Spring is like a perhaps hand

Dear Families:

In honor of National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day (next Wednesday), and the arrival of Spring, I leave this week’s introduction in the more than capable hands of e.e. cummings . . .

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything.

And so we too, like the “perhaps hand,” will try to shift things old and new just enough in our teaching and learning to reveal new found meanings in our collective work.

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.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.)

General:
Upcoming Community Sing event – 4/9/05
8th Grade:
7th Grade:
6th Grade:
DISC Dance – 4/8/05
5th Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) On a celebratory note, congratulations to 7th Grader Nick Shatan who participated in the New York State National Geographic Bee over the break. Of the 100 participants from all over New York State, Nick placed 12 and just missed moving on to the final round. We are all proud of Nick’s achievement and are already looking forward to next year’s competition.

2) The 3rd quarter ends on Wednesday, April 6th and school will be closed on Friday, April 15th for parent conferences. Conferences will also take place on Wednesday, April 20th from 12:00-3:15PM (this is a regular school day for students). If you have concerns or questions about your child’s work in classes other than core, please remember that specialists are also available for conferences. Sign-up sheets will be posted the week of April 4th outside of each core teacher’s room and on the bulletin board outside of my office.

3) This Saturday is our annual ” Family Sing,” a terrific Community Event starting at 1:00PM in the 6th Avenue auditorium. This year we will be remembering the life and legacy of legendary LREI music teacher named Charity Bailey. For more about this remarkable person and the event, please go to Nick O’Han’s message at http://lrei-ed-news.blogspot.com.

4) To round off a Saturday of music, don’t forget to attend the Coffeehouse, which will take place in the Charlton Street PAC and will begin at 6:30PM.

5) From High School Principal Tony Fisher: 5th-7th Grade parents are cordially invited to the High School on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:30 PM for High School Preview Night. At this event, you will have a chance to meet with several students and faculty members and hear about the short- and long-range plans for the growth of the High School. I look forward to seeing you there!

6) Next Wednesday, April 13th, is Poem in Your Pocket Day, a time when all students and teachers are encouraged to carry a poem in their pockets in honor of National Poetry Month. Classes will explore this day in different ways and we will share some student-written poetry at our weekly middle school meeting.

7) From the members of the High School Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance (LGSA): On Wednesday, April 13th, students in the high school will be participating in a national Day of Silence organized by the High School LGSA. The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment — in effect, the silencing — experienced by LGBT students and their allies.

8) From School Nurses Kitty Highstein and Joanne Gouge: Welcome back to spring! Thank you for everything you’ve done to keep our students with nut/seed allergies safe. Please continue to remember to be especially careful when preparing or buying food to bring into school for special occasions such as potlucks, intermission snacks for plays, publishing parties, etcetera, that none of it contains nuts or seeds of any kind. Meals packed for field trips should also be nut and seed free. The same goes for off-site spring picnics. We hope you all had a wonderful break. It’s good to see everyone again!

9) From High School Principal Tony Fisher: The New York City Stock Market Game program is pleased to announce that a two-person team of LREI 12th graders (members of the Data Analysis class) was the first place finisher in the High School division of the 1/24-4/01 Stock Market Game (SMG) session. The team has been invited to attend the SMG Awards Ceremony that will be held in late May 2005 at the New York Stock Exchange. The ceremony will recognize the top teams of both the Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 sessions. (It should be noted that a different LREI two-person team came in third in the Fall 2004 session!)

For 8th Grade Families . . .
1) Next Monday, April 11, the 8th grade will visit the Tenement Museum as a part of our Core curriculum. We will leave at 12:15 and return by homeroom.

For 7th Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For 6th Grade Families . . .
1) If you have not done so already, please read the attached letter, which contains a permission form, regarding tomorrow’s DISC Dance

2) Reminder: For the next few weeks, each 6th grader has been given a homework tracking log. Please make sure that your child fills out his/her sheet each night. The log will give students a chance to examine how they are using their study time and will help teachers to make sure that homework assignments are manageable.

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)

  • Friday, April 8th, 8:30AM — Multicultural Comm. Mtg.
  • Friday, April 8th, 8:30AM — Lit.Comm.Mtg.
  • Friday, April 8th — LS Parent-Teacher Conferences -LS closes at noon (4s-1st gr 11:45)
  • Friday, April 8th, 7:00PM — 6th Gr DISC Dance, ChSt
  • Saturday, April 9th, 10:00AM — Community Sing!, 6th Ave
  • Saturday, April 9th, 7:00PM — Coffeehouse, ChSt. PAC
  • Monday, April 11th, 9:00AM — Comm.Serv.Mtg.
  • Monday, April 11, 12:15PM — 8th grade to visit the Tenement Museum
  • Tuesday, April 12th — Grs.5-7 HS Preview Night
  • Wednesday, April 13th — Poem in Your Pocket Day
  • Wednesday, April 13th, 6:30PM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg., ChST. caf
  • Thursday, April 14th, 8:30Am — Lit.Comm.Mtg.
  • Friday, April 15th — Parent-Teacher Conferences & Professional Planning Day – school closed
  • Monday, April 18th, 5:30PM — Edu. Comm. Mtg.
  • Tuesday, April 19th, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep Mtg.
  • Wednesday, April 20th, 5:30PM — Enroll. & Mkt. Comm. Mtg.
  • Thursday, April 21st, 7:00PM — Literary Evening
  • Wednesday, April 27th, 6:30PM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg., w/Phil ChST. caf
  • Wednesday, May 4th — Big Auction

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

Be well,
Mark

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