Dear LREI Families,

It is an exciting time in the High School.  The seniors are off working at their senior project internships, and the juniors are stepping up as the leaders of the school. Our new crop of peer leaders met this week for the first time and began planning the exciting programs they will offer the incoming ninth graders in the fall.  Student Government speeches and the first round of elections start next week for President, Secretary, and Treasurer.  I look forward to the transition to another great group of student leaders.

Tom Murphy organized a visit by a special guest speaker to discuss issues of Foreign Affairs with interested students earlier today.  High School Alumni class of ’66, Ambassador James I. Gadsden is the Diplomat-In-Residence and Lecturer in Public and International Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University.

Congratulations, Seniors!!  Click here to see the latest update of our College Acceptance List.  We will send home a list of the schools in which our seniors enroll in a few weeks.  We are so proud of the class of 2009!

College Acceptances 2009

Spring sports are in full swing.  For more info and news about Track, Softball, Baseball, and Tennis follow the link below or contact Athletic Director Peter Fisher, PFisher@lrei.org

http://www.lrei.org/athletics/index.html

All next week we celebrate Earth Day, with events throughout the school including a special assembly Thursday April 23rd.

Upcoming events and special activities:

• Friday April 17th is conference day, no classes.  Students are encouraged, and expected, to attend their conference.

• Monday April 20th is the start of Earth Day week.  The second graders are coming to the High School to visit their ninth grade buddies in Art class, and do fun and exciting Earth Day Art Projects.  It is also “stay at home and read” evening.  The literary committee encourages you to stay at home and read a book or poem as a family.  See the flyer attached below!

http://lrei.org/pdf/0416-WS-PoemPocket.pdf

• Tuesday April 21st is “Poem in your Pocket” day.  We have our annual assembly, led this year by the 11th grade Poetry class.

• Tuesday April 21st at 6:30PM in the Cafeteria, Peggy Peloquin has arranged a parent’s evening with Freedom Institute.  A discussion about drug and alcohol education.  We hope you can attend this important event.  See the attached document below for an outline of the evenings discussion and a bio of the speaker.

Freedom Institute 4/21

• Wednesday April 22nd- Earth Day fair  in the Sixth Ave auditorium from 2:45 to 4PM.   There will be activities for younger students, and a great opportunity for older students.  Any High School students interested in helping please see Micah.

• Also on Earth Day -Do you have any books at home that you would like to freecycle?  As part of Earth Day, we will be having a Lower School/Middle School book swap.  Every child is encouraged to bring in ONE AND ONLY ONE gently used book that he/she no longer wants, to exchange for another book to take home.  The book swap will take place Wednesday, April 22, in the Sixth Ave. library from 2:45 to 4 PM.  Literary Committee members will be on hand to make sure every participant takes home an appropriate book.  If you have more books, please donate them to Alison and Becka’s Third Grade class book drive for Homes for the Homeless.

• Marriage Equality: A Civil Rights Issue will be held on  Monday April 27th 6:00pm-8:00pm in the PAC at the high school. Marriage equality would insure that every American, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated equally under the law. Topics for the evening will include: why marriage matters, what laws are being enacted nationally and locally, how this effects our families and children and how to get involved. Follow the links below.

http://lrei.org/pdf/0416-WS-LGSAMarriageEquity.pdf

http://lrei.org/pdf/0416-WS-LGSAMarriageEquityPress.pdf

• May 1st is the High School Arts Festival.  The Arts Festival is a day dedicated to art.  Our goal is to bring artists into the school to give students a chance to spend their day as artists.  We offer a variety of classes from introductory to master level workshops in every area of the arts.  Students take a three hour class in the morning led by the artists and giving students the opportunity to focus on a single art project.  In the afternoon there is an assembly where performing arts workshops can present and perform, and special guest performers inspire.

If you or someone you know is an artist and interested in offering a workshop Friday May 1st (9-noon) or performing in the afternoon assembly (1-2:30pm) please contact me for more info.  We have some very exciting workshops run by our parent community, and always welcome more.  If you are interested please contact Micah by Monday April 20th.

Mark your Calendar:

• May 21st Spring Concert
• May 26th Sports Awards
• May 28th at 6PM Senior Project Presentations at the High School
• June 5th Graduation 1PM
• June 8th is Reading Day, Exams are June 9th-11th
• June 12th last day of school for the High School and the final assembly

Thanks so much,

Micah Dov Gottlieb

Acting Principal LREI

MDGottlieb@lrei.org

Dear LREI Families,

Welcome back. I hope that you had a relaxing Spring Break, whether here in NYC or away. It was such a pleasure to welcome your children back to school on Monday and to see how relaxed and rested they were. We are expecting great things from them in the months to come.

So here it is, the first day of April (I am writing this note on Wednesday so that the blog gets out on time) and as advertised we are having April showers. Whether or not these sprinkles bring May flowers remains to be seen. However, one thing that is definitely growing and blooming is our college list. Over the past couple of weeks, and continuing for a few weeks more, our seniors are, and will be, receiving affirmation of four years of hard work and success. The acceptances received this month are the culmination of a college process that lasts for over two years. Working with our college counselor, Amy Shapiro, students identify their interests, investigate options, plan their application process and get to work. Juniors spend two trimesters in a class devoted to the college process and seniors spend considerable time during the first half of their twelfth grade year moving ever closer to the day when they will decide where they will spend the next four years.

Our seniors apply to a wide variety of schools and make choices based on academic interests, distance from home and financial concerns to name but a few of a tremendous number of variables. Some students choose to apply to small liberal arts schools similar to the high school where they spent the past four years, colleges such as Bard, Oberlin, Wesleyan, Gettysburg, Williams, Vassar, Hamilton and Occidental. Other students apply to schools that match their specific interests-the Art Institute of Chicago, Polytechnic University of NYU and Rochester Institute of Technology. Foreign universities call out to some students with their promise of cultural challenges along with the academic ones. This year, these schools include, St. Andrew’s in Scotland, Montreal’s McGill University and American University in Paris. Still other students decide that they need larger universities, public and private, in New York and beyond—NYU, SUNY New Paltz, Georgetown, Boston University, the University of Indiana at Bloomington, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Duke, Harvard, Brown and Cornell. Each of the schools named here has accepted at least one member of our twelfth grade. This list is quite incomplete and does not represent our pride in each senior. I look forward to sending home an initial acceptance list very soon and a complete list of acceptances in the next few weeks. You will be thrilled when you see the complete list. I know you join me in congratulating the members of the class of 2009. Seniors, we are so proud of you!

