Dear Parents,

Snapshots from the High School, Tuesday, November 1:

* The Senior class gathers in the PAC for a 1 & 1/2-hour, one-teacher-for-every-six-student college essay writing workshop

* An expert Sitar player teaches eleventh grade music students about the microbeat patterns of different ragas

* Ninth grade students act out a chance meeting in the street, complete with introductions – conducted entirely in Mandarin

* Ninth grade English students build vocabulary by looking at new words in context in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”

* A captivating assembly filled with film, sitar music and singing, celebrating the Hindu and Sikh holiday Diwali, the “Festival of Lights”

* Tenth grade students plan to rendezvous with their history teacher later in the week to work at the soup kitchen at the uptown Rutgers Presbyterian Church

* Ninth grade world history students discuss the debasement of currency in the Roman Empire and compare that to modern-day inflation

* Eleventh grade astronomy students use the interactive “Starry Night” software to calculate the azimuth and altitude of various celestial objects from different places in the Western hemisphere

Events coming up soon/attachments:

The High School Musical

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Friday November 4, 7:00 PM, Saturday November 5, 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM at the Charlton Street PAC!!!
$8 in advance (tickets on sale in the Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street lobbies), $10 at the door.

Thursday, November 3, 6:30 PM – The first Parents of Children who Receive Academic Support meeting, Charlton Street

If there are any questions please contact Lisa Auerbach at Luna671@aol.com.

Saturday, November 5, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM – Community Service Committee Event

This Saturday, the LREI Parents Association Community Service Committee (including students from the HS Roundtable) are going to East New York Farms! in Brooklyn to experience a community agriculture project by working in a garden, touring several of the local gardens and visiting the farmers’ market where the gardeners sell their own produce. Please see the attached flyer for details. See also the Parents Association Community Service Committee calendar for Fall ’05.

Thursday, November 10, 6:30 PM – Tenth Grade Potluck

Thursday, November 10, 6:30 PM – Tenth Grade potluck dinner

Tuesday, November 15
6:00 PM – For ALL parents of ninth graders – a discussion group facilitated by NYC – Parents In Action, Inc.

From their website: “NYC-Parents in Action 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.”

6:30 PM – Tenth, eleventh and twelfth individual grade parent reps meetings
7:30 PM – Full High School Parent Reps Meeting
Minutes from the last meeting are attached.

All the best,

Tony

CALENDAR
November
* Thursday 3 The first Parents of Children who Receive Academic Support meeting, Charlton Street, 6:30 PM
* Friday 4-Saturday 5 High School Musical
* Saturday 5 Community Service Committee Event
* Thursday 10 Tenth Grade Potluck
* Tuesday 15 Ninth grade parents discussion group with Parents In Action, Inc.; High School Parent Reps Meeting
* Wednesday 23 School closes at noon for Thanksgiving
* Tuesday 29 Last day of Trimester I classes
* Wednesday 30 Trimester I Exams/Presentations

December
* Thursday 1-Friday 2 Trimester I Exams/Presentations; End of Trimester I
* Monday 5 Trimester II begins

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.

Dear Parents,

I have had many occasions to think in the past few weeks about traditions. There have been three signature events recently that represent new incarnations of venerable LREI traditions. Let me speak first about our visitors from Germany. Immediately after September 11, 2001, students from the Gunter-Stohr-Gymnasium School outside of Munich, Germany felt the need to reach out to students from a school in downtown New York City. Out of this initial correspondence, the German exchange program was founded. Ten German students and their chaperone arrived nearly two weeks ago, and they have fully integrated themselves into our community over these past days. On our website, we note that, “Eighty years ago Elisabeth Irwin revolutionized American education by taking students out of the classroom and into the world.” Now in its fourth year, this exchange represents a natural manifestation of that philosophy.

Next, Minimester: Last week, all students from grades eight through twelve, plus our German exchange students, participated in mixed grade groups in our three-day immersion term of mini-courses designed to engage students in a stimulating range of subjects. Students are afforded extraordinary opportunities to learn and experience a subject on multiple levels – immersion in one topic, an interdisciplinary approach and freedom from the constraints of the regular schedule. Minimester itself is only five years old as a tradition, but the spirit behind Minimester springs from the long history of LREI as a laboratory school. This year’s offerings (descriptions attached): Contemporary Art; Food; Kinetic Sculpture; Foreign Culture Through Cinema; Bollywood Musical; Drumline; Buddhism; Genealogy – Learning About Your Family; From Pictures to Print: A VERY Concise History and Exploration of Publishing; Pinhole Photography; Box Sculpture: Remnants of Memory – Sculpture, Painting, and Collage; Broadcasting; The Sikh Faith; Religious Observance in New York City. Students built robots and pinhole cameras; visited galleries and restaurants and schools and houses of worship; analyzed foreign films and modern art trends; made exotic dishes and decorative book jackets; formed a drumline, recorded part of a radio show and filmed a Bollywood musical; and investigated themselves by designing family trees, creating personal history box sculptures and interviewing family members about their religious traditions. The final presentation on Friday afternoon, which consisted of visual presentations outside of the PAC and performances/demonstrations inside, showed what students can accomplish together when they are engaged in meaningful work. An entire community left for the weekend exhilarated by the fruits of this collective progressive endeavor.

One other LREI tradition that is very much alive is that of service to the community. Last week, I wrote about the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert, the second benefit concert in two years. Through a long history of activism and of involvement in a variety of movements, most notably the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, LREI students have, as long as the school has existed, poured their minds and their bodies and their souls into the service of the community and of those in need. And, when all goes well, administrators are smart enough to get out of their way.

