Spring Has Sprung

From guest blogger Phil Kassen:

Dear LREI Families,

Welcome back.  I hope that you had a relaxing Spring Break, whether here in NYC or away.  It was such a pleasure to welcome your children back to school on Monday and to see how relaxed and rested they were.  We are expecting great things from them in the months to come.

So here it is, the first day of April (I am writing this note on Wednesday so that the blog gets out on time) and as advertised we are having April showers.  Whether or not these sprinkles bring May flowers remains to be seen.  However, one thing that is definitely growing and blooming is our college list.  Over the past couple of weeks, and continuing for a few weeks more, our seniors are, and will be, receiving affirmation of four years of hard work and success.  The acceptances received this month are the culmination of a college process that lasts for over two years.  Working with our college counselor, Amy Shapiro, students identify their interests, investigate options, plan their application process and get to work.  Juniors spend two trimesters in a class devoted to the college process and seniors spend considerable time during the first half of their twelfth grade year moving ever closer to the day when they will decide where they will spend the next four years.

Our seniors apply to a wide variety of schools and make choices based on academic interests, distance from home and financial concerns to name but a few of a tremendous number of variables.  Some students choose to apply to small liberal arts schools similar to the high school where they spent the past four years, colleges such as Bard, Oberlin, Wesleyan, Gettysburg, Williams, Vassar, Hamilton and Occidental.  Other students apply to schools that match their specific interests-the Art Institute of Chicago, Polytechnic University of NYU and Rochester Institute of Technology.  Foreign universities call out to some students with their promise of cultural challenges along with the academic ones.  This year, these schools include, St. Andrew’s in Scotland, Montreal’s McGill University and American University in Paris.  Still other students decide that they need larger universities, public and private, in New York and beyond—NYU, SUNY New Paltz, Georgetown, Boston University, the University of Indiana at Bloomington, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Duke, Harvard, Brown and Cornell.  Each of the schools named here has accepted at least one member of our twelfth grade.  This list is quite incomplete and does not represent our pride in each senior.  I look forward to sending home an initial acceptance list very soon and a complete list of acceptances in the next few weeks.  You will be thrilled when you see the complete list. I know you join me in congratulating the members of the class of 2009.   Seniors, we are so proud of you!

One final note, at the same time that we are celebrating the seniors’ successes, the juniors are preparing to leave on their first group college visit tomorrow morning. The process begins again.

Best,
Phil

From Mark:

Each year, our students studying French participate in the National French Contest. We have just received the sixth grade results and I’m please to report that eight students (Georgia, Julia, Katya, Lola, Marcelo, Michelle, Odelia and Olivia) placed in the top percentage group. This allows them to participate in the oral part of the exam. They will also be awarded prizes by the National Association of Teachers of French at a ceremony to take place later in the Spring. Well done!

Of General Interest . . .

1) A message from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community: Bring The Conversation Home — Strategies for addressing challenging diversity topics your child brings home — Socioeconomic Class Part III. Join us for the last parent diversity discussion of the year. Monday April 6, 8:45-10:00AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria. Click here to view the flyer.

2) Hall Auction: Don’t miss out–you still have a chance to bid on great auction items!  You can choose from: a week-long vacation in Oaxaca, Mexico; cupcakes and conversation with Atoosa Rubinstein, former editor-in-chief of Cosmo Girl and Seventeen magazines for your child and up to 19 of her/his friends; 4 VIP tickets to the 2009 Great Night in Harlem Concert at the Apollo Theater; fashionable apparel for women and men; and much more.  Head over to the bulletin boards in the lobby of the Sixth Avenue building to start bidding!

2) Red is Green Committee Updates:

  • Save the date: Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. Information about LREI’s First Annual Earth Day Celebration for lower and middle school kids, which will take place from 2:45-4:00pm in the Sixth Avenue auditorium, will be forthcoming.
  • And don’t forget to check out Lets Go Green’s website for eco-friendly water bottles, garbage bags, light bulbs, paper goods etc. LREI receives 25% of all sales as profit. Thanks for all your help. Start collecting and keep recycling!
  • If you have any questions or suggestions, please email the Red is Green committee (lhommen@hotmail.com or kbeck2@nyc.rr.com).

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

8) 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/.

This Week’s Attachments
General:
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Fifth Grade:
Sixth Grade:

For All Grades . . .
1) Thinking ahead? Join us for the High School Preview Night on Tuesday, April 7th at 6:30pm in the Charlton Street Library. This is a wonderful opportunity for Middle School and Lower School parents to learn more about the High School program from parents and students. We hope to see you there! RSVP to Samantha Caruth, Director of Admissions, at 212-477-5316 ext. 305, scaruth@lrei.org.

2) Mark your calendars: Just a heads up that the MS Art Show is scheduled for Thursday, April 30th and Friday, May 1st. The Art Show is a wonderful opportunity to explore the impressive art work that middle schoolers have created so far this year.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) Please check out music teacher Matt McLean’s blog for an update on the current music class project.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Please check out music teacher Matt McLean’s blog for an update on the current music class project.

2) Monday, April 13th from 6:30PM to 8:00PM: Adolescent Issues Parent Evening

3) The seventh grade class with take it’s annual trip to Philadelphia to visit the National Constitution Center and key historic sites  on Thursday, April 23rd. We will leave at 7AM. Additional information will be forthcoming from Matthew and Victor.

4) Our annual High School Arts Festival, is scheduled for May 1st and our seventh graders participate in this exciting event. The Arts Festival is a day dedicated to art during which visiting artists run workshops with students.  Students take a three hour class in the morning led by the artists, which gives students the opportunity to focus on one area of interest.  In the afternoon there is an assembly where performing arts workshops can present and perform and special guest performers inspire. This is a wonderful day for art and for the seventh graders to get a taste of the high school experience.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Please check out music teacher Matt McLean’s blog for an update on the current music class project.

2) Monday, April 13th from 6:30PM to 8:00PM: Adolescent Issues Parent Evening

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Please check out music teacher Matt McLean’s blog for an update on the current music class project.

2) Tuesday, April 14th from 6:30PM to 8:00PM: Adolescent Issues Parent Evening

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

  • View important middle school dates here.
  • View all events with the LREI On-line Calendar
  • Click here to see the 2009-2010 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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