One final note, at the same time that we are celebrating the seniors’ successes, the juniors are preparing to leave on their first group college visit tomorrow morning. The process begins again.

Best,

Phil

Updates 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.
• For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.

Dear LREI HS Families,

We are all really excited for Ruth and her growing family, we couldn’t be happier but will miss her dearly while she is on leave. Sarvjit and I wanted to let you know that we are here to support you, as Ruth has done, for the remainder of this school year. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.
Thanks so much,
Micah

Micah Dov Gottlieb
Dean of Students
212-477-5316 xt.304
MDGottlieb@lrei.org

Sarvjit Moonga
Vice Principal
212-477-5316 xt.405
SMoonga@lrei.org

Community Service Opportunities!

SATURDAY, APRIL 25
Volunteer with The Brooklyn Green Team as part of Hands on New York
Day in Prospect Park.
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Meeting Place: Grand Army Plaza Entrance to Prospect Park, near the
Eagle Column
We’ll be weeding, doing path edging, sweeping, raking and painting.
We can take up to 20 people so PLEASE RSVP by replying to this email
with your name and how many you are bringing. We will check in with
you closer to the event.

Saturday, May 16, 2009
Volunteer with Brooklyn Green Team, GreenEdge Collaborative NYC and
the Prospect Park Volunteer Corp for It’s My Park! Day.
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Meeting Place: Grand Army Plaza Entrance to Prospect Park, near the
Eagle Column
This event may include weeding, raking, sweeping, path edging,
lake-shore clean-up, litter patrol, etc. We can take up to 20 people
so PLEASE RSVP by replying to this email with your name and how many
you are bringing. We will check in with you closer to the event.
Keep emailing (brooklyngreen@gmail.com) to let us know what you are up
to and how you are doing. And check out our blog for more ideas and
updates.

On Sunday, April 19, as part of the Week of the Young Child, The Educational Alliance will be hosting its annual Literacy Fair, which promotes early literacy and learning in our community. We invite all of the children in our preschools and Head Start/Early Head Start programs to participate, and last year we were able to distribute over 1,000 donated books to over 200 children (ages 0-6). In addition to receiving free books, the children participate in a number of activities including storybook making, puppetry, face painting, improv, and arts and crafts.

“We could use between 10 to 15 volunteers to staff the various stations, and I believe it would be a wonderful opportunity for high school students. The event will be held at our community center at 197 East Broadway from 11 AM to 2 PM, and we will need volunteer support from 10:30 AM to 3 PM.”

Please sign up at the high school with Micah or look for the list near the Community Service Roundtable calendar.

1. The annual High School Arts Festival is coming up on May 1st.
The Arts Festival is a day dedicated to art. Our goal is to bring artists into the school to give students a chance to spend their day as artists. We offer a variety of classes from introductory to master level workshops in every area of the arts. Students take a three hour class in the morning led by the artists; this gives students the opportunity to focus on a single art project. In the afternoon there is an assembly where performing arts workshops can present and perform, and special guest performers inspire students to follow their artistic passions. If you or someone you know is an artist and interested in offering a workshop Friday, May 1st (9-noon), or perform in the afternoon assembly (1-2:30pm), please contact me for more info. We would love to have some parents offer workshops to our students.
Thank you, Micah

2. Hall Auction Update:
Don’t miss out–you still have a chance to bid on great auction items! You can choose from: a week-long vacation in Oaxaca, Mexico; cupcakes and conversation with Atoosa Rubinstein, former editor-in-chief of Cosmo Girl and Seventeen magazines for your child and up to 19 of her/his friends; 4 VIP tickets to the 2009 Great Night in Harlem Concert at the Apollo Theater; fashionable apparel for women and men; and much more. Head over to the bulletin boards in the lobby of the Sixth Avenue building to start bidding!

3.  A message from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community
Bring The Conversation Home: Strategies for addressing challenging diversity topics your child brings home, Socioeconomic Class Part III

Join us for the last parent diversity discussion of the year.
Monday April 6, 8:45-10:00 AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria

4. From Mary Shea, if you did not receive an email and/or the phone call announcing our snow day on Monday please contact Mary Shea to update your contact information. Also let Mary know if you would like to add to or change your contact numbers or addresses. You can reach Mary at mshea@lrei.org or at extension 244.

5. Update from Red is Green:

Save the date: Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. Look for information about LREI’s First Annual Earth Day Celebration for lower and middle school kids from 2:45-4pm in the 6th Ave. auditorium.

Dear Families,

Today, we are celebrating the news that Olu Odibiro, ’11, will be participating in the New York University Science and Technology Entry Program at their annual student conference in Albany, March 27 through the 29th.

Despite the snow day last week that changed our schedule, Tuesday’s community service day, our last formal day for community service for the year was also a success! It was terrific to see students here making sandwiches for hours for the striking workers of the Stella D’Oro product company (they delivered them later in the evening), and to have help soundproofing our music room. We are proud of our students who take the time to connect with an organization, volunteer and give back. I hope they continue to do so in the coming months. Please see below for a service opportunity for Sunday, April 19!

On another note, grades and comments for Trimester II will be available online on “My Backpack” on Friday, March 20, by 5PM. Please check to make sure you can log on to the system successfully. If you have any problems logging on, please contact help_desk@lrei.org, which can assist you. If you would like your child’s grades or comments mailed, please send an email to Adria Maynor, amaynor@lrei.org.

Once Trimester II grades are posted, families can see homework posted for Trimester III.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding a grade or comment, please contact the teacher directly, the student’s advisor, and/or class dean. Please note, teachers, advisors and class deans will be on vacation starting on Friday, March 13 at 12 noon, so a response may not come until the week of March 29, 2009. Julia Heaton will be back as 11th grade dean on March 30, when we return from break. As always, they stand ready to assist you in any way.