Other long-held LREI traditions continue as well. While we do not go on one trip per week as an entire school, as the whole of LREI did for many years at its inception, just recently – along with the many Minimester trips referenced above – twelfth grade Data Analysis students visited the New York Stock Exchange; tenth and eleventh grade music students went to hear Itzhak Perlman and the New York Philharmonic rehearse Mozart’s Adagio in E and Rondo in C, Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 at Avery Fisher Hall (see the New York Philharmonic website for more open rehearsal dates); tenth grade history students went to explore the Slavery in New York exhibition at the New York Historical Society; eleventh and twelfth graders from the Dangerous Language English elective traveled to Bleecker Street and Sixth Avenue to teach lower school students about banned children’s books; and on, and on. These trips all serve a common purpose, just as they did in 1921 – to inspire students who are blessed with a rich, interdisciplinary, rigorous, progressive educational experience, one I see in classrooms every day.

What traditions will the High School Principal be writing about in twenty, thirty, forty years? What tradition will your child start?

Important announcement
Bhawanie Singh, LREI High School Biology and Environmental Science Teacher since 1994, has decided to retire in the middle of this year in order to pursue his many outside-of-school passions. Prominent among these are the Bhawanie Singh Sunday Night Show. From his website:

Bhawanie Singh has been hosting radio shows for approximately five years. He’s currently hosting The Bhawanie Singh Sunday Night Show on WWRL 1600 AM Super Radio. The show is aired every Sunday Night from 8.30 – 10.30 pm. The Bhawanie Singh Sunday Night Show is in its third year and is listened to by a population with a density of approximately 4 to 5 million people in the tri-state area.

The Bhawanie Singh Sunday Night Show offers two full hours of solid entertainment. Listeners get a chance to interact with Bhawanie Singh on matters of Hinduism, Sensitive Community Issues, The News from Guyana and Trinidad and Provocative Indian Songs. Listeners described the experience as truly thrilling and rewarding. The show specially targets the Indo- community in the Tri-State area, an amalgamation of people from India, Guyana, Trinidad, and the rest of the world. Prior to this Bhawanie hosted the Local Talent show on WPAT 930 AM radio for three years. He also did some work on WBAI 99.5 FM.

A search for Bhawanie’s replacement for the remainder of this year is already underway, and several excellent candidates have been identified; the new teacher will start at the beginning of the second trimester. Bhawanie has graciously agreed to continue to work for the school through January in order to ensure a smooth transition for the students, the continuation of trips to such places as the Gowanus Canal and our connection with the River Project at Pier 26. I will be in touch with the parents of Bhawanie’s advisees directly. Please join me in wishing Bhawanie the best as he begins this next chapter in his life.

Events coming up soon/attachments:

Please see Director Phil Kassen’s letter on the Hurrican Katrina relief efforts at LREI.

Thursday, October 27, 6:30 PM – Eleventh Grade Potluck/College Information Evening

Sunday, October 30 – Halloween Fair (see attached flyer), 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Don’t Miss the Halloween Fair!
This Sunday, October 30th from 1:30pm-4:30pm at St. Anthony’s Gym, 143 Thompson Street (between Houston & Prince)

There is still a need for volunteers to help run ghostly games, creepy crafts and the haunted maze. Please sign up in the Sixth Avenue lobby or contact PamDalton@aol.com or ZedPicayo@aol.com.

For those who want to help set up and decorate, please come to St. Anthony’s Gym on Saturday, October 29th from 10am to 6pm. Childcare will be available.

Don’t miss the fun!

Tuesday, November 1, 6:30 PM – Ninth Grade Potluck

Thursday, November 3, 6:30 PM – The first Parents of Children who Receive Academic Support meeting, Charlton Street

If there are any questions please contact Lisa Auerbach at Luna671@aol.com.

Thursday, November 10, 6:30 PM – Tenth Grade Potluck

Friday, November 4 – Saturday, November 5 – High School Musical: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Tuesday, November 15, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting

Grade level meetings followed by group meeting. Ninth grade parents will meet at 6:00 PM for a discussion group facilitated by NYC- Parents In Action, Inc.; other grades meet at 6:30 PM. Minutes from the last meeting are attached.

Take care,

Tony

CALENDAR
October
* Thursday 27 Eleventh Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

November
* Tuesday 1 Ninth Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM
* Thursday 3 The first Parents of Children who Receive Academic Support meeting, Charlton Street, 6:30 PM
* Friday 4-Saturday 5 High School Musical
* Thursday 10 Tenth Grade Potluck
* Tuesday 15 High School Parent Reps Meeting
* Wednesday 23 School closes at noon for Thanksgiving
* Tuesday 29 Last day of Trimester I classes
* Wednesday 30 Trimester I Exams/Presentations

December
* Thursday 1-Friday 2 Trimester I Exams/Presentations; End of Trimester I
* Monday 5 Trimester II begins

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.

