News and notes, guest blog by Phil

As we enter the home stretch towards the end of the school year, we enter a time at LREI, and I imagine in most schools, when we see the results of the students’ hard work over the past eight months.  While this growth did not occur overnight, there is something about the spring that allows this development to shine.

I watched two members of our Fours class carry the attendance to Eileen at the reception desk the other morning.  If this had been September they would have walked nervously towards her not sure of what to do, where to go or how to get back to class. They likely would have been holding the one slim sheet of paper together, with four hands, as if the weight of the responsibility it represented was too heavy for any one mere mortal.  When our paths crossed this week, these rising Kindergarteners strolled down the hall, chatting away, handed Eileen the attendance and then skipped back to class.  They are fully at home in the school, confident of their abilities and a little full of themselves.  The fourth graders seem a little too big for the lower school as they write their original musical based on their study of immigration, ready to go to the new world of the middle school, while the fifth graders seem right at home there and are moving about the building on their own with none of the timidity displayed in the fall.  They are ready to welcome their replacements rising from the lower school and to stop being the youngest students in the brownstones.  At our weekly middle school assembly we watched the leads in the middle school musical perform for their division-mates. I remember when these two first stepped onto the stage, two years ago, as sixth graders.  Talented even then, yet nowhere near as self-assured nor as charming.  (Bugsy Malone, Jr. will be performed Friday at 7PM and Saturday at 2PM and 7PM, all in the Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street.)

In ninth grade English today, as the teacher checked in with each student to make sure the past evening’s assignment had been completed, the group discussed the growth in their ability to annotate a text.  Some students had developed their own method for doing this; others followed the teacher’s technique.  The teacher asked the class to reflect on where they are now, “Is this where you want to be in tenth grade?”  A great question and one that indicates expectations for each school year while acknowledging the ongoing, multi-year development that school holds for all students.

In classrooms throughout the school, we see evidence of all of the skills honed, content absorbed, talents fostered and a deepening of the students’ understanding of the world and their role in it.  Most excitedly, we watch the seniors come and go, as much members of our alumni body as they are high school students.  These young adults are prepared and ready to go.Another project that has blossomed this spring is the work on our expansion project in the Charlton Street building.  What was a hole in the ground is now clearly the foundation for our future Arts Pavilion.  The townhouse is becoming its former self and will be completely renovated and restored this summer.  Soon after work ends, the high school’s Science Lab B will receive its first ever renovation and the lobby of 40 Charlton Street will grow into its new, more mature self throughout the summer. We will also see newly renovated classrooms in the Sixth Avenue building when we return in the fall.  More on the growth and development of our spaces next month.

Best,

Phil

 

 

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

  • All grades: Please click here for the ‘at a glance’ calendar for the 2008-09 school year. Click here for the 2009-10 school calendar. To view photo galleries from all divisions of the school, click here.
  • Second grade: A letter from Tasha & Molly (0507-2TM-letter)

UPCOMING PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS

  • For the most up-to-date, searchable all school calendar, please visit www.lrei.org/calendar. Click here for the 2009-10 school calendar.
  • Friday, May 8 – 8:30am – Literary Committee Meeting
  • Friday, May 8 – 8:45am- Affinity Chairs Mtg.
  • Tuesday, May 12 – 6:00pm  – Dina’s 4th Grade Picnic
  • Wednesday, May 13 – 8:45am – 3rd Grade Assembly
  • Wednesday, May 13 – 6:00pm – Dot’s 3rd Grade Picnic
  • Thursday, May 14 – 8:45am  – What to expect in 3rd Grade
  • Friday, May 15 – 8:45am   – What to expect in 4th Grade

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Music Assemblies:

  • April 15th – First grade assembly
  • April 29th – Second grade assembly
  • May 13th – Third grade assembly (featuring recorders)
  • May 20th – Fourth grade original musical

 

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What to Expect: Please join us on the following mornings for discussions about moving on to the next grade level. All meetings will be held in the Bleecker street cafeteria.

  • What to expect in first grade – May 4 at 8:45am
  • What to expect in second grade – May 7 at 8:45am
  • What to expect in third grade – May 14 at 8:45am
  • What to expect in fourth grade – May 15 at 8:45am
  • What to expect in fifth grade – May 20 at 8am

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 LS class picnic schedule – All class picnics start at 6pm. Please contact your classroom parent representative to confirm the time, date and location for your class.

  •  Wed, May 6  – Alison’s 3rd Grade Picnic
  •  Tue, May 12  – Dina’s 4th Grade Picnic
  •  Wed, May 13  – Dot’s 3rd Grade Picnic
  •  Mon, May 18  – Rebecca’s 1st Grade Picnic
  •  Wed, May 20  – Gina’s 1st Grade Picnic
  •  Tue, May 26  – Colleen’s 2nd Grade Picnic
  •  Wed, May 27  – Jamie’s 1st Picnic
  •  Thu, May 28  – Tasha’s 2nd Grade picnic
  •  Mon, Jun 1  – Luise’s K’s Grade Picnic
  •  Wed, Jun 3  – Crystal’s K Picnic
  •  Mon, Jun 8  – Diane’s EK Picnic
  •  Tue, Jun 9  – Fours Picnic
  •  Wed, Jun 10  – Kate’s 4th Picnic

 

 

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Save The Dates:  The 2009 LREI Camping Trip will take place the weekend of June 5- 6- 7 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River, about 15 miles North of the Delaware Water Gap.  Students and their families may camp Friday and/or Saturday night.  Sign-up tables will be in front of the Sixth Avenue entrance on the mornings of Monday, May 11 and Wednesday, May 27.   The cost is $30 per adult and $20 per child.  Payment can be by cash, check, credit card. or PayPal.  For more information, click here.

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LS Library Blog update: A note about what’s going on in Early Childhood library as the year winds down. Click here to read all about it!

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Marriage Equality Update: America has struggled in the past with civil rights issues about the  basic values of love, commitment, fairness, and freedom. Today’s civil  rights conversation is about gay and lesbian families (and their  children), who need and deserve the tangible and intangible rights and  privileges that come with the ability to marry. The time has come to  take action to help all families obtain equal marriage protection in New York State. Marriage equality legislation has been introduced in  NY (A07732) and will be decided in the coming weeks. Freedom to marry  would assure that everyone in the state, regardless of sexual  orientation, is treated equally under the law, and that the American  values of fairness, freedom, and choice are upheld.

Do something today! Help your friends, family and community members in  the fight for civil rights. Please write, phone and email your public  officials. And please pass this flyer (PDF) on to everyone!

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