Updates

From guest blogger Phil Kassen:

Dear LREI Families,

Below you will find a few messages and announcements. We hope that your families have relaxing long weekends and a nice time with family if you are observing the holiday. While the faculty is off on Thursday, Friday is a full day professional day for all. We will spend the day with a series of speakers and discussions focused on issues of socio-economic class, how they manifest themselves in society in general and at LREI. Should be an interesting conversation.

Best,
Phil

This Week’s Attachments
General:
MS Play Contract
MS Play Audition Scene
Eighth Grade:
Permission form to leave and reenter the building
DC Trip Registration Form
Seventh Grade:
Williamsburg Itinerary, Packing List and Permission Form
Permission form to leave and reenter the building
Fifth and Sixth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) Click here for important information for current families applying another child to LREI.

2) You are invited to join us to learn about the Annual Fund and the significant role it plays in the school’s operating budget. You can attend one of three sessions:

  • 6:00PM, Tuesday October 14th, Charlton Street library

Annual Fund co-chair Mindy Goldberg and LREI’s Director of Advancement Pippa Gerard will be available to answer any questions you may have. Please RSVP to Sandra Song in the Office of Advancement at 212-477-5316 x275 or via email at ssong@lrei.org.

3) Please read the attached letter from the PA Literary and Multicultural committees.

4) Click here to read an announcement for the Wednesday, October 15th “Learn Your Library” event sponsored by the Literary Committee.

5) From Chap, Director of Diversity & Community: 2008/2009 Parent SEED group — SEED (Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity) work invites the engagement of head, heart, and soul. Participants examine inner and outer ways in which systems bear on lives inside and outside of school. SEED work develops ways of understanding complex relations between self and system with regard to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability/disability and cultural experience. Our First Parent SEED Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 15th at 6PM, in the MS Art Room (Sixth Ave). Make a commitment to join LREI’s monthly SEED parent group. Click here for the commitment form. Contact Sandra (Chap) Chapman, Director of Diversity & Community at schapman@lrei.org or Peggy Peloquin at ppeloquin@lrei.org to learn more.

6) The Asian American Families Committee will host a potluck breakfast is on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 8:00AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria. A sign up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board near the receptionist.

7) From the Big Auction Committee: Save the Date!

LREI’s 2009 Big Auction
March 5, 2009 (Note our new date!)
The Metropolitan Pavilion, South Pavilion
128 West 18th Street
NYC 10011

Due to overwhelming feedback that we’ve received from the LREI community, the School will be hosting just one auction each school year on a trial basis for the next two years. The Big Auction will be held in March of 2009 and the Art Auction is scheduled to take place during the 2009-2010 school year. This week, you will be receiving a letter in the mail, along with a donation form. Our goal this year is to have every parent solicit one item for the auction…we hope that you will join us in realizing this goal! If you have any questions or would like to discuss a potential donation, please contact Jenn at jenn_espo@msn.com or Mamie at mamie.mcindoe@gmail.com. If you prefer, you can also contact the Office of Advancement. Pippa can be reached at 212-477-5316 x236 or pgerard@lrei.org, and Sandra at 212-477-5316 x275 or ssong@lrei.org. Thank you in advance for your support!

8) For updates on faculty performances, openings, presentations, and publications visit the Faculty in the News page on the school web site.

9) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2008-2009 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

  • November 11, 2008
    An Expert’s Guide to Negotiating the Prickly Points of the ‘Tween Years
    Temple Israel, 112 East 75th Street, 12:00-2:00 pm
    Speaker: Julie Ross, M.A., Executive Director and Founder of Parenting Horizons; Author of “Practical Parenting for the 21st Century: The Manual You Wish Had Come With Your Child” and “How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of ‘Tween Years”

For all grades . . .
1) It’s time for the Middle School play auditions! Auditions for this year’s Middle School The Snow Queen, will take place on Wednesday, October 15th. The Snow Queen is a tale of good and evil, of loyalty and commitment and of how powerful true friendship can be. When the Snow Queen passes through their village, Gerda’s best friend Kai’s eye and heart are pierced by shards of ice. In response, he quickly becomes mean and cold and the Snow Queen steals him away. Gerda spends the next year searching for her best friend. Will she reach him before the Snow Queen kills him? Who does she meet along the way? All are revealed by the play’s end.