Dear all,

Words cannot describe how exciting the Hurricane Benefit concert was, or how proud I was to be a part of a community that would throw its energy and resources into such a terrific event. Stars from Broadway joined Middle and High School LREI students to raise funds for victims of Katrina. The entire event was organized by twelfth grader Javier Picayo; I will let his words speak for themselves:

Thank you to the LREI community for making the Katrina benefit concert a huge success. With all of your support, we have raised over $16,000.00 so far to go to Habitat for Humanity. It was an amazing night, but what I will always remember is that together, we made a difference.
Thanks again,
Javier Picayo

Events coming up soon:

Wednesday, October 19 – Tuesday, October 25: Hurricane Katrina Book Drive; Wednesday, October 26 – Book sorting for Hurricane Katrina Book Drive

In conjunction with the first Literary Evening of the year on Wednesday, October 19, the LREI Literary and Community Service Committees are organizing a book drive for two schools in Louisiana. We are collecting gently used books to benefit students at Scotlandville K-8 School in Baton Rouge, and Grace King High School in Jefferson Parish. Scotlandville is a school that was opened to service students evacuated from areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and Grace King High School just re-opened last week with 2/3 of its students as well as displaced students. Our mission, at this critical time, is to get students as many books as possible, since the schools’ resources have been stretched with the new arrivals and many students and staff lost books due to flooding.

About the Drive
When: Monday, October 17 through Tuesday, October 25

Where: Drop off in any of four boxes which are located in both Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street libraries and lobbies.

What: Gently used books for K – 12. Scotlandville School, K – 8, is in particular need of Early Readers and books by African American authors including Eloise Greenfield, Jerry Pinkney, Mary Hoffman, Patricia McKissack, Ezra Jack Keats, Ashley Bryan, Nikki Grimes, Sharon Draper, Jacqueline Woodson, Virginia Hamilton, Walter Dean Myers, Mildred Pitts Walter, and Faith Ringgold. The High School librarian is interested in all books with special requests for The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, Jane Eyre, Angela’s Ashes, Confederacy of Dunces, Poisonwood Bible, Coming of Age in Mississippi, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Twelve Years a Slave.

How: Books will be shipped to the schools in Louisiana. The Literary and Community Service Committees are asking for cash donations to manage shipping costs. Buckets will be set up near the book boxes. Checks can be made payable to LREI, with an indication in the “memo” that says “Book Drive”.

Why: Scotlandville K-8 School and Grace King High School need our help.

Please help us sort and pack the books on Wednesday October 26, 2005 at 8:45 AM. We will start in the Library at the Sixth Avenue Campus. Please contact Chris Wiggins
email her at cvee99@aol.com if you can help!

Thanks so much for your generosity.

Saturday, October 22, 7:00 PM – Coffeehouse!

In the candlelit PAC, come enjoy a snack and listen to music provided by an assortment of players – faculty, students and friends – presenting a variety of musical styles.

Thursday, October 27 – Eleventh Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM

Sunday, October 30 – Halloween Fair (see attached flyer), 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

THANKS to everyone who has signed-up and delivered toys and trinkets (suitable for Prizes) to the Lobby Box. If you’re still planning on contributing, please do so by next Thursday, October 27. That’s when we’ll start spinning magic for the Howlin’ Halloween Fair which takes place SUNDAY, OCTOBER 30 from 1:30 PM until 4:00 PM in the haunted Gym of St. Anthony’s School. ENTER IF YOU DARE on Thompson Street between Houston and Prince St.

WANTED: Halloween Hooligans for Volunteers: Middle and High School students to help with haunting, Parents to help with setting-up beforehand and the day of. Details are posted in the Sixth Avenue Lobby. Any Questions Call: Pam Salisbury @ 212-995-1992 or Zoe Picayo @ 917-690-1412.

Tuesday, November 1, 6:30 PM – Ninth Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM

Thursday, November 3, 6:30 PM – The first Parents of Children who Receive Academic Support meeting, Charlton Street

If there are any questions please contact Lisa Auerbach at Luna671@aol.com.

Take care,

Tony

CALENDAR
October
* Wednesday 19 – Tuesday 25 Hurricane Katrina Book Drive
* Saturday 22 Coffeehouse!, 7:00 PM
* Tuesday 25 High School Open House, 6:30 PM
* Wednesday 26 Book sorting for Hurricane Katrina Book Drive
* Thursday 27 Eleventh Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

November
* Tuesday 1 Ninth Grade Potluck, 6:30 PM
* Friday 4-Saturday 5 High School Musical
* Thursday 10 Tenth Grade Potluck
* Tuesday 15 High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Wednesday 23 School closes at noon for Thanksgiving
* Tuesday 29 Last day of Trimester I classes
* Wednesday 30 Trimester I Exams/Presentations

December
* Thursday 1-Friday 2 Trimester I Exams/Presentations; End of Trimester I
* Monday 5 Trimester II begins

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.

Dear all,

A short installment this week. Two important announcements:

* This Monday, October 17 at 6:15 PM (NEW TIME!) we will have the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert! This concert will feature the High School Jazz Band, the Middle School Band and several stars from Broadway and beyond! For more information about LREI’s efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html.

And one more big event coming up this week – “Tweens Going on Twenty: Thirty Books in Thirty Minutes – A FREE evening panel discussing reading choices for fourth grade through ninth grade readers” – this Wednesday, October 19 at 7:00 PM in the Charlton Street PAC – see the attached flyer.

I also include, for your perusal, a list of the descriptions of next week’s upcoming Minimester electives. I will write more about Minimester – which will run from Wednesday, October 19 through Friday, October 21 – and about our German visitors next week.

Other dates in October:

* The first Coffehouse! of the year is at 7:00 PM on Saturday, October 22. All are welcome!

* The Eleventh Grade Potluck Dinner, with preliminary college process information provided by our own Amy Shapiro, has moved to Tuesday, October 27th at 6:30 PM.

