Testing Boundaries

Dear Families,

On Tuesday and Wednesday night, Middle School psychologist Andrew Weiss and I enjoyed spirited discussions with fifth-seventh grade parents as part of our annual Adolescent Issues Parent Evenings (click here for an overview of topics being explored in Adolescent Issues classes).

In these discussions, we spent much time talking about the many ways in which adolescents seek to test boundaries and that this can invariably lead to a certain level of conflict. As Andrew astutely observed, the goal for parents and teachers is not to find ways to avoid this conflict, but rather to work through it. For it is precisely these moments of conflict that define where the boundaries are and how they connect to the values that serve as a foundation for your family and for us at LREI. Navigating through these waters is certainly difficult for both kids, parents and teachers, but is is essential. We also acknowledged that these values may differ from family to family and with the school and that this can create additional challenges.

We talked about the challenge of responding to difficult questions that we may not want or feel prepared to answer. We agreed that acknowledging the significance of a question is important, but that we may want to let our child know that we want to think about it for a bit to figure out the best may to respond. In this way, we can model thoughtful and reflective thinking for our child as we look for the best way to enter into the conversation. We talked about the importance of finding a response that was honest, but that also felt comfortable with regard to what you may or may not want to share with your child.

We also discussed situations where parental expectations/requests don’t need to be justified with an immediate explanation (e.g., you need your child to act in a particular manner at a given moment or you may choose to not give them permission to do something that they want to do). That said, finding a way in a quieter moment to circle back to what was at the heart of the matter and to explore your response and its connection to important family values with your child is essential. It is precisely this on-going dialog, which often has its origins in conflict, that provides a sense of safety and consistency for your child. And each time you return to these conversations you also send an important message about what you value. Below are a few links to some resources that you might find useful in this on-going work:

For parents, adolescence marks the beginning of a “letting go” and by the end of adolescence, your young adults will be very much responsible for their lives. Because we/you can’t always be there for them, we hope that the values that we have worked to instill in them hold fast and guide them through their difficult moments. This is the clearest evidence that that you and your child are productively making your way through adolescence. I see ample evidence of this in our students and it is a reflection of the hard work that you do at home and that we reinforce at school.

On other fronts, the seventh grade was in Philadelphia today exploring Independence Hall and the National Constitution Center as part of their on-going inquiry into the birth of our nation and the drafting of the Constitution. Click here to view some photos.

Of General Interest . . .

1) Click here to access the photo collection of LREI events and happenings at our on-line photo gallery.

2) LREI – Adult rED: Back by popular demand—we are announcing a second term of adult ed classes. This Spring’s Adult rED offerings are Twentieth Century American Cultural History, taught by high school history teacher Mark Bledstein, and Writing Memoir, Finding Voice, taught by high school English teacher Ileana Jimenez. Please see the attached announcement for more details. To enroll, please email Rowena Penaranda Askins, at rpenaranda@lrei.org or by phone at 212-477-5316, ext. 295. Do not hesitate to email with questions.

3) The Internet Is Public Life Today- social networking for parents. Join your fellow LREI parents/guardians for a discussion of our childrens’ online lives with a presentation by Don Buckley, Director of Communications Technology at the School at Columbia. April 26th, 6:30-8:00PM, Sixth Avenue Auditorium.

4) “Stir the Pot” Tasting Event Committee – The committee needs more volunteers! Please come to our meeting on Thursday, April 29th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria. The “Stir the Pot” event will take place on Thursday, May 13th at 6:00PM @ Charlton Street. Click here for more information about this exciting event.

5) Congratulations to the lucky winner of the LREI Cookbook drawing . . . Rina Root! Thanks to Rina and all others who have contributed to our new community cookbook, to be published later this year. Also, special thanks to Julia Wilbur, who donated our lovely prize for Rina from her linen collection Plover Organic. If you haven’t sent in a recipe yet, this is your final chance; please send recipes for potluck dishes (anything but desserts) t0 cookbook@lrei.org.

