Guest blog from Phil

Dear LREI Community,

Two exciting announcements:

Number 1-
As families in the Lower School are aware, we recently completed our search for a new lower school principal. I am thrilled to share with all members of the LREI community that Namita Tolia will join us on July 1, 2008 as the head of our lower division. Please click here to read the announcement I sent to lower school families upon Namita’s appointment. While there will be many occasions to do so in the coming months, I do not want to miss this opportunity to thank Sharon DuPree for the wonderful work she is doing as Interim Lower School Principal.

I could not be more pleased with the outcome of our search process. Namita is a warm, smart, thoughtful and passionate person. The process to select Sharon’s successor was open to all members of the lower school community and included a number of representatives of the middle school, high school and Board of Trustees. Leading the search was a committee made up of almost half of the lower school faculty. This group was assisted by an ad hoc Parents Association Advisory Committee that acted as a liaison between the search committee and the parent body. Each of the four finalists, selected from a pool of 18 first round candidates who, in turn, were selected from the hundreds of resumes we received, met with a large number (over 50) of lower school parents, the advisory committee, Suzanne Cohen—lower school assistant principal, Mark Silberberg and Ruth Jurgensen—the middle and high school principals, a group of fourth graders, a number of trustees, the senior administrative team, the early kindergarten and the entire lower school faculty. After all four finalists had finished their marathon visit, we had a day devoted to gathering feedback from each of the aforementioned groups. This information was added to all that we had received earlier in the process. As our search drew to a close, the faculty committee and I spent many hours together evaluating our experiences with the four candidates and all that we had learned about these four educators and about the institution over the prior weeks and months.

As I stated earlier, I am so pleased that Namita will be joining us and am sure that when you have a chance to meet her you will be as impressed with her as those involved in the search are. I am equally thrilled with the process, described above, that brought Namita to us. So many people gave considerable time and thought to this effort. Members of the community gathered together in order to listen to, and learn from, each other. Questions were asked and answered, assumptions were tested and understandings were challenged. In the end I think that we all had a deeper understanding of LREI’s mission and of the essential role that the lower school holds in meeting these ends. As the process came to its successful conclusion, all involved felt renewed support for the institution’s belief that each voice—each point of view—has value. Decisions that consider the range of experience represented by the members of our community may be difficult and may create some dissonance. This is okay, however, as, even with this temporary discord, decisions made in an inclusive manner are inherently more productive and enriching for the community. Thank you to all for your honest, thoughtful and supportive participation.

Number 2-
Look out world, here we come! Our middle school robotics team is one of two teams from the U.S. that has been invited to participate in an international robotics competition in Tokyo later this spring. This team, coached by middle school teachers Sherezada Acosta and Carin Cohen, has done very well in each of the four years that it has been competing in the FIRST LEGO League Tournaments. Last year the team won the 3rd place Champions Award and the 1st place Team Work Award. Earlier this year, the senior team, made up of seventh and eighth graders, placed first out of all participating schools in Manhattan in the Robot Performance category. The rookie squad, made up of sixth graders, won the Champions Award. A few weeks ago the team was awarded the 5th place Robot Design Award in the All City Championship. The judges in the tournaments in which we have competed over the years have been impressed with how articulate and resourceful our students are as well as with how well the team members work together. It was for these reasons that they were chosen to represent the U.S. in the FIRST LEGO League Asian Open Championship. A tremendous amount of hard work awaits these students between now and late April when they take off for points east. We could not be prouder of the team and its coaches and look forward to hearing of their successes. Stay tuned, in the weeks to come, for more information on this exciting adventure.

Finally (I know I said two items), congratulations to our middle school boys’ basketball team on their 61-23 victory over the Browning School for the league championship earlier this week. Come out and watch the boys play in the opening game of the league’s end of season tournament on February 27th at the Thompson Street Athletic Center.

Exciting times,

Phil

 

* * *

A note about Valentine’s Day:
The month of February brings with it a number of holidays, including Valentine’s Day. I wanted to let you know how we acknowledge this day in school. A number of classes will make cards for a senior citizen organization called Visiting Neighbors. In other rooms teachers may mention the holiday, read a story and/or do a craft project. However, we will not be exchanging Valentine cards in school. Should your child wish to mail cards to classmates, this is, of course, a fine idea.

In this way, we’re able to maintain the current strong curricular momentum and avoid the hurt feelings that arise so frequently as cards are swapped, dropped, and misplaced during a schoolday.

On behalf of our faculty, I appreciate your understanding and cooperation,

Sharon

 

Please view our on-line Lower School gallery for great photo’s of recent events: http://lrei.org/photos/0708/ls.

 

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

* * *

A note about Metrocards from Mary Shea: The current student metrocards will expire on Friday, February 8th and I will distribute new cards on that day. The new cards will expire on June 26th, 2008.

* * *

Next week – February 11 through 15th – is the “Have a Heart/ Get a Heart” collection sponsored by the LREI Community Service Committee for the Room To Grow organization. We are collecting new and GENTLY used items (baby, toddler needs: clothing, equipment and books) for ages new born to 5 years old. We will be donating whatever we collect to a couple of different organizations in the NYC area. Donations can be left at the front desk. We will be giving a heart sticker to all who bring in donations next week. Please click here for a PDF flyer with more information: Room to Grow.

* * *

From Heidi – Please click here for an invitation to a morning meeting about teasing in second and third grades on February 28.

 

* * *

 

 

PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS

  • Wednesday, 2/13 – Friday, 2/15: LS ERB testing
  • Wednesday, 2/13 – 6:30PM: Parent SEED Mtg.
  • Thursday, 2/14 – 8:45AM: Adoption Committee Mtg.
  • Monday, 2/18 – Tuesday, 2/19: Presidents Weekend – School Closed
  • Wednesday, 2/20 – 8:45AM: LS POCOC Mtg.
  • Wednesday, 2/20 – Friday, 2/29: Visibility Photo Exhibit at 40 Charlton Street
  • Thursday, 2/21 – Friday, 2/22: LS Art Show
  • For an up-to-date, searchable all school calendar, please visit lrei.org/calendar

 

 

LOWER SCHOOL NOTES & ATTACHMENTS

  • Second grade: A letter from Tasha & Rebecca (0207-2ndTR).
  • Third grade: A letter from the third grade teachers(0207-3rd-letter).

Comments are closed.