* And coming on Sunday, October 30, from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM: No Body is a nobody when the HALLOWEEN FAIR rises again! Location: St. Anthony’s Gym (enter on Thompson Street). The Zombie-Committee would love your undying help and support. Please volunteer that day or contribute to the pre-production of this event. Sign-up sheets and supply wish-lists are in the Sixth Avenue Lobby right now! The Toy-Prize Donation Box is also in the Lobby. BOO There, or be square! Enjoy a spook-alicious fun time featuring:

Scary Stage Show, Maskerade Parade,Fearful-Photo Opportunities, T-Shirt Boo-tique, Witchy Crafts, Gruesome Bake Sale, Decorate Deadly Cupcakes and Great Pumpkins of your very own, Face-Painting and Masquerading, Plenty of Ghoulish Games and Skullduggery Stories.

Other items:
* Note the link to the right connecting you to the current list of outside-of-the-school community service opportunities, compiled by High School Community Service Coordinator Nick Sullivan. For more information, you can call email Nick at nsullivan@lrei.org.

* Second reminder: Parents of children who receive academic support: The PA is interested in forming a parent group for parents of children who receive academic support in or out of school. This can be a place to meet, exchange information and learn more on the subject of learning style differences. If you are interested in this group please contact Lisa Auerbach at luna671@aol.com.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
October
* Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
* Monday 17 Katrina Benefit Concert, 6:30 PM
* Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Wednesday 19 Literary Evening, 7:00 PM
* Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
* Saturday 22 Coffeehouse!, 7:00 PM
* Tuesday 25 High School Open House, 6:30 PM
* Thursday 27 Eleventh Grade Potluck NEW DATE, 6:30 PM
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

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.

Dear all,

Even if you have done this kind of thing before, there is nothing quite like the pit in your stomach when you are balancing yourself on a log 30 feet up in the air. This activity, and others like it, formed the culminating “high ropes” portion of the ninth and tenth grade Ramapo trip. (Yes, we were all perfectly safe.) Ninth and tenth graders and faculty members all cheered one another on as challenges were met and fears were conquered. Afterward, members of each grade talked of new friendships formed, and ninth graders especially talked of feeling more fully integrated into the life of the school. All in all, a terrific trip.

October is turning out to be a fantastically busy time in the life of the High School and the school in general:

* This Tuesday, October 12th at 6:30 PM, we are excited to have Marjorie Terry of Freedom Institute present a talk in the Charlton Street PAC, “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City” (see the attached flyer).

* The following Monday, October 17 at 6:15 PM (NEW TIME!) we will have the Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert! This concert will feature the High School Jazz Band, the Middle School Band and several stars from Broadway and beyond! For more information about LREI’s efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html.

* In just a little more than a week, our German exchange students will arrive; the next week,from Wednesday, October 19 through Friday, October 21, we will have Minimester, our collection of three-day, cross-grade educational laboratory courses, with the eighth grade and the German guests joining the High School.

* Our German guests will also be with us for the first Coffehouse! of the year, at 7:00 PM on Saturday, October 22. All are welcome!

* The Eleventh Grade Potluck Dinner, with preliminary college process information provided by our own Amy Shapiro, has moved to Tuesday, October 27th at 6:30 PM.

* And coming on Sunday, October 30, from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM: No Body is a nobody when the HALLOWEEN FAIR rises again! Location: St. Anthony’s Gym (enter on Thompson Street). The Zombie-Committee would love your undying help and support. Please volunteer that day or contribute to the pre-production of this event. Sign-up sheets and supply wish-lists are in the Sixth Avenue Lobby right now! The Toy-Prize Donation Box is also in the Lobby. BOO There, or be square! Enjoy a spook-alicious fun time featuring:

Scary Stage Show, Maskerade Parade,Fearful-Photo Opportunities, T-Shirt Boo-tique, Witchy Crafts, Gruesome Bake Sale, Decorate Deadly Cupcakes and Great Pumpkins of your very own, Face-Painting and Masquerading, Plenty of Ghoulish Games and Skullduggery Stories.

Other items:
* Note the link to the right connecting you to the current list of outside-of-the-school community service opportunities, compiled by High School Community Service Coordinator Nick Sullivan. For more information, you can call email Nick at nsullivan@lrei.org.

* Please see the attached minutes from the most recent Parent Reps meeting. Thanks to Denise Adler for the minutes. The next meeting is on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:30 PM.

* Reminder: Parents of children who receive academic support: The PA is interested in forming a parent group for parents of children who receive academic support in or out of school. This can be a place to meet, exchange information and learn more on the subject of learning style differences. If you are interseted in this group please contact Lisa Auerbach at luna671@aol.com.

* Asian-American Families Breakfast — Please bring your whole family for this group’s first get-together of the year. Friday, Oct. 7th, 7:45 a.m.-9:00 a.m., 6th-Avenue Cafeteria. If you have to come late or leave early, that’s fine, it’s very informal. It’s also potluck, so please let Ruth Yang (ryang@walzyanglaw.com) know what food you will bring. And if you forget to sign up or can’t bring anything, please still come!

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
October
* Thursday 6 High School Open House, 6:30 PM
* Friday 7 Asian-American Families Breakfast, 6th Avenue Cafeteria, 7:45 AM – 9:00 AM
* Monday 10 School closed – Columbus Day
* Tuesday 11 “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City,” Charlton Street PAC (see above), 6:30 PM
* Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
* Monday 17 Katrina Benefit Concert, 6:30 PM
* Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
* Saturday 22 Coffeehouse!, 7:00 PM
* Tuesday 25 High School Open House, 6:30 PM
* Thursday 27 Eleventh Grade Potluck NEW DATE, 6:30 PM
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair, 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM

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.