6) From the Art Auction Committee: Thank you so much to everyone who helped to make this year’s Art Auction a rounding success! It was a spectacular event and everyone has a wonderful time. There are still some pieces of art that are for sale so please visit http://artauction.lrei.org/ for additional information and to view items that are available. If you have any questions, please contact Maude Kebbon at mkebbon@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, ext. 232. Additionally, there are still tickets available for two exciting events this spring. Please contact Maude if you are interested!

  • The Jim Cottrell/Joe Lovett & Sue Scott Collections: Wednesday, May 5th at 6:00PM
    Hosted by LREI Parent Sue Scott: An evening of art & conversation at two private collections including works by Baechler, Basquiat, Murray and Bourgeois. Tickets are $200 each.
  • “Greater New York” Emerging Artists Survey, PS 1: Saturday, May 22nd at 2:00PM
    A private tour with curator & LREI parent Neville Wakefield one day before the exhibit opens. Meet the artists and see their art! Tickets are $200 each.

7) LREI Camping Trip: The 17th Annual LREI Camping Trip will take place June 4-6 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River. All LREI families and their children — from all grades pre-K through high school — are invited to participate. Watch for details and sign-up tables coming soon. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help organize, please contact Larry White at LWhite@stern.nyu.edu or (212) 533-1966.

8) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • Please join us for a presentation on Monday, April 26, at 8:45AM in the Sixth Ave. cafeteria on how climate change is affecting our NYC water supply and wastewater infrastructure. Hilary Meltzer, LREI parent and part of NYC’s environmental law team will discuss regional projections about environmental changes and threats to our water supply all posed by climate change.
  • April’s recycle drive is… Corks. Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. While it is a renewable resource, it takes a long time to harvest (25 years for the first harvest, 9 years thereafter). We recycle corks either by fulfilling teacher demand for them, or sending them to Terracycle, who turns them into products like cork boards. Drop off all used corks – natural or synthetic, wine or champagne. Drop off corks in the Red is Green bins in the Sixth Ave. or Charlton St. lobbies through the month of April.
  • For more details about our monthly recycling drives and Go Green to School dates, please click Red is Green PA Page.

9) From PA Co-Presidents Regina Trumbull and Kim Hostler: Spring is here, so we are starting to plan for the next school year. The PA would like to let you know the many ways you can participate. Becoming a parent rep is a great way to get involved. If you have not been a parent rep before but would like to try it or find out more about it, please let us know. We would be happy to talk to you more about what the job entails. In the meantime, you can look at the Family Handbook, page 36 (link on our website www.LREI.org) for the Parent Rep Guidelines. Of course, until the classes are actually made up for next year (mid-August or so), we cannot match parent reps to classes. If you’re looking for other ways to get involved, you could consider volunteering for any of our PA committees

  • Adoption Committee
  • Art Auction (the next art auction will be in the 2011-2012 year. But the committee will meet next year.)
  • Big Auction Committee
  • Community Service Committee
  • Faculty & Staff Appreciation Committee
  • Food Committee
  • Graphics & Communications Committee (Supporting other committees)
  • Halloween Fair Committee
  • Lesbian/Gay/Straight Alliance
  • Literary Committee
  • LREI Camping Trip Organizing Committee
  • Multicultural Committee (this is the committee that organized Karamu)
  • Parents of Children of Color (Lower School and Middle School)
  • Red Is Green (our sustainability committee)
  • School Store
  • Sports Committee

Also in the Family Handbook (p.38), there is a list of the co-chairs of the PA committees if you would like to contact them for more information. Please email us at PA-Presidents@lrei.org if you would like to get involved.

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

11) 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) Family Conferences and Subject Area Meetings (April 23rd): Please check your child’s advisor’s blog to schedule a family conference for one of the dates indicated above. As we did in the fall, you will also be able to schedule brief meetings with each of your child’s teachers should you so choose. To schedule these subject specific meetings please click here. As always, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers if you have questions about her/his performance and/or the curriculum. In addition, the structure of our Family Conferences is always an evolving one and I encourage you to let me know about your conference experience. Your feedback is tremendously useful in helping us to shape this experience so that it is a meaningful and productive one for all.

