Looking back and moving forward . . .

Dear Families:

A few updates with regard to hiring for next year:

As most of you are aware, Julia Collura will be on leave next year studying theater in London, England. Joanne Magee will be joining us in her stead. Joanne has taught drama, directed productions and served as a department chair for the last eight years at another New York City independent school and is excited to be coming aboard. Prior to working in the United States, she taught drama and English in the British school system. The Middle School drama program will be in good hands while Julia is across the pond.

We saw a number of highly qualified candidates for the eighth grade core position and faculty were uniformly impressed with the passion and enthusiasm that Leila Sinclaire brought to her interview and to her demo lesson. For the past year, Leila has been completing a second Masters degree at Teachers College, Columbia University in English Education; her first Masters is in Integrated Studies and Education. Prior to relocating to the East Coast she taught for five years at progressive independent schools on the West Coast. Leila is excited to be joining our team.

Sheila Kanchwala who has been an invaluable colleague, an excellent fifth and sixth grade Spanish teacher and in prior years a Math Seminar teacher has just completed a Masters program and will be relocating closer to home. This has provided us with an opportunity to look at the Middle School foreign language program and to consider how we can make what is already a strong program even stronger. These discussions are still evolving and I will have more to say about this in future communications. That said, we are excited to welcome David Lee to the Middle School faculty. David will take on teaching responsibilities for some Spanish classes and some French classes. We are in the process of defining his specific grade level responsibilities. For the past six years, David has taught Spanish and French at a number of international schools and is currently working at an independent school in the Bahamas. David is excited about working at LREI and about relocating to New York City.

Lastly, Marcus Chang has been accepted to the Teacher College Klingenstein program for independent school leadership. This is a wonderful opportunity for Marcus. Marcus will continue in his Athletic Director role, but we are in the process of interviewing candidates for seventh and eighth grade PE. I will let you know about the resolution to this search as soon as we have identified an appropriate candidate.

I have been uniformly impressed by all of the candidates we interviewed and observed and feel that through this process we were able to offer positions to truly exceptional teachers. These new colleagues will only enhance our already quite stellar faculty. I would also like to thank all of the faculty members who participated in our hiring process. Their willingness to make the time and ask thoughtful and probing questions helped to send a clear message to candidates about what to means to be a teacher at LREI. This passion and commitment only helps to make the learning experience for your children that much richer.

Photos from last week’s Middle School Art Show can now be viewed on-line. Please take a look if you weren’t able to make the show. On the music front, we were treated to a most excellent adaptation of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Noni’s eighth grade class. They worked on the piece with Henry in their music class and performed it for us at this week’s Middle School Meeting. As Henry writes:

The 8th grade has been studying American music roots in music class this year, which has complimented their social studies curriculum. The class studied Billy Joel’s 1989 “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” The lyrics of this song are a catalogue of names, trends and events from 20th century America. After learning the original song the class wrote their own, 21st century version of the song, and performed it at Middle School Meeting on May 9th. Here is the class’s own take on events in their lives in 2007:

“We Didn’t Start the Fire”

George Bush, Medicaid, Michael Jackson, Mary Kate,
Nicole Richie, Paris Hilton, Kevin Federline.
James Brown, Al Gore, Global warming, bloody war,
Donald Trump and Rosie, soldiers on the frontline.

Oprah Winfrey, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes on the news,
“Little Miss Sunshine,” foreign babies, hate crimes.
John Kerry, Dick Cheney, Michael Moore, Blackberries,
Simon Cowell, “Stars are Blind,” maybe I’ll just lose my mind.

CHORUS

Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt, Al Gore, Bloods, Crips,
Chris Rock thinks he loves his wife, David Beckham’s losing life.

CHORUS

Prince Henry, Chris Brown, and the Naked Brothers Band,
Johnny Depp, Channing Tatum, and Orlando Bloom.
New York City, Paris, Milan, Italia,
Marc Jacobs, Prada, Dolce and Gabana.

Project Runway, Top Design, and top model,
Fava-Flav, Laguna Beach, Dancing with the Stars.
“Scary Movie” 1 through 4, Fahrenheit by Michael Moore,
“Saw,” “Elf,” and “Crash,” Bill gates has a lotta cash.

CHORUS

Joey, Ross and Chandler, Rachel, Phoebe, Monica,
Friends, Rihanna, “Girls Next Door.”
Don Imus has no brain, and he’s driving us insane,
Duke players raping women, they got off the case.

That’s it, the world’s no more, we should’ve listened to Al Gore,
Look at our society, it’s a crazy place.
We like our song, hope it wasn’t too long,
That’s all, there is no more, O.K. kids we’re out the door.

 

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:

2007-2008 Calendar
Parents in Action Flyer
Book Sale Pre-Authorization Form
Spring Community Service Calendar
Eighth Grade:

DC Trip Permission Form
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .

1) Don’t miss it! This weekend the Middle School presents: DISNEY’S HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! This Friday, 5/11, at 7PM and Saturday, 5/12 at 2PM & 7PM. Shows are at the Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street. Tickets are $10 and $8 for MS students. The show runs around 2 hours, and is appropriate for all ages (hey, it’s Disney!). Hope to see you there!

2) From Middle School librarian Jennifer Hubert: The library will be converting to a new computer catalog towards the end of June. You may have noticed that the library catalog can no longer be accessed through your computers, or any computer in the school. This is because the software (Winnebago) we currently have is incompatible with the newer Macs. The new system (Follett) is far superior to the product we have now, and will enable parents, faculty, students and staff to view our holdings via the Internet and link directly to websites from subject headings. We are extremely excited about the conversion upgrade because it will provide the entire LREI community with much improved library services that will greatly enhance all aspects of the reading and research process. While we hope to make this transition as painless as possible for everyone involved, it will require some level of cooperation from the whole school community. Because of the upcoming conversion, it is more important than ever that all LREI library books be returned to both libraries by Friday, June 1st. Like past years, we will be closing to circulation on this day, which means that while we will continue to check materials in, we will no longer check any more materials out. Please look through your child’s bookshelves at home, through closets and under beds for any stray LREI library books. We will be sending home overdue slips as usual, and please let me know if there are any errors on your child’s slip. Thanks for your patience, and please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this process.