Dear all,

I send this email early as I am off to Ramapo with the ninth and tenth grades. Yesterday, the ninth grade spent some time at Pier 40 doing some group exercises that helped to build trust and helped them to get to know more about each other. As I told the grade at the end of the day, these exercises, and trips such as Ramapo that help students learn to take risks and support one another, pay serious dividends all through high school, in and out of the classroom. From doing a group ninth grade mathematics or tenth grade history project to dealing with the stress of waiting for college acceptance letters, having peers you can truly count on makes for a more rewarding and richer education and a more fulfilling high school experience. And as anyone who has been there can tell you, working productively in groups can be a real key to success in college, in graduate or professional school, and in life.

A link to be aware of: Click here to see the current list of outside-of-the-school community service opportunities, compiled by High School Community Service Coordinator Nick Sullivan. For more information, you can call email Nick at nsullivan@lrei.org.

Please take a look at the calendar below, as October is an outrageously full month of events. Some highlights:

* Tuesday, October 4: No School – Rosh Hashanah

* Monday, October 10: No school – Columbus Day

* Tuesday, October 11: * Please see the attached flyer for a talk at 6:30 PM in the Charlton Street PAC, “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City,” presented by Marjorie Terry of Freedom Institute.

* Thursday, October 13: No school – Yom Kippur

* Monday, October 17: Save the date: Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert! For information about LREI’s efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html.

* Tuesday, October 18: Next parent reps meeting, 6:30 PM

* Wednesday, October 19: Literary Evening – Stay tuned for more details …

* Saturday, October 22: Coffeehouse!

* Thursday, October 27 – NEW DATE – The 11th Grade Potluck Dinner has been moved from Thursday, October 20th to Thursday, October 27th. 6:30 PM!

An exciting honor to announce: Librarian Karyn Silverman has been asked to chair the American Library Association (ALA) Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) Committee for the next calendar year (Feb 06-Jan 07)! This is a huge honor, both for Karyn and for LREI. We will continue to receive a wealth of free books, have additional opportunities for our students to be involved in ALA activities, and bring us to the attention of book people across the country. Click here for more information about the ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults program.

More announcements:
* Parents of children who receive academic support: The PA is interested in forming a parent group for parents of children who receive academic support in or out of school.  This can be a place to meet, exchange information and learn more on the subject of learning style differences.  If you are interseted in this group please contact Lisa Auerbach at luna671@aol.com.

* Multicultural Committee Meeting — Thanks to everyone who came to the potluck lunch last weekend. This parent committee’s first official meeting will be Thursday, Oct. 6th, 8:45 a.m., 6th-Avenue Cafeteria. On the agenda: brainstorming for activities and meeting topics for the year and early planning for Karamu!, our annual high-energy performing arts event in January. All parents from all divisions are encouraged to join this very diverse group. Questions? Contact co-chairs Mario Murillo (mario@wbai.org) or Noreen Stallings-Hall (nstallings@lcbf.com).

* Asian-American Families Breakfast — Please bring your whole family for this group’s first get-together of the year. Friday, Oct. 7th, 7:45 a.m.-9:00 a.m., 6th-Avenue Cafeteria. If you have to come late or leave early, that’s fine, it’s very informal. It’s also potluck, so please let Ruth Yang (ryang@walzyanglaw.com) know what food you will bring. And if you forget to sign up or can’t bring anything, please still come!

* Last (!) reminder – The Germans are coming, and we’re looking for hosts! Our annual exchange group of students will arrive on October 15th and stay for two weeks. Please contact Tom Murphy at tmurphy@lrei.org if you are interested in hosting a student. Students who host (and who are in good academic standing) have priority when we go to Germany over Spring Break.

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
September
* Thursday 29-Friday 30 Ramapo Overnight Trip – 9th and 10th Grades

October
* Tuesday 4 School Closed – Rosh Hashanah
* Thursday 6 8:45 AM Multicultural Committee Meeting, 6th Avenue Cafeteria
* Thursday 6 6:30 PM High School Open House
* Friday 7 7:45 AM – 9:00 AM Asian-American Families Breakfast, 6th Avenue Cafeteria
* Monday 10 School closed – Columbus Day
* Tuesday 11 6:30 PM “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City,” Charlton Street PAC (see above)
* Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
* Monday 17 Katrina Benefit Concert
* Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
* Saturday 22 7:00 PM Coffeehouse!
* Tuesday 25 6:30 PM High School Open House
* Thursday 27 6:30 PM Eleventh Grade Potluck NEW DATE
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair

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.

Dear LREI families,

Only two weeks in, but the school already feels like it is in full swing. I saw many of you at curriculum night and felt much of the same positive energy in the ten-minute sessions that I feel walking around the school every day. It is truly exciting to see some of the courses that we planned last year, such as Latino/Latina literature, Global Literature, “Girls Gone Wild” (Gender and Madness), Astronomy and Mandarin, coming to fruition. Those of us who attended new Math/Science teacher Alissa Wall’s tenth grade Physics class learned that an unopened can of Dr. Pepper will sink, while an unopened can of Diet Dr. Pepper will float. Who knew?

