learn about it with you and you could both jump in and just sort of explore anything you were interested in. That was one of the most valuable opportunities I had here.”
In addition to providing a range of academic experiences, our students value the variety of co-curricular opportunities they have. According to Jeffrey Adler ’08, “One thing that’s great about LREI is that you’re able to pursue completely different passions at the same time…. A lot of my friends when I went to college, they were like ‘How can you do that? You can’t really manage that.’ The basketball players were like, ‘Theater?’ And all of the theater people were like, ‘Sports? No way.’ But only at a place like LREI can you become the type of person where you can do so much. I am really grateful for that.” (Jeffrey is currently a student atOccidental College and began at LREI at 5. His younger sister Jaquie is in the LREI class of 2019—the third grade.)
In what other ways does LREI prepare its students for the rigors of postsecondary life? What other experiences enable our students to be as successful as they are? According to Ana De La Cruz ’10, currently a freshmen at Georgetown University, who started at LREI in the eighth grade, “We also got the chance to take classes at NYU. It prepared me so much for college. I took a journalism course and it really helped me improve my writing.” (Ana was speaking of our College Preview Program through which juniors and seniors can take classes at NYU. LREI is the only independent school participating in this program. Students enroll in these classes in addition to all of the requirements for their grade).
Speaking of the lasting impact of her time at LREI, Kamillah Aklaff ’07 added:
“We had all of these amazing speakers come in during our assemblies and all these just really exciting events. People at Tufts are always so impressed when I say that x person came to speak to us in high school and I went on all these trips in school. That was when I think we really got to apply our critical, analytical skills. And then that helped me as I learned and grew at Tufts. I think that I have grown academically and personally and socially in a number of ways at Tufts, but I still always think back to my time at LREI. When I think about how I’ve sort of flourished into this person who is passionate about sociology and doing all these social justice initiatives, I think a lot of that came from my time spent at LREI and all of the skills and values that I learned while I was here.”(Kamillah is a sociology major at Tufts University. She began at LREI at five.)
Confident, connected, passionate, competent, well rounded—our students leave LREI eager and prepared as they go off to college. Once again, please join me in congratulating our seniors as they head off to the colleges and universities of their choice and as they prepare to use all that they learned at LREI as active and involved young adult members of society.
Click here to see a complete list of schools in which the class of 2011 has enrolled.
Click here to read last year’s college blog and list.
Sincerely,
Phil
Updates and Announcements:
Please click here for the 2011-2012 School Calendar.
Save the date for three important events: Thursday, May 18, 6:30 PM, LREI’s Annual Spring Concert (click link for details), Tuesday, May 24, 6:30 PM, The HS Sports Awards, Thompson Street Gym, and for all Seniors and their families, The Senior Project Presentation evening, Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM. All 11th grade students are required to attend the Senior Project Evening.
This is a great weekend to see ART!
- Students and JSA member schools (LREI is one) cordially invite you to it’s annual photography exhibition/reception, Independent Visions, featuring school selected student photography by upper school students from New York City Independent Schools. LREI students have several photos in this exhibit thanks to photography teacher Susan Now. The exhibit will be held this Sunday, May 8th (Mother’s Day) at the Stux Gallery in Chelsea. This year students have chosen The CNN Project: Ending Modern-Day Slavery, as their ‘Vision’ recipient and awareness project. Stefan Stux has generously offered to donate the gallery space for the student exhibition. The student exhibit will accompany the works from the current show ‘WONDER’ Ruud van Empel. JSA is an organization which handles many charitable events throughout the year with the assistance of parents and high school students. You are welcome to view the website at http://www.jointschoolsny.org/. The following students have contributed work in this one-day only show! Victor Aaron ’13, Lily Gavin ’13, Surayya Diggs ’13, Maya Kaufman ’13, David White ’13, Taylor Brando ’12, Nicholas Cleves ’12, Talia Feldberg ’12, Jesse Rubenstein ’12, Hannah Silverman ’12, Lili Thomases ’12, Nick Van Zandt ’12, Lisa Remar ’12, Lucia Zerner ’12, Hannah Rivkin ’12, Olivia Tjernberg ’12, Lucas Renique-Poole ’11, Zoe Lubin-Fosha ’11, and Alice Ng ’11
- An invitation to Sue Scott Gallery this Saturday, May 7 from Olivia Feal ’11: As you know for part of my senior project I have been working at Sue Scott Gallery [parent of Chase Squier ’14]. There is a new exhibition up, David Shapiro: Money is No Object, which I have been helping set up. Please forward this to faculty and parents who might be interested in seeing the pieces as well as seeing the hard work we have put in, culminated into an exhibition.