3) Click here to learn about a fun family service event scheduled for this Saturday at the Hudson Guild from 11AM-1PM.

4) Mark your calendars: the Middle School Awards Night will be held on Monday, May 21st in the Charlton Street PAC at 6:00PM. This is a wonderful evening where all students who participated in extracurricular activities this year are recognized.

5) Our annual math department sponsored 24 Tournament is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th, and Thursday, May 31st. Both preliminary rounds will take place in the cafeteria and will get underway at 7:45AM. The finals will take place the following Wednesday, June 6th at Middle School Meeting.

6) A reminder that the spring Book Sale will take place on Thursday, May 24th. This is a great opportunity to buy titles from our summer reading lists. As most middle schoolers will go to the Book Sale during the day, you can use the attached form to pre-authorize purchases for your child.

7) The LREI Camping Trip is a decade-old, parent-organized tradition that will take place this year during the weekend of June 1-3. You can signup for the trip in the Sixth Avenue Lobby on Friday, May 4th, and Wednesday, May 16. Typically, 50 to 80 campers head to a beautiful site near the Delaware Water Gap for one or two nights of camping, hiking, fishing, swimming, and games. For more information, visit the LREI website and/or click here to view the event poster.

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). 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 2006-2007 calendar. You can also access their on-line calendar of events at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

For Eighth Grade Families . . . .
1) Please remember that students should be at school on Tuesday, May 15th, at 7:45AM for the DC trip departure. If you have not returned a permission slip, you can download one here.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Next Friday, May 18th, the seventh grade will spend the morning at the high school. They will start with a panel discussion that will provide an overview of the high school experience and then they will visit a variety of classes in small groups. The morning concludes with a conversation wit current ninth graders about the transition to high school and how to make the most of their eighth grade year. It looks to be an exciting day.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) On Wednesday, May 23, the Sixth Grade will visit Carnegie Hall for a LinkUP! concert. The concert is scheduled for 10:15AM. Students should bring a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds or glass bottles) to school that day. From music teacher Henry Chapin: On Monday, April 30th music classes began preparing for a field trip to Carnegie Hall, to participate in a LinkUp! Concert. The concert will include music of Tchaikovsky (1812 Overture) Benjamin Britten (excerpts from “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”), Antonin Dvorak (Largo from Symphony #2, “From the New World”), and Giacomo Rossini (“William Tell” Overture). The class will also play their recorder on two pieces we are preparing, “Simple Song,” and “LinkUp! Concerto.” Carnegie Hall provides a workbook, with 2 CDs, for each student. I gave these out today, and assigned each student a chapter to study and to “teach” to the class on an assigned day. I will co-teach with each student. Your child’s workbook has a label on the front cover that lists what chapter they are to prepare, and what day they will present. If you or your child has any questions, or needs support to prepare, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks for your support.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week

Middle School Sports
Schedules, permission forms and general information about Middle School sports programs can be found at http://www.lrei.org/athletics/index.html. Information is also available through the LREI Sports Hotline at 212.477.5316 x 494.

In order to make sure that you receive timely notifications about changes to the practice or game schedules, we have created an email list that we will be using to provide these updates. If you child participates on an LREI sports team, we ask that you go to http://lists.lrei.org/mailman/listinfo/lrei-sports where you will be able to subscribe to the list. The instructions are posted on this page.

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, May 11, 2007, 7:00PM — MS Musical
  • Saturday, May 12, 2007, 2:00PM and 7:00PM — MS Musical
  • Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 8:00AM — Eighth Grade to DC (return on Friday, May 18, 2006)
  • Tuesday, May 15, 2007, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep. Mtg.
  • Thursday, May 17, 2007, 6:00PM — MS POCOC Mtg.
  • Friday, May 18, 2007 — Seventh Grade HS Visiting Day
  • Saturday, May 19, 2007, 7:00PM — Literary Magazine Coffeehouse
  • Sunday, May 20, 2007 – AIDS Walk New York
  • Monday, May 21, 2007, 6:00PM — MS Awards Night
  • Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 1:00PM — Middle School Chorus to Hudson Guild
  • Wednesday, May 23, 2007 — Sixth Grade to Carnegie Hall
  • Thursday, May 24, 2007 — Spring Book Sale
  • Thursday, May 24, 2007 — Spring Concert
  • Friday, May 25, 2007 — Field Day
  • Friday, May 25, 2007 — Memorial Day Weekend-School closes at 1:00PM (school reopens on Tuesday, May 29, 2006)
  • Tuesday, June 5, 2007, 8:00AM — Sixth Grade Potluck & Poetry Breakfast
  • Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 6:00PM — Fifth Grade Grecian Festival & Potluck
  • Thursday, June 7, 2007, 8:00AM — Seventh Grade Potluck Breakfast and Constitution Works
  • Friday, June 8, 2007 — High School Graduation (regular dismissal for MS)
  • Friday, June 8, 2007 — MS End of 4th Quarter
  • Friday, June 8, 2007, 6:00PM — Eighth Grade Pre-Moving Up Party
  • Monday, June 11, 2007, 6:00PM — MS Dance
  • Tuesday, June 12, 2007, 9:00AM — Eighth Grade Moving Up
  • Tuesday, June 12, 2007 — Last Day of School, School closes at 12:00PM for all Divisions

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

Be well,

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