We have a number of initiatives under way outside of the curriculum as well. As I mentioned in my letter home over the summer, we have created a weekly period for clubs and activities, and already we are feeling the increased buzz. Many students are considering the creation of new clubs; as of this writing, the club/activity list consists of:

Lesbian-Gay-Straight Alliance
Choreography Workshop
Documentary Film Club
Chinese Club
Video Club
Book Review
Harry Potter Club
Newspaper
Fiber Arts Club
Human Rights/Amnesty International
Speech/Debate
Yearbook
Jazz Band
Chorus
Step Team
Cooking Club
Chess Club
Improv Club
ie (The Literary Magazine)
Chocoholics Club
Community Service Roundtable

We are also thrilled to announce the creation of a formal Peer Leadership program. Peer Leadership will be a weekly commitment for interested twelfth graders, who will spend a good deal of time learning about how best to talk with younger High School students about a wide variety of issues, ranging from academic workload to peer pressure and everything in between. Then, starting in late October, those students will spend every other session working individually with small groups of ninth graders, with planning sessions in between. It gives me enormous pleasure to announce that leading this group will be Ruth (Geyer) Jurgensen, returning to us after two years at Miss Porter’s School. Ruth received her BA in English Literature from Connecticut College and her MA in English and American Literature from Brown University. Before going to Miss Porter’s, Ruth was at LREI from 1996 through 2003, teaching 9th and 12th grade English as well as working as the 9th Grade Dean. Ruth will be teaching English classes in the Winter and the Senior Project seminar in the Spring, as well as working on projects (such as Peer Leadership) which are directly related to school community.

Announcements:
* Please see a message on school safety from Director Phil Kassen.

* Check out the schedule for High School athletics events by clicking on the appropriate link on the right (the link goes to http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html).

* We have a student teacher with us from Germany who is in dire need of housing! She is a student at the Munich Academy of Arts, from which she will graduate in one year. She has been with us for about a week, but her housing arrangements have fallen through, so she is looking for a place to stay from now until mid-December. She can pay a modest amount (around $500 a month). If you can possibly help, please contact Tom Murphy at tmurphy@lrei.org.

* Please see the attached flyer for an upcoming talk on Tuesday, October 11 at 6:30 PM in the Charlton Street PAC, “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City,” presented by Marjorie Terry of Freedom Institute.

* Save the date: Hurricane Katrina Benefit Concert – Monday, October 17. For information about LREI’s efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html.

Other important events coming up:

– The first HALLOWEEN FAIR MEETING will take place at 6th Avenue on Friday, September 23rd at 8:45 AM.

– To the entire LREI Community: Please join us for the annual, school-wide Welcome (Back) Potluck Lunch, hosted by the Parent Multicultural Committee, noon-3 PM, Saturday, September 24th, at the home of parent Manuel Jaimes, 201 Eastern Parkway, 6A, Brooklyn (across from the Brooklyn Museum & Botanic Garden), tel: 718-398-1192. (2/3 train to Eastern Parkway; 4/5 to Franklin). Sign up in the 6th Ave lobby or the Charlton Street lobby starting Monday; or e-mail MCC co-chairs Mario Murillo and Noreen Stallings-Hall at mario@wbai.org. Come and meet new families and catch up with old friends, even if you can stop by for only a bit!

– Third reminder – The Germans are coming, and we’re looking for hosts! Our annual exchange group of students will arrive on October 15th and stay for two weeks. Please contact Tom Murphy at tmurphy@lrei.org if you are interested in hosting a student. Students who host (and who are in good academic standing) have priority when we go to Germany over Spring Break.

– Second Reminder: The first Parent Reps meeting will now take place at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, September 27th. Please contact Denise Adler at daja53@aol.com if you are interested in being a Parent Rep; however, all are welcome to the meeting.

– Second Reminder: All ninth and tenth grade parents: The trip to Ramapo is coming up on Thursday and Friday September 29th and 30th (see the attached letter about the trip). You should already have received, signed and returned the permission slip . Attached please find the packing list as well. Important note: Medications, including Advil, etc. must be brought by individuals – Ramapo will not distribute any meds. Please contact your child’s Dean or Advisor if there are special concerns.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
September
* Thursday 22 6:30 PM Senior Class Potluck/College Informational Evening
* Friday 23 8:45 AM 1st Halloween Fair meeting (6th Avenue)
* Saturday 24 Welcome (Back) Potluck Lunch, 12 PM – 3 PM (see above for details)
* Tuesday 27 6:30 PM High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Thursday 29-Friday 30 Ramapo Overnight Trip – 9th and 10th Grades

October
* Tuesday 4 School Closed – Rosh Hashanah
* Thursday 6 6:30 PM High School Open House
* Monday 10 School closed – Columbus Day
* Tuesday 11 6:30 PM “High School Student Drug Use Across the Nation and in the Independent Schools of New York City,” Charlton Street PAC (see above)
* Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
* Monday 17 Katrina Benefit Concert
* Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
* Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
* Thursday 20 6:30 PM Eleventh Grade Potluck
* Saturday 22 7:00 PM Coffeehouse!
* Tuesday 25 6:30 PM High School Open House
* Sunday 30 Halloween Fair

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.

Dear LREI families,

Greetings from Charlton Street! First, congratulations to High School Music Teacher Vin Scialla for organizing, for the fourth year in a row, the Washington Square Park venue of The September Concert, “a series of free musical performances held each September 11th in cities around the world” (from the website). The afternoon of music included performances by LREI students and faculty.

This week’s announcements/reminders:

– Important: Curriculum Night is this Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30 PM, with the PA Welcome (see attached flyer) starting at 6:00 PM.

