Black History Month

Dear Families:

On Wednesday, we had our annual Black History Month Assembly. The assembly provided students with an opportunity to reflect on and present to the middle school community about their insights related to the contributions that African-Americans and the African-American experience have made to the fabric of American life. The assembly opened with a community singing of “Wade in the Water” and was followed by the 5th Grade classes who presented a “Chain of Kindness” inspired by the ideas of Martin Luther King and shared poetry based on Langston Hughes’s “The Dream Keeper.” The 7th Grade class presented reflections that were inspired by illustrations by Tom Feelings on the Middle Passage and the 8th Grade shared poems by Langston Hughes (“Theme for English B” and “I, too Sing America“) and by Jean Toomer (“People“). Members of the Students of Color group treated us to a dance presentation and Melissa and Susan shared a presentation on African-American artists. We concluded with a community singing of “Honey in the Rock.” To continue the spirit of Black History Month into March, other presentations, including those by the 6th grade, will be given at upcoming middle school meetings. The following link, provides a variety of rich resources to continue this important exploration at home.

Follow-up: Please make sure you take a moment to view the photographs and video from the recent middle school robotics team competition.

Reminder: When students stay after school to work on projects, they must do so under the supervision of a faculty member. It is best when students let their teachers know in advance that they would like to stay late to finish work. In most cases, teachers are glad to provide this supervision. However, if the teacher needs to leave and no other teacher is willing to provide supervision, the student must either leave the building if they have permission to do so, or they may go to the library to continue working or to wait to be picked up. If the library is not open, students should wait in the lobby on the bench by reception. Students should not be in classrooms unattended. Please discuss these expectations with your child; if you have any questions about this policy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This Week’s Attachments
(Click on the links below to open the attachments. If you are having trouble opening the links, go to http://www.columbia.edu/~mis14/ to access the files.)

General:
8th Grade:
7th Grade:
Colonial Museum Update
6th Grade:
5th Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) Should this evening’s snow storm necessitate the closing of school tomorrow, you will be notified by phone and by email.

2) Students who missed section of the ERB will have the opportunity to make those sections up tomorrow and on Monday.

3) Reminder: From Middle School Dean of Co-Curricular Programs Gabrielle Keller: Important collection dates — Pennies for Patients runs through Tuesday, March 15th. Project Cicero dates are March 7th through March 10th.

For 8th Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For 7th Grade Families . . .
1) Reminder: Please read the attached letter from Matthew and Noni about the March 3rd Colonial Museum exhibit and potluck.

For 6th Grade Families . . .
1) From Melissa, Jeff, and Jennifer: Tomorrow, the 6th grade will be taking a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While at the museum, we will view the Arms and Armor collection. Students will participate in observing, writing and sketching activities. We will leave LREI at approximately 11:30 to meet our 12:30 appointment. We will return to school at around 3:00. Please be sure your child brings a bag lunch to school.

2) As the March 16th Medieval Pageant approaches, please note the following: In the next few days, a sign-up sheet for the potluck will be posted in the lobby. Students should be at school by 5:30PM to get into their costumes for the evening. Parents are invited to tour the exhibits starting at 5:45PM and the performance will begin promptly at 6:30PM. Following the performance, we will retire to the castle cafeteria for the potluck dinner.

For 5th Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

Looking Ahead . . .
On the LREI web site additional information about upcoming events can be found at http://www.lrei.org/caleven/index.html (the middle school events page can be found at http://www.lrei.org/midschool/Events.html)

  • Thursday, February 24th from 6:30PM — 5th Grade Parent Adolescent Issues evening
  • Friday, February 25th — LS Art Show
  • Friday, February 25th – 6th Grade to the Met (arms and armor exhibit)
  • Monday, February 28th from 6:30PM — 6th/7th Grade Parent Adolescent Issues evening
  • Tuesday, March 1st, 8:00AM — Sports Comm. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, March 2nd, 5:30PM — Enrollment & Marketing Comm. Mtg.
  • Thursday, March 3rd, 8:00AM — Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance Mtg.
  • Thursday, March 3rd, 6:00PM – 7th Grade Colonial Museum Exhibit
  • Thursday, March 3rd, 6:00PM — Development Comm. Mtg.
  • Friday, March 4th, 7:00PM – HS Play
  • Saturday, March 5th, 7:00PM – HS Play
  • Wednesday, March 9th, 8:45AM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg., 6th Ave. caf
  • Friday, March 11th, 8:30AM — Multicultural Comm. Mtg.
  • Friday, March 11th, 8:30AM — Lit.Comm.Mtg.
  • Monday, March 14th, 9:00AM — Comm.Serv.Mtg.
  • Tuesday, March 15th, 8:15AM — MS Par. Rep. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, March 16th, 8:45 — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg. w/Phil 6th Ave. caf
  • Wednesday, March 16th, 6:30PM— Medieval Pageant
  • Thursday, March 17th, 5:00PM — HR Comm. Mtg.
  • Thursday, March 17th — Departure for 8th Grade trip to Spain
  • Friday, March 18th — Spring Vacation – school closes at noon (4s-1st gr. 11:45)
  • Friday, March 18th — Founder’s Day

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and interesting information – http://www.lrei.org.

Be well,
Mark

To view the attached .pdf files, please download Adobe Reader, if you do not already have it. Click on the following link or paste it into your browser: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

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