The School Year Brings New Chances to Experiment

“The teacher must be a coordinator. The children are experimenting…what they want is a rich environment and a sympathetic critique.”
–Elisabeth Irwin, LREI founder and progressive educator

Dear Parents,

For the eldest lower school students it is the sixth day of school today. For the younger ones, that is harder to say, and especially if your child has been “phasing in,” you may not precisely agree with that count. Officially though, it is the sixth day, and already the children are “experimenting,” and I think Elisabeth Irwin would like that.

In art class on the very first day for instance, I observed (well, actually, I participated with!) third graders making their own huge art folders to contain their year’s work. Sounds like mundane start of school business? The students were experimenting! With color, with form, with shape, with pattern, with their fine motor control, with mistakes and how you work with them, with imagination. A useful and introductory activity, cutting out block letters of one’s own name and then designing other elements for the cover. Their expert “coordinator,” Ann Schaumburger our art teacher, created an opportunity to experiment by providing the environment, guiding with encouragement, and leaving the way open for each child to explore their own ideas.

We look forward to a school year full of both experimenting and leaving the way open for children to explore their ideas.

Finally, on this day of 9/11 remembrance, I would like to let you know that teachers marked the day with the symbol of a white rose in each lower school classroom. Having the flower there may lead to conversation. Teachers seek, as is wise on this occasion, to balance the remembrance with respect for children’s developmental needs and levels of awareness.

Warmly,
Namita

Dates and Information for Parents

Lower School Curriculum Nights – please mark your calendar for these important nights when you’ll hear from teachers about the program in your child’s classroom. See you there!

  • Fours through First Grade – Thursday, October 2nd, 6:00PM
  • Second through Fourth Grade – Tuesday, October 7th, 6:00PM

Lower School Parent Coffees
To get to know parents better and have informal conversation, we have been hosting Lower School Coffees for parents. You can meet Namita, your principal, and Dawn, Acting LS Assistant Principal. There are two coffee times still upcoming this month. We’ll meet in the cafeteria from 8:45 to 9:30 am. Please join us if you are available:
Monday Sept 15 – we’ll be joined by Roberta Rubien the new LS psychologist
Wednesday Sept 17 – just Dawn and Namita.

2nd-4th Grade Friday Morning Meeting
Tomorrow morning at 8:30, we begin our Friday morning meeting with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. This is a weekly community-building time for all these students to be together. We sing, we talk, we share what we’re learning. Please ask your 2nd – 4th grader to come upstairs to the Big Room on Fridays promptly at 8:30.

3rd & 4th Grade Farm Trips
We apologize once again for the confusion caused by the mis-print in the art calendar. The following are the correct meeting and trip dates.

  • Third Grade Farm Informational Meeting: Thursday, October 2, 8:00 a.m.
  • Third grade Trips:
    • Dot, Ana, and Lisa’s Farm Trip: October 14th – 17th
    • Alison, Becka, and Lisa’s Farm Trip: October 21 – 24
  • Fourth Grade Trips:
    • Kate and Anne’s Farm Trip: October 14th – 17th
    • Dina’s and Patrick’s trip: October 21 – 24

Mornings at LREI
Thank you so much for your patience in the hallway in the mornings, and for following the signs that ask us all to wait until 8:30 am to go upstairs to our classrooms. Teachers use this quiet early morning time to meet together, to plan, and to prepare.

If you need your child to arrive quite early to school on a regular basis, please make use of the Early Bird Program. Early bird provides caring supervision, time to sit and talk or play a quiet game, from 7:45 am to 8:30 am in our cafeteria. To use Early Bird on a drop-in basis, just contact the Afterschool office at ext. 239. This link will give you more information on Early Bird: http://lrei.org/afterschool/earlybird.html

Recommended by our librarians…
Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, September 14th. LREI librarians recommend students and families check out speaker panels in the Youth category — some great authors will be speaking! Full details can be found at: http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/

New Teacher Orientation
This August all new teachers in all three divisions met for three wonderful days of interactive LREI faculty orientation. The time was filled with LREI history, campus basics, discussions about teaching and learning, getting to know one another, and even a field trip. Please join me in welcoming all our new teachers this year.

 

Welcome to our New Teachers at LREI School Year 08-09

 

 

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

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From the Office of Advancement: Please see attached invitation to our Building for Action announcement, an essential moment in the future of the school, on September 24 at 6:00pm. We hope you will be able to attend (click here).

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Check in with the Lower School Library Blog every first and third Tuesday of the month for reading choices, reviews and more library-oriented information and fun. You can bookmark the address (http://blog.lrei.org/lslibrary/) and check back often for updates.

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UPCOMING PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS

  • 9/15, 8:45AM: LS Parent Coffee with Namita
  • 9/17, 8:45AM: LS Parent Coffee with Namita
  • 9/22, 6PM : PA Welcome Fair
  • 9/23, 8:45AM: LS POCOS Meeting
  • 9/24, 8AM: PA Welcome Fair
  • 9/25, 8:45AM: Adoption Committee Meeting
  • For an up-to-date, searchable all school calendar, please visit lrei.org/calendar

 

 

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LOWER SCHOOL NOTES & ATTACHMENTS
(click on the links below to view and print information from teachers and specialists.)

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