– Our High School photographer, Irving Simon, reports that because so few High School students/parents order pictures, it is no longer a profitable enterprise to take every student’s picture. For that reason, the company will take class pictures – which anyone can order – but will only take individual pictures of those students who pre-order sets of photographs. The envelopes for ordering will be available at the Charlton Street front desk; please call the desk if you would like an envelope. All students will also be given envelopes. Prices are:
* $31.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, one 8″x10″ personal, two 3″x5″ personal and four large wallets
* $30.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, three 5″x7″ personal, and four large wallets
* $24.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, one 5″x7″ personal, two 3″x5″ personal and four large wallets
* $9.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot
Pictures will be taken on Friday, September 16.

– Please see Director of Education Nick O’Han’s message on LREI’s response to Hurricane Katrina, in which Nick writes about two in-kind donation drives the school is launching next week.

– The Senior Class Potluck Dinner/College Information Evening is Thursday, September 22nd at 6:30 PM.

– The first HALLOWEEN FAIR MEETING will take place at 6th Avenue on Friday, September 23rd at 8:45 AM.

– To the entire LREI Community: Please join us for the annual, school-wide Welcome (Back) Potluck Lunch, hosted by the Parent Multicultural Committee, noon-3 PM, Saturday, September 24th, at the home of parent Manuel Jaimes, 201 Eastern Parkway, 6A, Brooklyn (across from the Brooklyn Museum & Botanic Garden), tel: 718-398-1192. (2/3 train to Eastern Parkway; 4/5 to Franklin). Sign up in the 6th Ave lobby starting Monday; or e-mail MCC co-chairs Mario Murillo and Noreen Stallings-Hall at mario@wbai.org. Come and meet new families and catch up with old friends, even if you can stop by for only a bit!

– Second reminder – The Germans are coming, and we’re looking for hosts! Our annual exchange group of students will arrive on October 15th and stay for two weeks. Please contact Tom Murphy at tmurphy@lrei.org if you are interested in hosting a student. Students who host (and who are in good academic standing) have priority when we go to Germany over Spring Break.

– The first Parent Reps meeting will now take place at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, September 27th. Please contact Denise Adler at daja53@aol.com if you are interested in being a Parent Rep; however, all are welcome to the meeting.

– All ninth and tenth grade parents: The trip to Ramapo is coming up on Thursday and Friday September 29th and 30th (see the attached letter about the trip). You should already have received, signed and returned the permission slip . Attached please find the packing list as well. Important note: Medications, including Advil, etc. must be brought by individuals – Ramapo will not distribute any meds. Please contact your child’s Dean or Advisor if there are special concerns.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
September
Thursday 15 Clubs/Activities Fair during Clubs/Activities/Study Period
Tuesday 20 6:00 PM PA Welcome; 6:30 PM High School Curriculum Night
Thursday 22 6:30 PM Senior Class Potluck/College Informational Evening
Friday 23 8:45 AM 1st HHalloween Fair meeting (6th Avenue)
Saturday 24 Welcome (Back) Potluck Lunch, 12 PM – 3 PM (see above for details)Tuesday 27 6:30 PM High School Parent Rep Meeting
Thursday 29-Friday 30 Ramapo Overnight Trip – 9th and 10th Grades

October
Tuesday 4 School Closed – Rosh Hashanah
Thursday 6 6:30 PM High School Open House
Monday 10 School closed – Columbus Day
Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
Thursday 20 6:30 PM Eleventh Grade Potluck
Saturday 22 7:00 PM Coffeehouse!
Tuesday 25 6:30 PM High School Open House
Sunday 30 Halloween Fair

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.

Dear LREI families,

Greetings! Welcome to the first weekly blog of the year. The goal of these notes is to keep you informed on a regular basis of the events and goings on around the school. There will often be attachments for you to peruse at your leisure, and there will always be a schedule of upcoming events in the text of the blog. In addition, you can always visit the High School web site for more information. I especially recommend that you check out the examples of High School art by going to the school’s art site or take a look at some pictures of last year’s High School Commencement (click on the Commencement button on the main page). As always, please let me know at any time if there is any way that these emails can be more useful or clearer; also, don’t be shy about letting me know if they are just right!

What an outstanding start for the High School! We opened with 162 students, a brand new Student Center, an additional cart of laptop computers, a newly washed facade, and as always, a freshly painted High School. Just on the first day, the energy in the building has been palpable, and it is wonderful to see new friendships being so quickly formed and old ones renewed. Our new student orientation was a terrific success – new students got a chance to get to know each other, took tours of the building and the neighborhood, and got a warm welcome and some wise words of advice from the incoming Student Government.

I have a great deal more to say about the start of the year, about the already begun efforts to ease the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and about the intellectual, aesthetic and athletic pursuits already underway in all grades, but that can wait for future emails. Some IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS:

– This is an invitation to the entire LREI faculty, administration, & community.
Please join us for the annual September Concert this Sunday, September 11th @ Washington Square Park, South, Noon- 4:30pm outdoors, featuring:

* Micah Dov (singer/songwriter/mathematician)(joined by Charles & Seth)
* Ray Weiss & the Medics (LREI senior & bandleader)
* Penelope (singer/songwriter & cellist)
* LREI HS Jazz Band (standards/jazz/soul)
* mission on mars (Indian/world fusion)
* Robert Ross (blues/guitar maestro)
* superiority complex (rock with a twist)
& drum circle for all

From music teacher Vin Scialla:

The September Concert Foundation was created in April, 2002 for the sole purpose of organizing an annual citywide music festival in New York, in remembrance of September 11th and a celebration of our universal humanity. On September 11th, 2005, we will be bringing free music to New York City parks, churches, restaurants, clubs and other venues.

After the daytime program ends at 6pm, we will be moving the music into the restaurants and clubs. In Greenwich Village, there will be two nighttime events, running at the same time.

