“Study, study, study!”
Dear Families,
I hope you will join us at our annual Alumni College Panel, on Thursday, January 8th at 6:30 PM at the High School. There, you can meet recent LREI graduates and hear from them about their experiences and how LREI prepared them for college. Speaking of, one of our seniors, Susan Donohue, recently had the opportunity to visit Mt. Holyoke College for a spoken word program. While there, she was able to visit a class that she is passionate about: Mandarin Chinese. Susan has taken Mandarin Chinese here since its inception; Guo-Qing Heaton, our instructor, has worked with her and members of her class, reminding them to always “study, study, study” and to “work harder, try harder”. As a result, for four years, Susan has put in the time to learn this complex, challenging language and curriculum. As she sat in one of Mt. Holyoke’s Mandarin Chinese classes, it all came together for her. Susan understood everything the professor was teaching; in fact, the work covered in the class was worked she had already covered with Guo-Qing. Susan participated in the class, spoke freely, and afterwards, the professor, impressed with Susan’s mastery, said, “You could easily be in our Chinese II, if not Chinese III class, if you matriculated here.” Susan returned to school to share her story with Guo-Qing and with me; her work (and, of course, Guo-Qing’s instruction) has truly paid off in a way Susan did not anticipate so quickly. Confident and inspired, Susan and her classmates continue to “study, study, study.”
Guo-Qing Heaton, an instructor here for four years, has truly planned and implemented a progressive, rigorous Mandarin Chinese program, all while sometimes teaching art. (She is also a professional artist who specializes in sculpture. Please check out this link to learn more about her incredible art. ). In Guo-Qing’s ‘free’ time, and thanks to her vision and her hard work, she has formed a relationship with the China Institute, which, after several meetings with educational coordinators there and visits to classes here, will provide us with two full scholarships for travel and study for our students this summer. This Summer Study in Beijing program “offers high school students the opportunity to receive language training while being immersed in Chinese society and culture. Through rigorous small-group daily language lessons, it is expected that they will acquire the equivalent of a full academic year of Chinese. Special features of the program include accomodation in host families with resident teenagers, cultural activites as well as social activities with fellow students and Beijing residents, weekend overnight excursions and community service.” If your child is in our Mandarin Chinese program or currently studying Chinese in an independent study or Honors Project, and you would like to hear more about this summer opportunity, the next open house is on Thursday, January 22, 2009 from 6:30-8:30 PM, at the China Institute, 125 East 65th Street (between Lexington and Park Avenue), or you can contact Guo-Qing directly at gheaton@lrei.org.
P.S. For science lovers, please check out LREI biology instructor Margaret Magee’s blogspot!
Best,
Ruth
Updates and Announcements:
- The school’s calendar can be accessed by clicking here.
- Click here to view the 2008-2009 LREI Calendar.
- For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.
*Please read this important announcement from our Academic Support Center.
SCHOOL STORE OPEN BEFORE BREAK
The LREI School Spirit store will be open
on Monday and Wednesday the 15th and 17th
of December, 8AM to 9AM in Sixth Ave lobby
and both lunch periods in the Charlton St lobby.
1. An opportunity to hear wonderful music! Please join us for the annual performance of Glass Menagerie, LREI’s resident adult chorus. Their Winter Concert’s Artistic Director is Susan Glass, High School Chorus Director and Lower School Parent.
The Program:
NOEL: Songs of the Season
Saturday, December 13, 2008, 8PM
St. Joseph’s Church in the Village
Washington Place and 6th Avenue (2 blocks below 8th St.)
$20 Admission ($15 students/seniors)
2. Gifts to Teachers: If your child wants to give his or her teacher a gift at winter break, the
end of the year, or any other time during the year, a homemade gift or drawing is welcome
and appreciated. A group gift from parents and children in the class may be given at the
end of the school year. This will be organized by the Parent Rep. It has been our
experience that individual gifts, though thoughtfully intended, may be misinterpreted by the
children and, consequently, we discourage this. Thank you for your awareness and
cooperation.
3. Please join us for the Alumni College Panel, on Thursday, January 8th at 6:30 PM at the High School. Meet recent LREI graduates and hear from them about their experiences and how LREI prepared them for college. Moderated by Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance. RSVP to Liza Sacks, at lsacks@lrei.org or (212) 477-5316 ext. 291
4. Dear Parents: Since the auction is two months earlier this year (on Thursday, March 5th), we need to get our donation forms in earlier. The deadline for forms is Friday, December 12th.
Our goal this year is to have each parent donate/solicit one item, and we’re attaching a form here for your convenience. If you would like to run your ideas by someone, please contact one of us or Pippa Gerard at 212-477-5316 x236 or pgerard@lrei.org or Sandra Song at 212-477-5316 x275 or ssong@lrei.org.
Thank you and we hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Esposito Mamie McIndoe
917-226-0800 917-597-5603
jenn_espo@msn.com mmcindoe@marblechurch.org
5. 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. Order by next Wednesday,
November 26th to receive by Holiday Break. For orders: Contact Kasey Picayo at
picayosmith@aol.com. See attachment for photo.
6. From the LREI Family Handbook
Vacations: We remind families to only take vacations during LREI breaks and that your
child’s time away from school does not begin before the school break does or end
afterwards. Teachers use each scheduled day to support their classroom program goals
and the School’s mission. Students who miss days adjacent to breaks, or who take
vacations outside of our break times, miss work and can disrupt planned activities. This
affects the learning of the absent students and her/his classmates. In addition, divisional
or all-school assemblies often precede our longer vacations. These gatherings are
essential for creating the sort of community that drew you to LREI. Students sing, listen
to speakers, applaud their schoolmates, meet students in other divisions and generally
strengthen community ties.
We will not honor families’ requests to receive work their children will miss due to family
vacation plans. Families that are presented with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to make
an extended visit to another city, country, etc. should speak to their child’s principal.
In general, we are focused on making sure that we are using each moment of each
school day as effectively as possible. Part of being able to do this is to have each
student in school each of these days. Thank you for your support of these efforts.
7. Red is Green Committee:
Red is Green Monthly Recycle Drives: Thanks to all the families who participated in the first LREI Recycle Month – we collected over 1000 plastic bags to be recycled! We’ll be keeping the box in the Sixth Avenue lobby for a while longer, so please continue to drop off plastic bags. Also, you can always bring your bags to Whole Foods, Staples, Barnes & Nobles and other chain stores to be recycled.
This month, Red is Green is collecting used sneakers! Through December 19 you can bring your old athletic shoes (no shoes containing metal please) to school and drop them off in the boxes located in the lobby of either building. Sneakers will be ground up and recycled into outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, and playgrounds through the NIKE grind program. For more information please check out their website at www.nikereuseashoe.com.
Still to come… January is recycle your greeting cards month! Save all your cards this holiday season and we’ll be collecting them in January. St. Jude’s Ranch accepts recycled cards which they use to make “green” holiday cards. The proceeds go towards helping abused, abandoned and neglected children.