Giving Thanks

Dear Families,

On the Wednesday before the Thanksgiving break, we had our annual Thanksgiving Assembly. It was a gathering at which our students’ voices rang clear and true.

The fifth graders shared stories of thanks written to important people in their lives. These stories focused in on the individual they were thanking and through rich description brought that person and why he or she was important to life for their listeners.

The sixth graders shared a collective poem that focused on those things for which they were most thankful. The poem touched on the personal and the global and built to heartfelt shared expression of thanks.

The middle of the ceremony was reserved for our newest assembly tradition. During the weeks leading up to the assembly, Middle School music teacher Matt McLean worked with fifth and sixth grade classes to create the lyrics for an original composition “Thanksgiving Song”  focused on the spirit of giving thanks. The fifth and sixth grade classes sang their verses and the community joined in on the upbeat choruses.

The seventh graders who earlier in the morning held their annual food festival offered  stories about food that were connected to their family, their heritage or their past. Following the assembly, the retired to the cafeteria to continue the communal “breaking of bread.”

As has become our longstanding tradition, the eighth graders offered their revision of  the Byrd Baylor story I’m in Charge of Celebrations. Their revision reflected the collaborative work of the entire eighth grade class. While adults provided some general context and support for the work, the process that gave rise to its writing and the final product were truly student-centered efforts and reflective of our progressive practice. I hope that their version of “I’m in Charge of Celebrations” gives you as much pleasure as it gave us. Enjoy!

Of General Interest . . .
1) From Phil… There are a few spots left in both Adult rED classes.  Contact Rowena Penaranda – Askins at rpenaranda@lrei.org to enroll.  See Phil’s blog (blog.lrei.org/director) for more information.

2) From the LRE Family Handbook…

  • Vacation Policy: We remind families to only take vacations during LREI breaks and that your child’s time away from school does not begin before the school break does or end afterwards. Teachers use each scheduled day to support their classroom program goals and the School’s Mission. Students who miss days adjacent to breaks, or who take vacations outside of our break times, miss work and can disrupt planned activities. This affects the learning of the absent students and her/his classmates. In addition, divisional or all-school assemblies often precede our longer vacations. These gatherings are essential for creating the sort of community that drew you to LREI. Students sing, listen to speakers, applaud their schoolmates, meet students in other divisions and generally strengthen community ties.
  • Families (including those whose children are non-allergic) must never send in snacks or food that contain nuts or seeds of any kind, either for themselves or for their children, even if the snacks or food are not intended to be consumed on school property. In particular, backpacks and pockets should never have any nuts or seeds in them.
  • If your child wants to give his or her teacher a gift at winter break, the end of the year, or any other time during the year, a homemade gift or drawing is welcome and appreciated. A group gift from parents and children in the class may be given at the end of the school year.
    NOTE: As an alternative to gifts, during book week every year, you can purchase a gift certificate. This allows our teachers to purchase books for the classroom. Gift certificates are available in the lobby this week and at the book fair next week.

3) HOLIDAY SHOPPING AT LREI SCHOOL SPIRIT STORE!
The school store will be open the following mornings at the Sixth Avenue building from 8–9AM:

Friday 12/11
Wednesday 12/16
Thursday 12/17

Charlton St. building, both lunch periods:

Monday 12/14
Tuesday 12/15

4) From the LREI Parents Association Community Service Committee–Please contribute to our annual Winter Coat Drive, December 17-18. Click here for more information.

5) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • Through Friday, December 18th, we will be collecting plastic bottle caps for our December recycling drive.
  • 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.
  • E-Waste: Do you have broken, unwanted electronics in your home? You can recycle your e-waste on Sunday, January 3, 2010 from 10 – 4 p.m. at Union Sq. For more info click here.
  • 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) Announcing the middle school production of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book.” “Jungle Book” is scheduled for Friday, December 11th, at 7:00PM and Saturday, December 12th, at 2:00PM and 7:00PM. This stage adaption, which retains much of Kipling’s original poetry, but with all the charm of a middle school play, focuses on Mowgli’s journey of discovery as he grows up with his family and comes to terms with his unique and complex identity. Come to the play as a family and join us as we follow Mowgli through the challenges he faces both in the jungle and in his heart. Enjoy our colorful set, costumes and of course, the outstanding talents of our middle school students. Tickets are on sale in the Sixth Avenue Lobby from 8am-9am Dec 4th-11th. Students $10 Adults $12. Click here for the poster!

3) Mark you 2010 calendars now–Join us for our annual Alumni College Panel.  This is a terrific opportunity to hear recent LREI grads discuss their transition from high school to college and how their time at LREI prepared them for success.  Thursday, January 7th, 6:30PM, Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street.  RSVP to Liza Sacks at (212) 477-5316 ext. 291 or lsacks@lrei.org.

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

5) BOOK WEEK is here! Authors and illustrators have and will be visiting all LREI grades this week. Authors slated to visit middle school classes include:

  • Fifth Grade: Peter Kujawinski (Dormia)
  • Sixth Grade: Mike Beil (The Red Blazer Girls)
  • Seventh Grade: Chris Claremont (X-Men)
  • Eighth Grade: A.M. Homes (Jack)

The Book Fair runs through Friday, December 11 at 6 PM in the 6th Avenue Auditorium. Please click here to fill out a Pre-Authorized Purchase Form, for your child to pick out books at the fair! In the spirit of Book Week, please read Middle School librarian Jennifer Hubert’s latest blog post.

6) The first Middle School Students of Color Meeting will take place on Thursday, December 17th from 11:00AM-12:00PM. For more information about the Students of Color group, please read the attached letter from group facilitators Sherezada Acosta and Sandra “Chap” Chapman.

7) Afterschool Spring Registration Information – Afterschool registration materials for the Winter/Spring semester will be emailed to families next week.  The registration materials will also be available on the Afterschool section of the LREI website.  The Registration Deadline for the Instrumental and Enrichment Shuffle will be on Tuesday, January 5th at 3 p.m.  Afterschool registration will continue on a first come, first serve basis through Friday, January 8th.  Please contact the Afterschool Office with any questions, at ext. 239.

8) Save the Date!

  • LREI Winter Concert – Tuesday, December 15th, at the Charlton Street PAC at 6:30PM. Featuring the choruses from all three divisions and the MS & HS and jazz bands.
  • The Afterschool Piano and Voice Recital and Instrumental Concert will take place on Wednesday, December 16th, with, Piano and Voice Recital at 5:30PM in the PAPAS and the Instrumental Concert at 6:30PM in the Auditorium.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) Please read the new math X unit letter from eighth grade math teacher Michelle Boehm.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Please read the new math unit letter from eighth grade math teacher Michelle Boehm.

2) Please join us as we celebrate the opening of our Seventh Grade Colonial Museum on Wednesday, December 16th, from 6PM to 8PM. As is our custom, a potluck dinner held in the cafeteria will follow the exhibition. While all varieties of victuals are welcomed, those with a colonial bent are most appreciated. A list of colonial inspired menu items appears below. Please speak to your parent rep about what to bring as they will be coordinating this part of the evening. Some students have expressed a desire to dress in traditional Colonial attire. This is permitted. For those students who choose not to, we ask that they come to school on Wednesday dressed nicely. Collared shirts are encouraged for the boys, skirts or pants for the girls. Please no t-shirts, jeans, or sweats.

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 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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