May 21, 2009

Educating the Whole Child

Dear Families:

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend The Middle School Awards this past Tuesday evening. The number of students involved in extracurricular activities and the diversity of these activities was inspiring. There is no doubt that these opportunities, which challenge students to think and learn in powerful ways, play an important role in helping us to fulfill our mission of educating the whole child. As with all endeavors, these experiences are not without their own obstacles (being over-matched by an opposing team, struggling to get the harmonies just right, having to adapt materials to meet a robotics challenge). However, when we see our students pushing themselves to do their best for themselves and for the team/group, the opportunities for learning are self-evident. These programs also provide students with the opportunity to “bump” into a new passion or to deepen a commitment to an area of interest and strength. Through our extracurricular programs, students with varied prior experiences and abilities regularly come together under the guidance of experienced teacher leaders to support each other as they work to be their best selves. I hope that this year’s Awards Night sparked some new areas of interest for students and faculty alike. I look forward to future evenings where we are able to come together as a community to celebrate this important work.

Following on the heels of Awards Night, we were treated to a preview of this evening’s Spring Concert by the the Little Red Singers, the Little Red Ensemble and the Middle School Jazz band. Click on the player below for some samples of the vocal and musical offerings that we enjoyed.

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On a related note, I write to you with some exciting news about our plans for the middle school performing arts program. While these changes will primarily impact seventh and eighth grade students, they will also have some important programmatic implications for fifth and sixth grade students. In brief, beginning next year, seventh and eighth graders will take a performing arts elective in lieu of their current twice-a-week general music class and once-a-week drama class. Elective offerings will include instrumental music, vocal music, drama and dance. In addition, we will offer a formal jazz band program for fifth and sixth grade students and a brass and woodwind morning instrumental class for beginners. More specific details follow.

Currently, seventh and eighth graders have a general music class that meets twice a week and a drama class that meets once a week. Both of these are year-long classes. Beginning next year, seventh and eighth graders will have the opportunity to participate in an exciting performing arts elective program in which students will have the chance over the two-year sequence to take instrumental music, vocal music, drama and dance classes. Because we believe that opportunities to explore all four of these areas are important to the artistic development of all students, the program will be structured to provide focused study in at least one of these areas and an introduction to the other three. In addition, seventh and eighth grade students will participate in the elective classes together. We think this is good for the community and for building program continuity (i.e., after the first year, there will be experienced students in some of the electives who can help new students as mentors and to reinforce norms and expectations).

To accomplish this, students will take a year-long major course that will meet twice a week and two semester-long minor courses that will meet once a week. Over the course of the two year sequence students will be expected to take classes in all four performing arts areas through the combination of their major and minor classes. Please note that:

Instrumental music majors will be expected to have had some prior experience playing a musical instrument and this ensemble will perform as the MS Jazz Band at our annual fall and spring concerts.
Vocal music majors will study a range of genres and styles, but will not be expected to join the official MS chorus.
Drama majors will explore the many varied aspects of stagecraft and will be encouraged, but not required to participate in the Middle School play and musical.
Dance majors will not be expected to have had any prior formal dance training and will be expected to be active participants in all dance and choreography activities.

All seventh and eighth grade students will be expected to participate in a spring MS Arts Celebration evening in their major area. The minor classes will share their work at the end of each semester at our regular Wednesday Middle School meetings.Middle school music teacher Matt McLean will teach the instrumental music class, lower school music teacher Ledell Mulvaney will teach the vocal music classes and middle school drama teacher Joanne Magee will teach the drama classes. We are still in the process of identifying a teacher for the dance program. When we discuss these changes with current sixth and seventh grade students, we will ask them to give us a general sense of their likely first choice for their major class. These choices will not be binding, but will help us in our planning. In the fall, students will learn more about the major choices and will have one or two sessions during which they can make changes so that students end up in major class to which they are fully committed. More detailed course descriptions will be available at the start of the year.

By moving the Jazz Band into the elective period, we will be able to offer an instrumental ensemble program for fifth and sixth graders who already play a musical instrument. This ensemble will meet during our regular Friday Activity Period. Matt will also work with this group during occasional IWP periods and mornings. This ensemble will perform at Middle School meetings and at the Arts Celebration evening. In addition, we will offer a once-a-week morning program for students interested in learning to play brass or woodwind instruments. Families will need to rent or buy an instrument to participate in this program. In instances where this cost might prevent an interested student from participating, the school will provide an instrument on loan. The Middle School chorus will continue to meet during the school day and will continue to be open to students in grades five through eight. These changes will also provide an opportunity for us to look at the fifth and sixth grade general music program so that we can continue to strengthen its focus on community singing, musical literacy including composition and performance and integration with the core curriculum.

I hope that you are as excited about these changes as we are. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Of General Interest . . .

1) Save The Dates: The 2009 LREI Camping Trip will take place the weekend of June 5-7 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 , Friday, May 22, 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.

2) I would again like to thank this year’s Middle School Parent Representatives for their hard work on your behalf in helping to make the Middle School the vibrant learning community that it is. If you are interested in continuing as a rep next year or would like to volunteer to serve as rep for the 2009-2010 school year, please let Fung Lee know. You can email Fung at lee.funglee@gmail.com. Also, each year the Parents Association asks its members to vote on a slate of officers and representatives for the following school year. Attached is the ballot for electing Parent Association Officers for the 2009-2010 school year. All parents/guardians of LREI students are members of the association and are encouraged to vote. Ballots can also be mailed to the school, please address them to Parents Association Elections. You can print out the attachment or pick up a hard copy of the ballot from the Reception Desk at either the Sixth Avenue or Charlton Street buildings. Ballots need to be returned by Tuesday, June 9th.