Speaking of March 30, we expect to see all seniors at 8:30 AM, regular time on Monday to check in with Adele, Antonio and Sarvjit. Senior Projects begin on April 1.

Finally, I wish you and your family a safe, restful, wonderful spring break. This is my last blog; for the rest of the year, watch for guest bloggers in this space. Thanks again for all of your good wishes.

While I will be in and out the first week we return from Spring Break, for those instances you would email or call me, please call or email Sarvjit Moonga, smoonga@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, x 405. He will be Interim Principal until June 15. You can also contact Micah Gottlieb, at x304, as he will be Assistant Principal. After mid-June, please contact Julia Heaton, jheaton@lrei.org, x 303 . She will be Interim Principal from June 15 through mid-November. Finally, at any point, please feel free to contact Director of LREI, Phil Kassen, pkassen@lrei.org, at x 213.

See you at graduation!

All the best,

Ruth

*Community Service opportunity for April: On Sunday, April 19, as part of the Week of the Young Child, The Educational Alliance will be hosting its annual Literacy Fair, which promotes early literacy and learning in our community. We invite all of the children in our preschools and Head Start/Early Head Start programs to participate, and last year we were able to distribute over 1,000 donated books to over 200 children (ages 0-6). In addition to receiving free books, the children participate in a number of activities including storybook making, puppetry, face painting, improv, and arts and crafts.

We could use between 10 to 15 volunteers to staff the various stations, and I believe it would be a wonderful opportunity for high school students. The event will be held at our community center at 197 East Broadway from 11 AM to 2 PM, and we will need volunteer support from 10:30 AM to 3 PM. Please sign up at the high school with Micah or look for the list near the Community Service Roundtable calendar.

*A message from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community
Bring The Conversation Home:
Strategies for addressing challenging diversity topics your child brings home:
Socioeconomic Class Part III

Join us for the last parent diversity discussion of the year.
Monday April 6, 8:45-10:00 AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria

*An Historic Folk Music Performance will take place at the high school March 28th and 29th! Please see the message from Nick O’Han about two very exciting events for the whole family taking place during Spring Break co-sponsored by LREI and the New York Folk Music Society. If your child would like to volunteer to help with this event, please email Nick directly at Nohan@lrei.org.

*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.

1. From Mary Shea, if you did not receive an email and/or the phone call announcing our snow day on Monday please contact Mary Shea to update your contact information. Also let Mary know if you would like to add to or change your contact numbers or addresses. You can reach Mary at mshea@lrei.org or at extension 244.

2. Update from Red is Green:

Saturday, March 28 at 8:30pm local time is Earth Hour. World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate commitment to finding solutions. Last year, over 50 million people, representing over 400 cities on all seven continents turned out their lights in the largest climate event of all time. For more information, or to sign up to pledge to turn off all non-essential lights for Earth Hour, go to www.earthhour.org.

Save the date: Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. When we get back from the break, look for information about LREI’s First Annual Earth Day Celebration for lower and middle school kids from 2:45-4pm in the 6th Ave. auditorium… Have a great (and green) spring break!

3. Click here for information on the April 1st Open Parents Association Meeting. All are invited.

Dear LREI Community,

Hello, all. A quick blog posting before I run off to see many of you at our annual Big Auction—a terrific community building and fund raising event.

I want to take this opportunity to point out a number of highlights of the past few weeks and in the coming the days leading up to Spring Break. This list is by no means complete. It is just a taste of what happens each day.

In the Lower School:

• I saw many of you at the Lower School Art Show. Wow! What a terrific display of all of the handiwork that children create in the art room and wood shop. Congratulations, Artists.
• Last week the Kindergarten celebrated the 100^th day of school. The students had spent considerable time investigating the number 100 and on the big day they shared much of what they learned with parents and other LS classes. From shells to Lego to milk cartons, the number 100 took some fascinating sizes, shapes and forms. Among my favorites were the 100 self-portraits of visitors to Luise’s room.
• Fourth graders study immigration to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In addition to visits to Ellis Island they have experienced a number of simulations of immigrant life. It is not surprising to walk past the fourth grade rooms and find the students dressed as “recent” immigrants. Residents of Minetta Lane looked out of their windows last week to see our fourth graders learning old fashioned street games such as Potsy and Stickball. A blast from the past!

In the Middle School:

• Each eighth grader has selected one or more aspects of sustainability that he or she finds interesting and will join classmates with similar interests to arrange community service and self-education relating to this chosen area. Their work will culminate when the eighth grade will present the “Sustainability Teach-In” for the entire Middle School. More information at http://blog.lrei.org/greencore
• The fifth and sixth grades have big days next week. On Wednesday, the Sixth Graders will perform their Medieval Pageant, the annual presentation of all that they have learned about feudal societies. This original play will be performed for students and parents. Next Thursday, Fifth Graders will guide their schoolmates and parents through an Egyptian Tomb. One of the two fifth grade classrooms will be transformed into a tomb in which the students display all of the artifacts they have “unearthed” as part of their studies of ancient civilizations.
• On Saturday, our Middle School Robotics teams will defend their NYC Championships. More info can be found at http://www.nycnjfirst.org/nyc_fll.html. Last week representatives of this team were selected by league officials to discuss the league and competition with representatives of Google. Team representatives are scheduled to be on the CBS Early Show on Friday between 8:00 – 8:30 AM.
• Our Middle School Rube Goldberg Contest team (winner of last year’s Creativity Award) is beginning their creation of a multi-step contraption that will meet this year’s challenge—turning off a very small light switch. A number of high school students who have worked on this project in years past are acting advisors to this year’s team as they prepare for this contest, sponsored by the Fay School and MIT. More info at http://web.mit.edu/museum/rubegoldbergcontest/2009/contestoverview/

In the High School:

· I hope that many of you were able to attend last weekend’s performances of The Taming of the Shrew. A truly amazing production!