- Congratulations Nell Jocelyn ’08 on the publication of your first book “Ones and Twos,” written in collaboration with your mom, award winning author and LREI Book Week regular (and inventor), Marthe Jocelyn. Join Nell and Marthe for a book party to celebrate the publication of their beautiful first piece together. We sure hope it is not the last!
1. LREI Camping Trip: The 18th Annual LREI Camping Trip will take place June 3-5 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River. All LREI families and their children from all grades pre-K through high school are invited to participate. Sign-up tables will be in front of the 6th Ave building on Fri May 6, Tues May 17, and Thurs May 26. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help organize, please contact Larry White at LWhite@stern.nyu.edu or (212) 533-1966.
2. This year’s middle school production of Oliver is tomorrow night, Friday, 6th May at 7pm and Saturday 7th May at 2pm and 7pm. With a cast and crew of 60 students, this is one of the biggest musicals we have seen at LREI. The musical has been winning awards since 1963 but is still as exciting and entertaining as ever. Charles Dickens originally wrote the novel Oliver Twist which is a rich story of the impoverished lives of characters in the 1850s in London, England. This musical is an entertaining and compelling adaption, with many musical numbers and larger than life characters. We celebrate the wonderful talents of our middle school students and hope that you all come. Tickets are on sale in the Sixth Ave lobby between 8am and 9am, so make sure you get yours before we sell out! Adults $12 and students and senior citizens $10.
3. Sing for Hope’s Pop-Up Pianos
Piano Painting Event for LREI Students and Families!
SATURDAY, May 14, noon-3pm
Sing for Hope, a New York City-based non-profit, will place 88 pianos in parks and public spaces throughout the five boroughs from June 18 – July 2. A symbol of Sing for Hope’s commitment to make the arts available to all, the Pop-Up Pianos will unite and engage diverse communities throughout New York City. After their public residency, the Singfor Hope Pop-Up Pianos will be donated to local schools, hospitals, and community centers, enriching lives for years to come.
Last year, LREI students painted the piano placed at Little Red Square! This year, we are inviting LREI students and their families to do the same, under the guidance of a Sing for Hope Teaching Artist. On May 14, from noon to 3pm, participants will have the chance to decorate a piano at Sing for Hope’s Piano Warehouse at 32 Avenue of the Americas in TriBeCa. We hope that you will take part in this special celebration of public art!
To sign up, RSVP to Rowena Penaranda-Askins at rpenaranda@lrei.org.
To learn more about Sing for Hope, please visit www.singforhope.org.
4. TO ALL PARENTS FROM THE PARENTS ASSOCIATION:
Spring is here, so it is time to start planning for the next school year. The Parents Association would like to let you know the many ways you can participate. Becoming a parent rep is a great way to get involved. If you have not been a parent rep before but would like to try it or find out more about it, please let us know. We would be happy to talk to you more about what the job entails. You can also refer to the Family Handbook (accessible through our website www.LREI.org) for the Parent Rep Guidelines. We will be matching parent reps to classes in mid-August or so, when the class lists are finalized.
If you’re looking for other ways to get involved, you could consider volunteering for any of our PA committees; please click here for the list. Please email us at PA-Presidents@lrei.org if you have any questions or suggestions.
All parents are cordially invited to the Volunteer Thank You and Welcome Breakfast on Friday, May 20th, from 8 to 9:30 AM in the courtyard at 40 Charlton St. This event is for all present and future parent volunteers, and will be a time to learn more about what the PA does. Representatives of all PA committees will be present, so it will be a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
Thank you and have a great spring,
Regina Trumbull and Susie Marples
5. LREI’s adult chorus -in -residence, The Glass Menagerie Chorus, directed by Susan Glass, will give a full performance of Carl Orff’s CARMINA BURANA at FIT’s Haft Auditorium.
With Two Pianos and Percussion.
This Saturday, May 7th 8pm
Tickets: $20, $15 students/seniors
Click here for more!
6. Downtown Potluck, LREI’s own community cookbook, will be on sale in the Sixth Ave. lobby Thursday and Friday, May 5th and 6th, for all your spring giftgiving needs. (Mother’s Day is May 8th!)
7. Bring in your old books and exchange them for new ones at this year’s LREI Book Swap, on Thursday and Friday, May 19-20. Last year’s Swap was such a success that we decided to try it in place of the Spring Book Fair this year. So, please bring in everything from beginning board books to adult books. We’d especially like any books from past summer reading lists. You might write a note about why you loved the book and leave it in the pages for the new owners.
We’ll have donation boxes in the Sixth Avenue Lobby on May 17 and 18th. After that you can bring them to the swap directly. Hope to see you there!