3) Plan for a fantastic summer at the LREI Institute! Click the links below for a full listing of the workshops offered in each session: Session 1: June 22-July 3; Session 2: July 6-July 17; Session 3: July 20-July 31. You may register online by going to summers.lrei.org and following the “Register” tab on the right to “Register Now.” Click here for information on program fees. You may contact the Summers at LREI office at 212-477-5316 ext. 506 or by email at cfriesen@lrei.org.

4) From the LREI Lesbian, Gay and Straight Alliance (LGSA): 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 on to everyone! Click here for additional information about how you can get involved.

5) Red is Green Committee Updates:

May will be our last recycling drive for the LREI school year. During the month of May we are teaming up with the Community Service Committee. We will be collecting and recycling travel size toiletries. These items will be donated to the Outreach Program at St. Francis Xavier Church on West 15th Street. We need the following UNUSED travel size toiletries: soaps, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream and razors. These items will be given out free primarily to homeless individuals who come to the church where they are offered food, clothing and toiletries.
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).

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

7) 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/.

For All Grades . . .
1) Tomorrow, Friday, May 22nd, we will hold our annual Field Day and Senior Appreciation at Pier 40. We’re looking forward to an exciting day! School will close at 1:00PM on this day. Click here for buddy t-shirt colors and additional information.

2) A message from librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan: Please keep in mind that as in years past, circulation in the Sixth Avenue library will end on Monday, June 1. This means that we will no longer check books out so that we can prepare the library for our annual inventory of the collection. Please do your very best to return any and all library materials during this week so the librarians can shelve them before starting inventory. This inventory is crucial to maintaining the integrity of our holdings and making sure that what is on our shelves matches what is in our computer catalog. Students and parents can continue to use the library space, computers and materials for independent reading or small group work during this time. If you have any questions or concerns about these procedures, please do not hesitate to speak to me.

3) On Friday, June 5th, the Middle School students will attend our High School Graduation Ceremony held at New York University. Please note that this is not an early dismissal day for Middle School students. Students will leave the Sixth Avenue building at about 12:45PM. At the graduation, Middle School students will be recognized for their hard work, completion of their current grade and their movement to the next and will join in the celebration of the accomplishments of the seniors as they move on to the next phase in their education. As this is a very special occasion, we ask that students dress appropriately—no jeans, no printed T-shirts, shirts with collars and shoes are preferable. After graduation, the students will return to the Sixth Avenue buildings by 3:15PM.

4) Just a heads up that the annual End-of-Year Middle School dance will take place on Friday, June 5th (not the 15th as indicated on the Art calendar). The dance will start at 6:00PM and pizza and ice cream will be provided.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) Please join is on Tuesday, June 9th, at 6:00PM in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for the Science Exploratorium. This culminating event will afford students an opportunity to share with you the fruits of their independent research on key science concepts that were explored throughout the year.

2) Mark your calendar: Eighth Grade Pre-Moving Up Party, Friday, June 12, 2009. Please arrive by 6:00PM for the Potluck Dinner and Recognition Program, which will be followed by dancing until 9:00PM. The event will take place in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. Please note that due to space consideration, we ask that attendance at this event be limited to parents/guardians and their eighth grader. Additional details from your parent reps will follow.

3) The Moving Up Assembly/Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 16th, in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. The assembly will start promptly at 9:00AM and will run until about 10:30AM. Given space constraints we ask that only immediate family members attend (that being said, if there are extenuating circumstances please contact me directly). Immediately following the assembly, the eighth graders will return to their classroom and parents will exit out the Bleecker Street doors and gather by the steps in front of Sarah’s classroom. The rest of the Middle School community will exit the building from the Sixth Avenue side and then join families by the steps. When all are assembled, the eighth graders will receive their certificates and process one-by-one down the steps.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) The seventh grade potluck breakfast and Constitution Works has been rescheduled for Friday, June 12th. The breakfast will begin at 8:00AM in the seventh grade classrooms. Following the potluck, we will leave for Constitution Works program at 9:15AM, which will be conducted at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Parents are encouraged to attend this exciting event. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1 ) The annual sixth grade poetry and potluck breakfast will take place on Tuesday, June 9th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast.

For Sixth and Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Intramural Softball News: Playoffs will be held on Tuesday, May 26th, and Thursday, May 28th, at JJ Walker Field. Congratulations to Team 2, who finished in first place during the regular season! Team 1 will play Team 3 on Tuesday and the winner will play Team 2 on Thursday. The Parents versus Kids game will be played on Tuesday, June 2nd at JJ Walker field. Awards will be given out at the end of the game. JJ WALKER FIELD is located on the corner of Hudson and Clarkson Street (click here for a map). Thank you to all the parents, players and coaches for all of your help this season! GO KNIGHTS!!

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Our annual Grecian Festival will take place on the evening of Wednesday, June 10th at 6:00PM. From 6:00-6:30PM, you are invited to view students’ robotics projects in the computer lab and in the science lab. At 6:30PM, we will convene in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for a dramatic presentation, which will be followed by the fifth grade potluck in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Your class reps will be contacting you about the potluck.

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

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