· Two LREI high schools students have won Scholastic Writing Awards. Junior Montana Jaro won a Silver Key for a short story, “Down the Stairs” and Senior Celi Lynch won a Gold Key for a personal essay/memoir titled “Identity Search.”

· As our seniors move towards the end of their college process, our juniors are just beginning theirs. Eleventh grade families have started their college search by having family meetings with Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance. These students will spend several days in early April visiting a number of colleges and universities as a group in order to help them to define their ideal school and to hone their search skills. Tenth grade families will meet for their first college night, Monday, March 9 at 6:30 PM in the PAC, to have an introduction to the college process they will engage in during the next two years.

· As our seniors gear up for their third trimester senior projects they are also participating in Senior Seminar, which takes time to focus on the health and well being of our twelfth graders as they transition to internships and college life—significantly increased independence—begins next week. Joanne Gouge, School Nurse and Andrew Weiss, School Psychologist meet with the seniors over the next few days to discuss and revisit general health, first aid, emotional well being in the context of making thoughtful choices in this transitional period and into their move to college.

March also signals the end of the basketball season. Thank you to all of the fans who came out and cheered our teams on as they represented the School in a variety of playoff games and end of season tournaments. Don’t forget tomorrow’s Spirit Game—come out and watch our student athletes play against their teachers, Friday, March 6^th, 3:30PM, Thompson Street gym. You can also watch the Championship games of the Middle School Intramural Basketball League next Thursday, March 12^th, beginning at 3:30 in the Thompson Street gym. These are great games for lower school basketball fans.

Phew! That is just the tip of the iceberg. LREI is a busy and challenging place of learning. Stay tuned for future updates.

Phil

Updates 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.
• For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.

*Tuesday, March 10: Community Service Day! Students have the opportunity to use Tuesday to participate in community service opportunities across the city. Please check this terrific list of opportunities. Tech instructor Stephen MacGillivray has also made a connection with Housing Works on 10th and Hudson, and they are in need of volunteers! All students need to do is stop by! We are also offering a project here at school, soundproofing the music room at TSAC. Any student interested should be at the high school by 9AM to help Micah and Vin with this project. It is open to all students who are interested in fufilling in-school community service hours, and anyone interested should let Micah or Vin know he or she will be helping on Tuesday. Here are more opportunities and organizations in need:

OPPORTUNITY #1
If you have high schooler age students who are seeking community service
hours, we have several options at The Children’s Storefront in Harlem that
include:

a) helping out in the computer lab from 4-6 pm on weekdays
b) helping out with Tech Saturdays which take place monthly on Saturdays
from 9-1 (see www.techsaturdays.org)

OPPORTUNITY #2
If your school would like to become a “penny partner” and help us gather 1
million (and then 1 billion pennies) on 129th street, please go to
http://www.cstorefront.org/pennies/ and send an e-mail … by doing age
appropriate penny problems from school to school (many samples posted) and
SKYPING, we would like to connect our kids in any grade.

OPPORTUNITY #3
If you know any college age student or adult who would like to be a tech
intern, please direct him or her to
http://www.thechildrensstorefront.org/jobs/tech.htm … this is NOT a paid
job but hopefully a meaningful one:

Steve Bergen (sber…@cstorefront.org)
CIO and Computer Teacher, The Children’s Storefront
70 East 129th Street, New York, NY 10035

An Independent School in Harlem
Web site: http://www.thechildrensstorefront.org
Tech Saturday Info is posted at http://www.techsaturdays.org
Penny info is posted at http://www.cstorefront.org/pennies

Summercore 2009 includes June 15-19 at Castilleja, June 22-26 at New
Canaan Country School , July 6-10 at Berkeley Carroll
July 13-17 at Horace Mann, NY as well as July 27-31 at Shorecrest in St.
Petersburg, FL (both open to public)

*An Historic Folk Music Performance will take place at the high school March 28th and 29th! Please see the message from Nick O’Han about two very exciting events for the whole family taking place during Spring Break co-sponsored by LREI and the New York Folk Music Society. If your child would like to volunteer to help with this event, please email Nick directly at Nohan@lrei.org.

*Junior familes of students who receive academic accommodations: From Pat Carter, Academic Support instructor,

“I’ll need all remaining SAT and ACT applications for kids seeking special accommodations for the June 6th SAT and June 13th ACT tests by Friday, March 6th as ASC will no longer be processing any Junior applications until next September.

This means that any junior who is currently receiving extra time or any other accommodation at school needs to be in touch with me before Friday, March 6th in order to apply for those same accommodations on their SAT and ACT exams. Thank you!”

*Director’s Drop-In–Phil will be available for drop-in conversations in his Sixth Avenue office from 8:45AM-9:30AM on 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.

1. From Mary Shea, if you did not receive an email and/or the phone call announcing our snow day on Monday please contact Mary Shea to update your contact information. Also let Mary know if you would like to add to or change your contact numbers or addresses. You can reach Mary at mshea@lrei.org or at extension 244.

2. Our Annual School Spirit Game, in which our Middle School and High School basketball teams play against the faculty is scheduled for Friday, March 6th at 3:30PM in the Thompson Street Athletic Center at 145 Thompson Street. This is a fun event for young and old. You are all invited to attend. See you at the gym.

3. Red is Green Committee:

Update from Red is Green committee: Our March recycle drive is… Corks! We will be sending them to Terracycle, a company that upcycles various waste items into useful products (www.terracycle.net). They will accept both natural and synthetic corks. Look for the box in the 6th Ave. lobby and help keep corks out of our landfills.

4. Middle School Robotics continues to impress! On Saturday, March 7th you can cheer for our Middle School Robotics Teams as they take their First Place finish in the Manhattan championships to the 2009 New York City FIRST LEGO League Championship. For more information, click here .