All sixth through eighth grade students who wish to audition will need to bring with them a signed contract and a completed a schedule sheet on which all other after-school commitments are listed. The audition will require some preparation and student are asked to work on the attached audition piece. There are no cuts for children who are able to attend the auditions and regular rehearsals. Any fifth through eighth grade students who want to participate in a non-acting role and assist with sets, props and other areas of the technical side of theater should let Joanne know.

School Picture Day:

  • Students in grades 5-6 will have their pictures taken during the first week of November when Coffee Pond returns for makeups.
  • You will receive proofs in the mail directly from Coffee Pond and can choose which photograph you like best. All orders will be placed online using the Coffee Pond website. If you have any questions about ordering, you can email Coffee Pond at lifeguards@coffeepond.com or call 800.635.2323 between 9AM and 5PM on weekdays.

For Seventh and Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) Middle School chorus director Ledell Mulvaney is looking to start a vocal ensemble for seventh and eighth graders. If your child likes to sing, has participated in our chorus program in an earlier grade, or has participated in the Middle School musicals, please encourage them to attend. Ledell will be speaking with students about the time and location for the first meeting, which will take lace during the school day.

2) As outlined in the handbook, seventh and eighth graders who want to leave the building after dismissal and then return to use the library or lab must have a signed permission form. Click here to download the form.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) From Phil: I want to extend an invitation to you to join a tour of the High School this month. We are hosting two opportunities for eighth grade parents to tour our classrooms and see our students and teachers in action. Tours are Friday, October 17th and Monday, October 27th, and begin at 9AM. If you are unable to make one of these dates, please contact Director of Admissions Samantha Caruth at scaruth@lrei.org or at extension 305. Samantha can arrange a visit for a time that is more convenient for you. In addition to the morning tours, we also invite LREI eighth grade students and parents to attend the High School Open Houses. The open houses provide a forum for students and parents to speak directly with faculty and students about curriculum and program in the High School. The evening events are scheduled for Thursday, October 23rd and Monday, November 3rd. Both open houses will start at 6:30PM. We hope you will join us for one of these visits, and see the High School as the right next step for your son or daughter. Please don’t hesitate to contact Mark, Ruth or me with any questions.

2) While the trip to DC is not until the spring, please use the attached form to register your child for the trip. If you have questions about payment, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Please note the change in date: Our parent meeting for the upcoming Williamsburg trip will take place on Thursday, October 16th at 8:00AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Please read the attached itinerary,packing list and permission form and complete and bring in the permission form.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) On Tuesday, October 14th, the sixth grade will visit the Cloisters to view their Medieval collection. Students will need to bring a lunch on this day (no nuts, seeds, and glass bottles).

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Save the date: Please join us on Monday, October 20th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria for our Fifth Grade Math Breakfast. This event, which will be hosted by fifth grade math teacher Ana Chaney and Middle School math teachers Margaret Andrews and Michelle Boehm, will provide an excellent orientation to the structure of the fifth grade math program. You will have an opportunity to engage in a number of activities that will help you to better understand how instruction unfolds, to hear more about the program, and to ask questions.

2) On Thursday, November 13th, the fifth grade will visit the Met to view their Ancient Near East collection. Students will need to bring a lunch on this day (no nuts, seeds, and glass bottles).

===============For additional information, follow these links: ===============

  • View important middle school dates here.
  • View all events with the LREI On-line Calendar
  • LREI Athletics. For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
  • Click here to view the Middle School Photo Gallery.

A reminder that the individual homework blog and the “feeds” for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). These feeds provide an easy “one-click” solution to find out what has been assigned for homework. Keep in mind that a feed will only show what has been posted as of the time you check it.

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.

Be well,
Mark

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