Be always at war with your vices, at peace with yo…
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin
Dear Families,
Students have started in their new courses, or are continuing in their year long courses. However, tomorrow we will take a break from school life to focus on home again.
Today, I asked faculty and staff what their new year resolutions are, and this is what they said:
“Practice my religion more deeply.”
“Lose weight.”
“Focus more intently on what’s important.”
“Make more money and spend less money.”
“To have a positive outlook every day.”
“To keep all of my grades on GradePro, so I can maintain running averages for all of my students.”
“To take a trip to somewhere I have never been.”
“To appreciate each and every day.”
“To be more nurturing.”
“To say no to doughnuts.”
I also asked students what their resolutions were this year. Their resolutions include:
“To walk my dog longer. I tend to cheat her by walking two blocks, instead of walking her for a half hour. I always feel guilty for that.”
“Surround myself with only positive people.”
“To earn higher grades.”
“To be kinder, nicer.”
“To make more of an effort to get along with my mom.”
It may be too early to ask people for their resolutions; it strikes me that many resolutions are ones we should have every day, anyway.
Happy New Year and have a wonderful holiday!
All the best,
Ruth
Calendar for December and January:
December 15, 2006- School closes for Winter Break, 12:00 PM.
January 3, 2007- School reopens.
January 10, 2007- College Night with Junior parents and families, 6:30 PM, Cafeteria
January 12, 2007- Parent-Advisor Conferences, all day. School closed for students.
Advisors will contact parents to set up appointments the week of January 1.
This Week’s Attachments and Announcements:
1. Meeting About Tuition Increase and 2007-2008 Budget
Michel de Konkoly Thege, Director of Finance and Operations, will give presentations to the LREI community concerning the planned tuition increase and overall budget for the 2007-2008 school year. These presentations will take place at 6:30 pm on Tuesday, January 16 in the Charlton Street cafeteria and at 8:00 and 8:45 am on Wednesday, January 24 in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. All parents and other members of the LREI community are invited to attend and ask questions.
2. A reminder from Phil Kassen as we approach the Winter Break:
Gifts to Teachers: 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. It has been our experience that individual gifts, though thoughtfully intended, may be misinterpreted by the children and, consequently, we discourage this. Thank you for your awareness and cooperation.
3.Ragtime DVD is available now! Professionally shot and edited DVDs of Ragtime (of the Saturday evening performance) can be ordered through danmeyerson@gmail.com or mattschlichter@gmail.com. DVDs are $28 each and include a copy of the artwork on the playbill and the cast list. This is a great opportunity to hold onto the experience of this production for future portfolios, family screenings, as well as adding a great DVD to your collection.
4. Please do not schedule appointments, medical or otherwise, during the school day, between 8:30 AM and 3:50 PM. When a student must leave early for a non-emergency, it is very disruptive to the academic program and to a student’s progress in any given class. Thank you.
5. Please check out the Community Service Calendar!
6. The Parents’ Association Food Committee is hard at work! Through the efforts of this very active parent body, we aim to work with an enthusiastic administration and an open-minded catering company to continue to upgrade the quality and variety of the food served in school. We are also discussing ways to bring nutrition discussions into each classroom to educate our children about how to eat more healthfully. In the future, the Food Committee hopes to invite guest speakers to talk to parents interested in learning more about your family’s nutrition. Stay tuned!
7. Please do not plan vacations that fall outside of scheduled school breaks. Each school day is important. Today’s classroom experiences are building blocks for tomorrow’s. Missing school on either end of a scheduled break, or at any time other than when school is closed, is disruptive to your child’s education and to that of her/his classmates. Often, the days preceding our longer breaks include community events such as buddy activities and assemblies. These essential community events are important. We feel strongly that students should not miss these occasions. It is our policy that teachers not prepare work ahead of time, or help students to catch up, if your family will be vacationing at times when school is in session. If your family is presented with a singular opportunity to travel that offers significant educational advantages we encourage you to speak with the division’s principal in advance.
As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org. Also, note the links to the Middle and Lower School weekly emails on the right. Please take a look at what the students in the other two divisions are up to!
All attachments are in .pdf format. To view these files, please download Adobe Reader, if you do not already have it. Click on this link or paste it into your browser: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.
If you are having trouble opening the attachments, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.