Dear Families,

Thanks to all of the families who attended our wellness meeting Monday night. It was an informed, open, and honest conversation about the importance of the emotional and social wellbeing of our students. Parents heard what the school does on a regular basis to support our diverse community; we will likely implement some of the programming ideas that came from the meeting, including a series of assemblies next year that will help our students with tough decision-making. We also discussed how to know when a threat of taking one’s life is real (take all threats seriously), making sure all of our kids have a path to help, especially when faced with serious decisions, and how families can keep the lines of communication open in their own relationships with their teen. Many ideas came from parents about what individual families can do, and they are looking forward to the meeting with Freedom Institute for drug and alcohol education (often drugs and alcohol are related to the serious decisions teenagers must make), open to all familes, 6:30 PM, here at the high school, April 21, 2009. For further information about the meeting, please contact your class parent representative.

We are so proud of our basketball teams, Boys’ Varsity coach James Miller, JV coach Anthony Shay, Asst. coach Billy Lipani, Asst. coach Macky Bergman, Girls’ Varsity coach Peter Fisher (who is also Athletic Director), and Asst. coach Preethi Thomas. On Tuesday, with small, but strong team, the girls sought victory against BWL, unfortunately coming up just a bit short. That said, our team worked tirelessly together and we will miss our seniors, Jessica Wilson, ’09, Vio Picayo, ’09, and Gloria Barden, ’09, who brought such leadership, grace, and positive influence to their team. The Boys’ Varsity team fought to the end in their playoff game yesterday, and after a challenging loss, I know the boys are looking to be the team to beat next year. They, too, worked together all year, and are such a close team (with no seniors) that next season is bound to be an exciting one!

We are also very impressed by the work of this year’s Scholastic Key winners! Montana Jaro, ’10, won a Silver Key for her short story “Down the Stairs”, which she read at the fiction/memoir assembly. Celi Khanyile-Lynch,’09, won a Gold Key for her personal essay/memoir titled “Identity Search.”

We are also thrilled to announce that Devon Brown, ’10, was accepted into Brown University’s summer neuroscience program, and they are paying him to attend!

Also in the news, the wonderful accomplishment of four of our seniors, dedicated to Vinnie Barile’s karate class for the past four years. For them today? Green belts! Congrats to Evan McDaniel, ’09, Delaney Porter, ’09, Ben Wellington, ’09, and Ryan Kim, ’09.
Finally, I already know that “The Taming of the Shrew” which opens tonight, will be a memorable night of theater! Directed by Performing Arts Chair Meghan Farley Astrachan, the cast’s mastery of Shakespeare’s writing is truly impressive, as is the acting, the set and the direction are equally remarkable. Tickets are available now at Charlton Street Reception. Shows run Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7PM, Friday, Feb. 27 at 7PM and Saturday, Feb. 28 at 7PM. Come and support our talented actors!

Families, please take a look at this trimester’s exam schedule! We do not expect any changes, however, the most current schedule is posted at the high school. Below, please find what exam week will look like in case you have any questions, or need to make particular arrangements.

Monday, March 2: Regular school day. Classes will review material or complete work. All students are expected.

Tuesday, March 3: Reading Day.

• School open regular hours.
• This is a day for students to prepare for exams, final papers and exhibitions. This is also an opportunity to catch up with outstanding work, work with groups for final presentations, use the Tech Center and printers around the school, etc. This is a quiet work day. Students may choose to work at school or at home. Students are not required to report to school, and it is not counted as an absence if they are not here. However, you may prefer your child to come to school for the full day to work. Please send him or her. School will be open. The Library will be open all day. All teachers will be at school regular school hours to provide the opportunity to meet with students.
• No classes will meet so that all teachers are available. There will be review sessions held. If a student is in crisis, teachers may encourage that student to make a mandatory appointment.

Wednesday-Friday, March 4-6: Exams. Exam periods are 9 AM-11 AM and 1 PM-3 PM. Each day, students should come in plenty of time for their morning exam or project presentation, and students may leave after their assessments are complete. Again, the exam schedule is attached to this blog.

Monday, March 9: Community Service Day! Students have the opportunity to use Monday to participate in community service opportunities across the city. Please check this terrific list of opportunities. Tech instructor Stephen MacGillivray has also made a connection with Housing Works on 10th and Hudson, and they are in need of volunteers! All students need to do is stop by! We are also offering a project here at school, soundproofing the music room at TSAC. Any student interested should be at the high school by 9AM to help Micah and Vin with this project. It is open to all students who are interested in fufilling in-school community service hours, and anyone interested should let Micah or Vin know he or she will be helping on Monday.

All the best,

Ruth

Updates 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.
• For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.

*Junior familes of students who receive academic accommodations: From Pat Carter, Academic Support instructor,

“I’ll need all remaining SAT and ACT applications for kids seeking special accommodations for the June 6th SAT and June 13th ACT tests by Friday, March 6th as ASC will no longer be processing any Junior applications until next September.

This means that any junior who is currently receiving extra time or any other accommodation at school needs to be in touch with me before Friday, March 6th in order to apply for those same accommodations on their SAT and ACT exams. Thank you!”

*Director’s Drop-In–Phil will be available for drop-in conversations in his Sixth Avenue office from 8:45AM-9:30AM on 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.

1. Project Cicero, March 2-5: Project Cicero Book Drive is an annual non-profit book drive designed to create — or supplement — school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Now in its eighth year, Project Cicero has distributed nearly 1,000,000 new and gently used books to 5,500 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching 180,000 students.They solicit donations from individuals and families from over 90 independent, public, and parochial schools each year, and have received generous contributions from many book publishers. Please bring in your unwanted books for school-age children—in good condition only please!—and drop them in the box in the Sixth Ave. lobby or in the Charlton Street lobby.

2. Our Annual School Spirit Game, in which our Middle School and High School basketball teams play against the faculty is scheduled for Friday, March 6th at 3:30PM in the Thompson Street Athletic Center at 145 Thompson Street. This is a fun event for young and old. You are all invited to attend. See you at the gym.

3. Red is Green Committee:

LREI went Green to School on Wednesday February 25th. What an amazing turnout and response! Thank you to all who made the effort to go ‘green’. It was impressive to hear how everyone got to school from carpooling to walking to taking the ferry. The next LREI Goes Green to School is on Earth Day, Wednesday April 22nd.

4. Middle School Robotics continues to impress! On Saturday, March 7th you can cheer for our Middle School Robotics Teams as they take their First Place finish in the Manhattan championships to the 2009 New York City FIRST LEGO League Championship. For more information, click here .