2) Mark your calendars: Just a heads up that our first MS Art Festival will open on Thursday, April 29th at 6:00PM for seventh and eighth grade families and at 6:30PM for fifth and sixth grade families. The evening will feature studio art work from students in all grades, digital art created by the eighth graders and performances by the seventh and eighth grade performing arts major classes (instrumental music, vocal music, dance and drama). The entire Sixth Avenue building will come alive with the arts on this special evening. We hope to see you all there. In addition, the art displays in the auditorium will also be up on Friday, April 30th.

3) Grandparents/Special Friends Day is coming on May 7th for Lower and Middle School students. If you have not given us addresses yet, please email them to Liza Sacks at lsacks@lrei.org. If you have not yet rsvp’d please do so as soon as possible, or no later than Wednesday, April 28, 2010.  Please call or email Mary Shea at mshea@lrei.org to let her know the name of your child’s visitor.

For Eighth and Seventh Grade Families . . .

From Athletic Director Peter Fisher:

  • Our new 7/8 grade track team is off and running and is having a blast training and running meets at Randal’s Island.  If you would like more information on Track, please email me or the coach – David Lee dlee@lrei.org

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  • The judo team has added Wednesday practices, and now meet Wednesdays and Fridays.  If you would like any more information about our Judo team, please email Larry Kaplan — lkaplan@lrei.org
  • Softball started practicing but NEEDS MORE PLAYERS.  We practice every Tuesday and Thursday after school at Houston St. from 3:15-4:30.  Some kids were worried about being in the play, but if they come talk to me, I can make arrangements with them and Joanne McGee and see if we can work out a schedule to allow them to do both.  Also, six graders will be allowed to join this week as we need more players to field a team.If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time.

For Seventh and Sixth Grade Families . . .

1) High School Preview: Are you thinking about what’s on the horizon for your sixth or seventh grader? Please join us on May 14th at 8:30AM for High School Preview Morning with High School Principal Ruth Jurgensen. You will learn about the program, hear from students and briefly see classes in action as we tour our fabulous new space! Contact the admissions office at bscott@lrei.org to confirm your attendance no later than May 12th. This event is a rescheduling of the High School Preview evening previously slated for April and is designed to connect with Seventh Grade Visiting Day that will take place on the 14th as well.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .

1) From music teacher Matt Mclean: For the next two weeks all 6th Grade students will be Ethnomusicologists! As a class we will read this NY Times article that describes the importance of being an ethnomusicologist by examining the Brazilian ethnomusicologist Mario de Andrade. After reading the article all students should take the online Ethnomusicology practice test found on our music class home page.  We will do this together in class. Working in pairs, students will then go out into a designated part of the LREI community to make an audio documentation as an ethnomusicologist.   All audio recordings along with a written description will be posted to our class website. Click here to review the step by step instructions and due dates. I invite you to read the NY Times article and feel free to contact me with any questions regarding our ethnomusicology project.

2) LREI sixth graders are invited to attend the “School for a School Dance!” an interschool sixth grade dance, which is scheduled for Friday, April 30th from 7-9PM. The dance will take place in the auditorium at the Nightingale-Bamford School (92nd and Madison). The cost is $10 to be paid at the door. Funds raised from the dance will support an all-school campaign at Nightingale to build a co-ed school in Cambodia (you can find more information at www.cambodiaschools.com). R.S.V.P to abuckfire@nightingale.org. Parents should email giving permission and a phone number where they can be reached during the dance. There will be chaperones present from Nightingale-Bamford present.

3) Looking further ahead to next year, click here to access the registration form for the Williamsburg / Jamestown trip that will take place next October. I’m sending you this information now so that you can spread out payments over a longer period of time. If you register online, please use the following trip ID#: A76310. W e would like all families to register for the trip by the end of the month. If you have specific questions about payment, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .

1) High School Preview: Are you thinking about what is on the horizon for your fifth grader? Please join us on Tuesday, May 4th at 8:30AM for High School Preview Morning with Ruth Jurgensen, HS Principal. You will learn about the program, hear from students and briefly see classes in action as we tour our fabulous new space! Contact the admissions office at bscott@lrei.org to confirm your attendance no later than April 30th. This event is a rescheduling of the High School Preview evening previously slated for April.

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

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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