Joyful Celebration

From guest blogger Phil Kassen:

Dear LREI Community,

Happy New Year and welcome back for LREI 2010!  It was fun to greet your children on Tuesday.  The students were excited to see their friends and teachers and to begin classes again, while at the same time it seemed to be a little bit of a challenge for them to leave the restful habits of Winter Break behind.

On Monday, the faculty gathered for our second colleague led professional day. Much of the day was spent in workshops that allowed teachers to engage in conversations with colleagues from all three divisions about a variety of topics—gender issues in education, learning to draw, the architecture of NYC, math in everyday life and Flash animation, for example—while examining how to have the teaching and learning of these topics, and others, meet the progressive mission of the school.  It was an energizing day and a joyful celebration of the school and our talented faculty.

On Friday, January 22nd, the Parents Association’s Multicultural Committee will present Karamu!, our annual multicultural celebration.  (Karamu means “joyful celebration” in Swahili.)  The evening begins with a delicious potluck supper in the Charlton Street cafeteria.  If past years are any indication, dinner will present a tremendous range of enticing offerings from families in all three divisions, representing a range of cultures and tastes.  Following dinner, attendees will be treated to a series of performances reflecting a variety of artistic traditions. This year’s performers include a Latin alternative band, West African drummers, Irish dancers and our annual multi-culti dance party.  My favorite part of Karamu is that it illustrates the importance of exploring those traditions—culinary and artistic—that are unique to specific cultures while also reinforcing those values shared by all cultures—a need to connect with each other, food as a cultural messenger and the arts as a center of celebrations.  How are we the same and how do we differ—together these questions allow us to better understand others and ourselves.

Sign up sheets to help produce Karamu! will be posted in the Sixth Avenue lobby in the coming days, as will sheets to sign up to contribute to the potluck. If you would like to sign up and do not visit the buildings often, you can email Juliet Burrows at julietburrows@mac.com or Holly Glass at hcritch@earthlink.net.  Tickets will go on sale on Tuesday, January 19th.  I hope to see you at Karamu!

Best,

Phil

P.S. If your contact information—address, phone numbers, email addresses—has changed since we distributed the directory in September, please contact Mary Shea, mshea@lrei.org, as she is preparing an updated directory for distribution in the coming weeks.  Thanks.

Of General Interest . . .
1) Afterschool Spring Registration Information – The deadline to register for Afterschool is tomorrow, Friday January 8. Here are the links for the Winter-Spring 2010 Registration Materials: Instrumental – Registration, Instrumental – Bios, Core Afterschool – Registration, Core Afterschool – Descriptions.  The materials have also been e-mailed to all Lower School and Middle School families, and are available on the school’s website. Registration forms are being processed on a first come, first served basis through Friday, January 8th.

2) Save the Date for Karamu! Friday January 22nd… Karamu! is LREI’s annual multicultural event of music, dance, and food celebrating the diversity of our school and community. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 19th… Karamu! always sells out; get your tickets early (discounted tickets available – contact Juliet Burrows: julietburrows@mac.com). We need food and volunteers! …Sign up boards will be in the 6th Avenue Lobby – please volunteer and join this wonderful community building event. If you would like to solicit a donation of food or wine from a restaurant or business please use this letter and forward information to Juliet.

3) New LREI Event–Many of you have asked about the yellow “Stir the Pot” postcards that you received in recent days. We wanted to whet your appetite and to be sure that you mark your calendars for LREI’s Spring tasting event called “Stir the Pot: Taste of the Future.” You won’t want to miss the chance to meet and mingle with other parents and enjoy great food–Thursday, May 13th in the Charlton Street campus. The next committee planning meeting will be held on Tuesday January 12 at 8:45am in the cafeteria at Sixth Avenue. We would like to have as many volunteers as possible and hope that you will join in making this a wonderful LREI evening. You can let us know by contacting Jenn Esposito (jenn_espo@msn.com), Ceci Van Blerkom (cloebl@gmail.com), or Maude Kebbon in the Office of Advancement (mkebbon@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, ext. 232).