5. Big Auction Update: The Big Auction is just one week away! If you haven’t done so already, you can buy your ticket(s) by emailing or calling Sandra Song at ssong-at-lrei.org or 212-477-5316 x275. Please have your credit card information ready with the expiration date and three digit security code–we only accept MasterCard and Visa. This year, we’re featuring select items online–please visit lreibigauction.cmarket.com and start bidding today! Click here for a look at the Arts & Entertainment Auction items.

Dear Families,

Today, I had the opportunity to see the high school play preview for “The Taming of the Shrew,” directed by Performing Arts Chair Meghan Farley Astrachan. The cast’s mastery of Shakespeare’s writing is truly impressive, as is the acting, the set and the direction! I encourage you to get your tickets now, at Charlton Street Reception, for the show, opening next Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7PM. The show, bound to sell out, runs through Saturday, Feb. 28. Please join us for what is bound to be an excellent night of theater.

Now is the time to begin planning for the next (and final) Community Service Day for students. On March 9, students are asked to use this day before Trimester III begins to set aside time to give back to the community as they would like. Seniors should make every effort to participate in a project that day, as they have projects and internships that will take up a lot of time. We have opportunities posted on the community service board, but also, I am happy to announce, coming soon from high school technology instructor Stephen MacGillivray and our Community Service Roundtable, a community service blog where opportunities for students will be posted regularly. In the meantime, here is a terrific list of opportunities, many more like this one below:

Materials for the Arts is always in need of extra hands to help the staff keep the warehouse in great condition. With hundreds of people shopping each week, the paint room, fabric and furniture areas are often left in disarray and in need of a little extra care.

You can join our volunteer team by donating a few hours of your time to help sort and fold fabric, label paint cans, straighten up framing supplies or make small repairs on furniture. We appreciate your help in keeping the place looking nice for our more than 3,900 recipient groups.While no special training required, most of our projects are physical in nature (folding, sorting, shelving, light lifting), so mobility is a necessity.

You can volunteer for a few hours a week or a few hours a month depending on your schedule. To become part of the volunteer team contact:

Volunteer Coordinator

Materials for the Arts

718-729-3001 ext. 213

volunteer@mfta.org

On another note, last Friday, the parents of the high school honored Mark Bledstein for his 40 years of service documented with a wonderful photo included in a note from Phil Kassen, Director, sent last week. In response to the outpouring of love, affection and admiration from the students and community alike, Mark wrote:

“Thank you… Everyone’s thoughtfulness and generosity truly brings tears to my eyes. This amazing outpouring of thanks is in every respect heart-warming and up-lifting. We have a wonderful, wonderful community.The more a teacher feels deep-down the admiration and respect of the community, the more he/she feels rewarded for the many, many hours we all spend doing our best to open up for our students new worlds of thought, insight, and imagination. In fact, teaching is both an individual and a collaborative venture. If I am honored, everyone should feel honored. I do what I do best in an environment in which everyone works together to preserve, respect and expand the cause of progressive thinking and learning. I am thankful I can do my part as so many people everyday do their part to keep this enterprise vital, creative, ever-stimulating and ever-challenging. Thanks again, Mark”

Finally, as we reflect on the truly wonderful community we do have and care for, our thoughts go out to our independent school colleagues at Dalton and those directly affected by the tragedy that took place there yesterday.

On Monday evening, we will have a special meeting open to all high school parents at 6:30 PM, to discuss suicide prevention and student wellness with me, Andrew Weiss, School Psychologist, Joanne Gouge, School Nurse, and Phil Kassen. Hope to see you there.

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 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.

1. Big Auction Update:

Dear Parents,

The Big Auction is just two weeks away!!! If you haven’t done so already, you can buy your ticket(s) by emailing or calling Sandra Song at ssong@lrei.org or 212-477-5316 x275. Please have your credit card information ready with the expiration date and three digit security code–we only accept MasterCard and Visa.

This year, we’re featuring select items online– look at the auction list and start bidding today!

If you would like to bid anonymously for any of the LIVE items, you may do so by submitting an absentee bid.

Please contact Sandra Song or Pippa Gerard (pgerard@lrei.org, 212-477-5316 x236) by noon on Wednesday, March 4th.

We hope we’ll be seeing you on March 5th! Feel free to pass this web page along to friends and family who may want to participate in the bidding!

2. Class pictures are here!
Class of 2009
Class of 2010
Class of 2011
Class of 2012

3. A perfect gift!

LETTERMAN JACKETS NOW AVAILABLE!

Wool Letterman Jackets now available throughthe LREI school store.  These beautiful warm, winter coats are nowavailable by special order only.  The cost is approximately $200 per coat. Each is personalized with your name.  For orders: Contact Kasey Picayo atpicayosmith@aol.com. See attachment for photo.

4. Update from Red is Green:

Take the LREI Green Pledge!

We are asking all students and families to sign an environmental pledge to do our part to save our earth. We’ve included things like conserving water, turning off lights and recycling. Look for the Red is Green table in the 6th Ave lobby this Friday morning to sign the pledge or download the attachment.  Please return the signed portion of your pledge by next Wednesday, Feb. 25. There is an envelope at the reception desk.

Join us for our first LREI Goes Green to School day next Wednesday, February 25. Find an earth friendly way to get to school: walk, bike, scooter, take public transportation or carpool. It’s a great way to get our kids involved and start off honoring the LREI Green Pledge!

Recycle update: So far the LREI community has collected 40 cell phones, 90 ink cartridges and over 600 batteries! Next month’s recycle drive will be corks and bare naked granola bags. Start saving now!

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‚Äôs 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‚Äôs 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.

APPLY ONLINE!

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!

Class of 2009

Class of 2010

Class of 2011

Class of 2012

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!

Dear Families,

Hello to all and happy mid-Winter. We are certainly having a real winter this year—cold, snowy, long, dark. I know that in my family, while we are enjoying the season, we are beginning to look ahead to what will feel like a well-deserved spring.

