The Three Rs: Rube, Reports, and Resumes

Dear Families,

First, a hearty congratulations to the members of our Rube Goldberg team who competed this past weekend in the annual Rube Goldberg Machine Competition at the Fay School in Massachusetts. With the support of Middle School science teacher Stephen Volkmann, seventh graders Aaron and Isabella and eighth graders Cameron, Emma, Maya and Nicholas worked diligently over the past few months to prepare for the event. This year’s event required teams to use a common set of materials to create a contraption that used multiple energy transfers to accomplish the simple task of blowing a bubble. At the competition, the teams were given a set of materials and under timed conditions the teams had to construct and run their machines. They were also required to give a presentation on their design and the associated scientific principles. The members of the LREI team completed the task successfully and were awarded the prize for Most Creative Design. Well done!

We’re looking forward to the upcoming Family Conferences, which are scheduled for this Friday, April 18th, from 8:30AM-3:15PM and on Wednesday, April 23 from 12:15-3:30PM (this will still be a full day for students). These conferences will be with your child’s advisor and will address work completed in all subjects. Because the format of this conference will be different for some of you, I wanted to take a moment to share with you our ideas about the goals for the conference. Students and their advisors have been reviewing work completed in all of their classes over the past quarter. They have identified areas of strength and challenge and work samples that provide examples of these strengths and challenges. Students have also done reflections in each of their classes and they will share some of these in the conference. We expect students to take the lead in this conversation and the advisor’s role is to help guide them through this process. We hope that a holistic picture of who your child is as a learner will emerge.

With regard to the third quarter reports you have just received, it is likely that your child’s comments on his/her work may answer many of your questions. If you have specific questions that are not answered by the end of the conference, we ask that you contact that teacher directly as s/he will be best able to answer the question. The conference represents a moment to celebrate good work and to think about how the school and home can work together to support your child as we move towards the end of the year. If you have not done so already, please read my previous posts about Progress Reports and Family Conferences (and some additional resources). 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.

While there is still much to be accomplished in the 2007-2008 school year, spring also signals the beginning of our formal planning cycle for the 2008-2009 school year. A crucial piece of this planning is the hiring process, which is well underway. I thought that it would be useful to update you on where we are in this process.

Middle School PE teacher and Co-Athletic Director Marcus Chang who has been on leave this year completing a Masters degree at Teachers College Columbia University will return next year. While he has been on leave, Marcus has continued to support the athletic program and we are excited to have him back full-time. That said, I would also like to thank Peter Fisher who has done an inspired job in Marcus’ absence and has helped to maintain our strong PE and athletic programs. I look forward to Peter’s continued contributions through the end of the year and hope that he will be able to continue to support our athletic program as a coach next year.

With regard to other faculty on leave, drama teacher Julia Collura has been on leave this year in London where she has also been completing a Masters degree. While a difficult decision, Julia has decided to remain in London and to pursue other opportunities. During her lengthy tenure at LREI, Julia has made important contributions to the life and programs of the school. She established lasting relationships with her students and with her colleagues and she will be missed. As a community, we are most grateful for the time, energy and passion Julia has given to LREI. Despite the distance, I know that she will continue to find ways to connect with the ongoing life of the school.

We have also been fortunate this year to have a talented drama teacher serving in an interim role for Julia. Joanne Magee has helped to move the Middle School drama curriculum forward and has ably stepped into the director’s role for the High School musical, the Middle School play, and the upcoming Middle School musical. In light of her excellent work, I have asked her to continue on in her position and am excited to report that she has accepted this on-going position. I look forward to working with Joanne and to the positive contributions that I know she will continue to make to the Middle School program.

Middle School learning specialist Jennifer Haakmat is also in the midst of completing a Masters program and for next year will go from four days a week to two days. Jennifer will continue to work with the eighth grade and we will hire an interim learning specialist to work with the seventh grade. We have already seen a number of excellent candidates for this position.

Finally, Middle School music teacher Henry Chapin Henry has decided to leave LREI in order to continue his work as a community dance and song leader and arts-in-education administrator. I am most grateful to Henry for the work that he has done in moving our music curriculum forward. And while we have certainly benefited from her energy and teaching expertise over the course of this year, eighth grade core teacher Leila Sinclaire has made the difficult decision to return to her home in Bay Area this summer with her husband. She is pulled westward by her extended family and hopes to expand her nuclear family in the not-too-far-off future. I wish Leila the best in her future endeavors and know that we have benefited as a community from her time with us.

We are in the process of identifying a set of promising candidates for interviews and demo lessons. we have already met a number of strong candidates and hope to conclude both of these searches soon. That we are only looking to hire for these two positions is a true testament to the quality and strength of the Middle School program. I am honored to work with such outstanding and passionate educators all of whom are equally committed to serving your children and to supporting each other in their own professional growth. Setting aside any pretense of modesty, the Middle School faculty really is an exceptional team!

Be well,
Mark