Trimester I grades available Dec. 22
Dear Families,
It seems like the community service day on December 8, 2008, was quite a success! So many students volunteered at various organizations around the city, had terrific experiences and made great connections. In fact, I heard from Giovanni Casiano’s mom, and Class of 2009 parent, Lisa Arguello, who said, “I wanted to let you know…I took this one [the call to service] a step further and volunteered this morning to deliver gifts to senior citizen’s homes.” Please continue to send me your stories of service; I know your children are encouraged to see members of their families participate as they are in a great movement to give back.
On another note, grades and comments for Trimester I will be available online on “My Backpack” on December 22, by 5PM. Please check to make sure you can log on to the system successfully. If you have any problems logging on, please contact help_desk@lrei.org, which can assist you. If you would like your child’s grades or comments mailed, please send an email to Adria Maynor, amaynor@lrei.org.
Speaking of “Backpack,” posted Trimester II homework assignments cannot be seen until I post Trimester I grades. Sorry for any incovenience.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding a grade or comment, please contact the teacher directly, the student’s advisor, and/or class dean. Please note, teachers, advisors and class deans will be on vacation starting on Friday, Dec. 19 at 12 noon, so a response may not come until the week of January 4, 2009. Also, while 11th grade class dean Julia Heaton is on maternity leave, Peter Bonfanti will be taking on the role until Spring Break. As always, they stand ready to assist you in any way.
If you are a parent of a 10th or 11th grade student, you should have received a letter from Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance and your child’s PSAT scores; they were mailed last Friday. If you have not received this information, please contact the College Office at ext. 324.
11th and 12th Grade families, I hope you received my email (sent yesterday) regarding the choices and application process for the NYU College Preview Program. Applications are due on January 6, by 2:45 PM.
Finally, I wish you and your family a safe, restful, wonderful holiday break. See you in 2009!
All the best,
Ruth
Updates and Announcements:
- The school’s calendar can be accessed by clicking here.
- Click here to view the 2008-2009 LREI Calendar.
- For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and game recaps.
*Please read this important announcement from our Academic Support Center.
Some green holiday ideas from the Red is Green Committee…
• Looking for recycled wrapping paper? www.greenfieldpaper.com has a lovely collection. Or better yet, make it an arts & craft project with your child – use paper shopping bags and some paint to create fun and unique wrapping paper!
• Next time you want to relax by the fireplace on a cold snowy night, use eco-friendly logs, such as Java logs, made from coffee. Visit www.java-log.com
• Getting a new computer this holiday season and wondering what to do with your old one? Bring your old computers, printers and other electronics to the next e-waste recycling event on January 4 at Union Square. Visit www.lesecologycenter.org for details.
• Save your holiday cards and we will donate them to St. Jude’s Ranch, a home for abused, neglected and abandoned children. The children and volunteers recycle the old cards and sell the new ones. Starting in January we will have a box in the lobby to collect your cards.
• So far we’ve collected over 60 pairs of sneakers for the Nike Reuse a Shoe program. Since it’s going so well, we will continue to collect through January 15, so tell your friends & relatives over the holidays to bring you their old sneakers.
1. 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. This will be organized by the Parent Rep. 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.
2. Save the Date for Karamu! Friday January 23rd… Karamu! is a multicultural celebration of music, dance, and food celebrating the diversity of our school and community – all are invited! Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 20th. Discount tickets are available – please contact Juliet Burrows, jkka@mac.com. This event always sells out so get your tickets early! Here are ways to be involved: get tickets & come to the show, volunteer to help out on the day of or donate a prepared dish for the feast!. More details to follow… join the fun of this wonderful community building event!
3. Please join us for the Alumni College Panel, on Thursday, January 8th at 6:30 PM at the High School. Meet recent LREI graduates and hear from them about their experiences and how LREI prepared them for college. Moderated by Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance. RSVP to Liza Sacks, at lsacks@lrei.org or (212) 477-5316 ext. 291
4. A perfect gift!
LETTERMAN JACKETS NOW AVAILABLE!
Wool Letterman Jackets now available through
the LREI school store.
These beautiful warm, winter coats are now
available by special order only. The cost is
approximately $200 per coat. Each is personalized
with your name. Order by next Wednesday,
November 26th to receive by Holiday Break. For orders: Contact Kasey Picayo at
picayosmith@aol.com. See attachment for photo.
5. From the LREI Family Handbook
Vacations: 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.
We will not honor families’ requests to receive work their children will miss due to family
vacation plans. Families that are presented with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to make
an extended visit to another city, country, etc. should speak to their child’s principal.
In general, we are focused on making sure that we are using each moment of each
school day as effectively as possible. Part of being able to do this is to have each
student in school each of these days. Thank you for your support of these efforts.
6. Red is Green Committee:
Red is Green Monthly Recycle Drives: Thanks to all the families who participated in the first LREI Recycle Month – we collected over 1000 plastic bags to be recycled! We’ll be keeping the box in the Sixth Avenue lobby for a while longer, so please continue to drop off plastic bags. Also, you can always bring your bags to Whole Foods, Staples, Barnes & Nobles and other chain stores to be recycled.
This month, Red is Green is collecting used sneakers! Through December 19 you can bring your old athletic shoes (no shoes containing metal please) to school and drop them off in the boxes located in the lobby of either building. Sneakers will be ground up and recycled into outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields, and playgrounds through the NIKE grind program. For more information please check out their website at www.nikereuseashoe.com.
Still to come… January is recycle your greeting cards month! Save all your cards this holiday season and we’ll be collecting them in January. St. Jude’s Ranch accepts recycled cards which they use to make “green” holiday cards. The proceeds go towards helping abused, abandoned and neglected children.
7. CALLING ALL EMBROIDERY BUFFS!
Embroider a square for the 2009 Big Auction Community Quilt. All squares must be completed by February 1, 2009. Please see the attachment for details.
Sandra Song
Annual Fund and Special Events Manager