Karamu was so fantastic this year! Wow! The evening began with the traditional potluck dinner. The variety of foods donated by members of the LREI community was amazing. My family’s dinner choices alone represented cultures from at least four continents. The evening continued with a series of fantastic performances (not the least of which was our very own EI Jazz Band) and the annual dance party. Thank you to the organizers, to those who donated to the potluck, to the performers and to the fabulous audience. We should all be proud of the commitment to diversity that energizes this annual event.

Following Karamu! by a few days, last week’s two “Bringing The Conversation Home” meetings were an interesting contrast in diversity events. Led by consultant Pat Romney, a familiar face at LREI, these conversations were more contemplation and struggle than celebration. Attendees discussed ways to have conversations amongst themselves and with their children about class and privilege. Pat suggested strategies for responding when your children bring home comments or questions concerning the role money and wealth can play in the ways in which we experience the world and relate to each other. These were tricky conversations and I am proud of my parent colleagues for their willingness to engage in them. We all benefited from our participation during these gatherings. Two reminders from Pat Romney:

• Engage your child in a discussion about how you “are” in the world defines your life more than what you have or don’t have;
• Help your child understand that differences are differences – not disabilities.

Celebrating our cultures, our differences and those aspects of culture—music, dance, food, art—that we share. Examining differences in daily experience—money, class, privilege—and trying to better understand the lives of our classmates, friends and neighbors. We believe that these sorts of activities are essential and it is only through honest conversation and open sharing of experience that we can truly learn to value one another as we do ourselves as we work towards strengthening the LREI community.

Finally, while the diversity work that I comment on above is important for the community and helps us all to be better community members and colleagues and people, we are first and foremost a school. I believe deeply that these conversations and experiences deepen your children’s academic experiences. Practicing the skills that allow us to value and understand the experiences of others can only deepen a student’s learning in history and literature, for example. Having a greater understanding of their classmates’ lives will make LREI students better able to work with each other, to trust each other, to take risks and to challenge each other to excel. These skills are essential for academic success and growth.

Thank you all for your willingness to participate and for your thoughtful and intelligent contributions.

Best,

Phil

Updates 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.

• 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 Friday, January 23rd; Friday, January 30th; Thursday, February 12th; 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.

*The first Coffeehouse for 2009 will be at the high school THIS SATURDAY, February 7 at 7PM, 40 Charlton Street, featuring student performers, wonderful baked goods and Special Guest Steve Earle! The High School Community Service Roundtable will be sponsoring this event, as they try and raise money for their charitable givings.

*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.

1. The Big Auction is coming in March! Take a look at the auction list!

2. 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.

APPLY ONLINE!

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. BIG AUCTION ‘09
COUNTRY QUILT

WE HOPE TO HAVE ALL
FINISHED EMBROIDERED
SQUARES BY NEXT WEEK,
SO GET STITCHIN’.
(If you have any blank squares,
please leave in box
on lower school front desk,
no questions asked!)

All squares must be in
by February 9th
in order to be included
in this beautiful quilt.
Have fun!
For more info, contact Liz Kurtzman
(lizknyc@aol.com)

4. Class pictures are here!

Class of 2009

Class of 2010

Class of 2011

Class of 2012

5. “Have a Heart, Get a Heart”: We’re collecting new and gently used clothes and baby equipment for children 0 to 5 years for donation to “Room-to-Grow” (click here for details on items you could donate). On February 11th, 12th and 13th, when you drop yourdonations to the Sixth Ave. lobby you’ll get a heart sticker. (Or just stop by and ask for a sticker.)

6. 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.

7. Announcements from the Red is Green Committee:

Recycle Updates:

In February, we will be partnering with Project KOPEG to recycle cell
phones, chargers, ipods, inkjet cartridges and digital cameras. And the
best part is we can raise money for LREI by recycling our electronic waste!
Look for the drop-off boxes in the 6th Ave lobby and the high school lobby
beginning Monday, February 2.
Walk to School Wednesdays:
Also beginning in February, we are starting a campaign to encourage everyone at LREI to either walk to school or use public transportation. Once a month we will have Walk to School Wednesdays! Reduce greenhouse gases and get the kids involved at the same time. Our first Walk to School Wednesday will be February 25, rain or shine!

Dear Families,

Trimester II interim grades will be available tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 30, for all students earning B- and below in their classes. Please note, some teachers will put a running grade up for every student in their class, but students earning B- and below will receive a comment. Please go to this link to login your name and password. Instructions with this information was mailed; if you do not know your login name and password, please email help_desk@lrei.org. Further, if you would like your child’s interims mailed, please call Adria Maynor at 212-477-5316, x323.

For 11th and 12th graders taking one of Celine’s electives: Interims will be in on Monday.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding an interim grade or comment, please contact the instructor directly via phone extension or email (first initial, last name@lrei.org) or your child’s advisor. Please note, exam week for Trimester II begins with Review Day on March 2. The end of Trimester II is March 6, with the last exams. March 9 is our next community service day for students, all day. Now is the time to have your child connect with teachers to see how he or she may improve in the coming weeks.

Many students will have larger projects and papers due at the end of the trimester; it is time for them to start planning their time for these demands now. This is especially important for our seniors, who have these next four weeks to demonstrate the academic ability and passion we have come to know. This is the final stretch for them, and as we have told them, it is too early for senioritis! Further, they have already enjoyed their “Senior Cut Day” (last Friday), so it their job to focus intensely for the next few weeks, the last for them.

Our next Family Conference Day is not until April 17, after Trimester II grades have been distributed and Trimester III classes have begun. As in November, advisors will contact all families to make the appointment. You may also request to meet with any teacher on that day, as well. Please let your child’s advisor know who you would like to see.

Remember, we have four weeks before exam week, March 2-6, 2009.

All the best,

Ruth

Updates and Announcements:

*Please read this message from Peter Fisher, HS Athletic Director:

Dear LREI family and friends,

I am writing to let you know we have some fantastic basketball teams working very hard who would love to see you all at the games. When the stands are packed there is unbelievable energy in the gym. If you have time, try to catch some of the action. I know the players would appreciate fan-support from our LREI community here, so if you haven’t seen them play, now is the time!
All of our teams are playing very exciting basketball and battling for playoff spots, so make sure you come check them out!