4) Please read the attached letter from the Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance committee about the upcoming Visibility exhibit.

5) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • During the month of January we will be recycling holiday and greeting cards. These cards will be donated to St. Jude’s Ranch. No photo cards please. For more information click here. Also during the month of January you can bring in your wrapping paper scraps. These scraps will be used to decorate the school for Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day. Look for the box in the lobby after the holidays.
  • Mulchfest 2010: Recycle your Christmas Tree at NYC Parks Jan 9-10, 2010. Click here for more information on where you can drip off your tree in the 5 boroughs. Alternatively, you can put your tree outside with your regular garbage for recycling. Clean, non-bagged Christmas trees that are left at the curb will be recycled into compost. Pickup dates are Monday, January 4th through Friday, January 15th.
  • For more details about our monthly recycling drives and Go Green to School dates, please click Red is Green PA Page.

6) The LREI Cookbook Committee is working on creating a LREI community cookbook. The theme of the cookbook is potlucks. If you have any recipes that you would like to submit for consideration, please send them to cookbook@lrei.org. Also, if you are interested in participating in the creation of the cookbook, email Kathryn Kellinger at kksidedish@aol.com or Susie Marples at susiemarples@yahoo.com

7) Click here to access the new LREI on-line photo gallery.

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 – http://www.parentsinaction.org/). 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. Click here to view upcoming events and/or to download their calendar.

For All Grades . . .
1)A reminder that you can access teachers’ blogs by following the “Digital Classroom” link on the sidebar.

2) Read about our Middle School sports teams and game summaries at http://lrei.org/athletics/news.htm.

3) Just a reminder that the Middle School dance is scheduled for Friday, January 29th (check). The dance will start at 6:30PM for fifth graders and at 7:00PM for sixth through eighth graders. The dance will end at 8:30PM for fifth and sixth graders and at 9:00PM for seventh and eighth graders. Permission slips will go out the week of the dance.

As part of our on-going community service initiatives, this year we are partnering with the organization GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS (http://www.gettingtoolstocityschools.org/home), which seeks to procure and deliver free basic school supplies to low-income public schools in New York City. To support their on-going efforts, we are encouraging students who attend the dance on Friday to bring in one or more of the following school supply items:

    • * 1.5″-2″ three-ring binders
    • * pocket dividers (sets of 5)
    • * pencil pouch (three-hole to be used in binder)
    • boxes of pens
    • boxes of pencils
    • lined paper packs

*most needed

GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS was started by a former LREI parent. This Friday’s dance will be one of several opportunities that will take place over the course of the year in which LREI students will support the group’s work. This service relationship is also connected to our reading and on-going discussions about Three Cups of Tea; our work with GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS reinforces the value of education and the need for activism to ensure that all children have access to quality schools and materials.

4) Please read the attached letter from the Middle School math teachers regarding prep for the upcoming ERBs, which are scheduled for February 9-11.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) A reminder that final payments for the DC trip are due on February 18th. If you have payment questions, please let me know. If you have not registered, please do so ASAP using the attached form.

2) The student-parent meeting for the spring Spanish class trip will take place on Thursday, January 28th, at 8:00AM. If you have questions, please contact Gabrielle Keller. Before the meeting you should:

  • check the expiration date on your child’s passport (or apply for a passport TODAY)
  • check your Explorica account and see that you have paid in full- they won’t make our reservations until the group has a 0 balance
  • fill out the Parental Consent form which your child will bring home on Thursday this week.  The form gives me permission to travel with your children to Costa Rica.  It must be notarized and Jesse, the Lower School librarian, has very generously consented to sign your completed forms at the meeting.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For Fifth and Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Click here for the team rosters. Regular team practices will start on Wednesday and Thursday, December 16th and 17th. Players must have a completed permission slip to play. Forms can be downloaded from the Athletics section of the LREI website.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) The sixth grade will visit the Met on Friday, January 8th to see their Arms and Armor collection. Students should bring a bagged lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on this day.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) The fifth grade will visit the Brooklyn Museum to view their Egyptian collection on Friday, January 22. Students should bring a bagged lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on this day.

============= 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

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