All LREI team schedules can be found at: http://lrei.org/athletics/wintersports.html

League standings can be found at: www.isalgisal.com

Remaining home games:

GIRLS VARSITY
Monday, Feb. 2nd, vs Brooklyn Friends, 4:00
Tuesday, Feb. 3rd vs York Prep, 4:00PM

BOYS VARSITY
Wednesday, Feb. 4th, vs Birch Wathen Lenox, 4:00
Tuesday, Feb 10th vs Churchill, 4:00

BOYS JUNIOR VARSITY
Today, Jan 28th, vs Trevor Day, 4:15
Thursday, Feb 5th, vs Birch Wathen Lenox, 4:00

Many thanks to those who have been to the games so far!

GO KNIGHTS!

• 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.

*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 Friday, January 23rd; Friday, January 30th; Thursday, February 12th; 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.

*The first Coffeehouse for 2009 will be on February 7. The High School Community Service Roundtable will be sponsoring this event. If you would like to participate or your child would like to participate, please contact Micah at 212-477-5316, x 304. The coffeehouse on the calendar for Jan. 24 is canceled.

1. Class pictures are here!

Class of 2009

Class of 2010

Class of 2011

Class of 2012

2. “Have a Heart, Get a Heart”: We’re collecting new and gently
used clothes and baby equipment for children 0 to 5 years for
donation to “Room-to-Grow” (click here for details on items you could
donate). On February 11th, 12th and 13th, when you drop your
donations to the Sixth Ave. lobby you’ll get a heart sticker. (Or just stop by and ask for a sticker.)

3. 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.

4. Announcements from the Red is Green Committee:

Recycle Updates:
During the month of January we teamed up with the Nike Grind Program. We
were able to recycle over 100 pairs of sneakers which will be turned into
playgrounds and sports surfaces.

If you still have holiday and greeting cards lying around, your last day to
drop them off is this Friday January 30. No photo cards please.

In February, we will be partnering with Project KOPEG to recycle cell
phones, chargers, ipods, inkjet cartridges and digital cameras.  And the
best part is we can raise money for LREI by recycling our electronic waste!
Look for the drop-off boxes in the 6th Ave lobby and the high school lobby
beginning Monday, February 2.
Walk to School Wednesdays:
Also beginning in February, we are starting a campaign to encourage everyone at LREI to either walk to school or use public transportation. Once a month we will have Walk to School Wednesdays! Reduce greenhouse gases and get the kids involved at the same time. Our first Walk to School Wednesday will be February 25, rain or shine!

5. CALLING ALL EMBROIDERY BUFFS!

Embroider a square for the 2009 Big Auction Community Quilt. All squares must be completed by February 1, 2009. Please see the attachment for details.

Sandra Song
Annual Fund and Special Events Manager

Dear Families,

Above is a quote from Michelle Herrera, ’06, and Columbia University student describing her high school experience…

As a high school community, we love the first weeks of January because often we are fortunate to talk with alumni who return to visit the school they miss so much. It is wonderful to have alumni visit because it gives us all, especially faculty, evidence of their influence and a reminder of our former students’ hard work. Our alums are eternally grateful for the education they received here. We hear this over and over again. Further, no matter the college or university they attend, consistently we hear that this high school experience was remarkably different from their peers, that they are prepared for any academic challenge, but also that the high school prepares our graduates to be independent, to navigate, risk, pursue, have initiative through our extracurricular offerings, internships and commitment to service, and to appreciate freedom, freedom of choice in elective offerings, and finally, our graduates appreciate that the community does not let any student get by, but encourages every student to get involved.

During one visit, I learned just how our alumni are involved in their new communities:

• Amy Ramirez, ’06, who attends Bucknell University (Class of 2010) is an editor with the Bucknell Law Review.
• Jesse Towsen, ’08, Brown University student, works for Brown Journal of World Affairs.
• Brendan McCormick, ’08, is a wide receiver for Gettysburg College’s football program.
• Jeff Adler, ’08, plays JV men’s basketball for Occidental College in California.
• Four alums are members of the same fraternity but at different colleges! Cyrus Park, ’08 and member of Skidmore College’s Class of 2012, Gregston Hurdle, ’05 and member of the Class of 2009 at Muhlenberg College, Brian Marmalejos, ’04 and Yale graduate, Stephen Holt, ’05 and member of the graduating Class of 2009 at Pepperdine are all proud brothers (members!) of “Sig Ep”-Sigma Phi Epsilon!

Again, hearing the stories of our graduates and seeing their unwavering connection and commitment to their alma mater is exciting and rewarding for all of us.

Speaking of college, there is an important date change for parents of Tenth Grade students. The annual Tenth Grade College Night with Director of College Guidance, Amy Shapiro, will now be on Monday, March 9, at 6:30 PM in the PAC, not April 21 as indicated on the school’s art calendar.

Have a wonderful weekend!

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.

*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 Friday, January 23rd; Friday, January 30th; Thursday, February 12th; 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.

*The first Coffeehouse for 2009 will be on February 7. The High School Community Service Roundtable will be sponsoring this event. If you would like to participate or your child would like to participate, please contact Micah at 212-477-5316, x 304. The coffeehouse on the calendar for Jan. 24 is canceled.

1. Class pictures are here!

Class of 2009

Class of 2010

Class of 2011

Class of 2012

2. High School Parents! This is an invitation for you! A message from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community:

Bring The Conversation Home:
Strategies for addressing challenging diversity topics your child brings home:
Socioeconomic Class Part II

Please join us for one or both of the following PA Diversity Discussions with Dr. Patricia Romney:
Wednesday January 28, 6:30-8:00 pm in the Sixth Avenue Auditorium
Thursday January 29th, 8:45-10:45 AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria

3. 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.

4. Red is Green Committee: 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.

5. CALLING ALL EMBROIDERY BUFFS!
Embroider a square for the 2009 Big Auction Community Quilt. All squares must be completed by February 1, 2009. Please see the attachment for details.

Sandra Song
Annual Fund and Special Events Manager