It would be great to see you at these and other September Concert events! Please check out the following link, for the complete listing of citywide events:

http://www.septemberconcert.org/vs_1.php

Lastly, if anyone is interested in volunteering on Sunday, September 11th, please email me at vscialla@lrei.org. I have been working with September Concert for the past three years and have found the experience to be immensely rewarding and a lot of fun!

– Reminder – the New Parents Reception is Wednesday, September 14th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the home of Carol Sedwick and Michael Patrick ’71, Chair, LREI Board of Trustees, 250 West 94th Street, Apt. 15F (between Broadway and West End Avenue)

– Tour of Summer ’05 Renovations
We’ve been busy! Come see the new Sixth Avenue Auditorium and Charlton Street Cafeteria and Student Center for yourself. Coffee and tea will be served.
Wednesday, September 14 from 8:30 am – 9:30 am
Phil will be in the Sixth Avenue Auditorium at 8:45 to answer questions and then at Charlton Street at 9:15.

– Important: Curriculum Night has moved to Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30 PM, with the PA Welcome starting at 6:00 PM.

– Our High School photographer, Irving Simon, reports that because so few High School students/parents order pictures, it is no longer a profitable enterprise to take every student’s picture. For that reason, the company will take class pictures – which anyone can order – but will only take individual pictures of those students who pre-order sets of photographs. The envelopes for ordering will be available at the Charlton Street front desk; please call the desk if you would like an envelope. All students will also be given envelopes. Prices are:
* $31.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, one 8″x10″ personal, two 3″x5″ personal and four large wallets
* $30.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, three 5″x7″ personal, and four large wallets
* $24.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot, one 5″x7″ personal, two 3″x5″ personal and four large wallets
* $9.95 for one 5″x7″ group shot
Pictures will be taken on Friday, September 16.

– The Senior Class Potluck Dinner/College Information Evening is Thursday, September 22 at 6:30 PM.

– The Germans are coming, and we’re looking for hosts! Our annual exchange group of students will arrive on October 15th and stay for two weeks. Please contact Tom Murphy at tmurphy@lrei.org if you are interested in hosting a student. Students who host (and who are in good academic standing) have priority when we go to Germany over Spring Break.

– The first Parent Reps meeting will now take place at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, September 27. Please contact Denise Adler at daja53@aol.com if you are interested in being a Parent Rep; however, all are welcome to the meeting.

– All ninth and tenth grade parents: The trip to Ramapo is right around the corner, on Thursday and Friday September 29th and 30th (see the attached letter about the trip). The permission slip is attached, and will also be sent home with the students; you will receive the packing list shortly.

– We have students on both campuses who have very serious nut/seed allergies. For that reason, the Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street buildings are to be kept completely nut and seed free. Please help us to keep all of our students safe.

That’s all for now – I hope that you are looking forward to this new year with the same enthusiasm and sense of hope and possibility that I am feeling and that I am confident is shared by the students and faculty as well.

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS
September
Thursday 8 First day of school – Trimester I begins
Sunday 11 The September Concert in Washington Square Park
Tuesday 13 High School Book Circles in Assembly
Wednesday 14 Tour of Summer ’05 Renovations; New Families Reception
Thursday 15 Clubs/Activities Fair during Clubs/Activities/Study Period
Tuesday 20 PA Welcome; High School Curriculum Night
Thursday 22 Senior Class Potluck/College Informational Evening; Placement Directors’ Breakfast
Tuesday 27 High School Parent Rep Meeting
Thursday 29-Friday 30 Ramapo Overnight Trip – 9th and 10th Grades

October
Tuesday 4 School Closed – Rosh Hashanah
Thursday 6 High School Open House
Monday 10 School closed – Columbus Day
Thursday 13 School closed – Yom Kippur
Tuesday 18 Last day of 9th Grade Arts Rotation #1; High School Parent Rep Meeting
Wednesday 19-Friday 21 Minimester
Thursday 20 Eleventh Grade Potluck
Saturday 22 Coffeehouse!
Tuesday 25 High School Open House
Sunday 30 Halloween Fair

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.

Dear all,

What a blur as we charge toward the finish line! I have not stopped glowing from last week’s Senior Project Presentation Evening. I have spent some time thinking about that evening as the most appropriate culmination of a progressive education – students proving their ability to use their hard-earned academic skills and knowledge, and their leadership, out in the world in order to make that world a better place.

There have been further developments in the life of the High School as well. As the school year wraps up, the new Student Government – elected in the early Spring, as soon as the Seniors began their field work for Senior Projects – began to plan for next year and beyond. The Student Government representatives have been busy reconstituting the Honor Board, and the students and faculty are engaged in a lively and productive debate about what a school honor board can and should do. The faculty has also engaged the Student Government in a discussion of how, as the school grows, we can help to ensure that students from all grades get to know each other. This was a major concern voiced by the outgoing Seniors, and we are eager to plan now for the Fall.

The major planning for the fall, however, has been curricular. Let me begin with a brand new program and a brand new teacher. We are pleased to announce the start of LREI’s Mandarin Chinese program in the High School. The program will start in the 2005-2006 school year with classes taught to ninth graders by Guo-Qing (pronounced “Ching”) Zhang Heaton. Guo-Qing comes to us with over fifteen years of teaching and tutoring experience. She has not only taught Chinese in a variety of locations and situations, from Kyoto, Japan to New York, but has also taught Chinese calligraphy as well as sculpture and other fine arts as a Professor of Sculpture and Design in her native Xian, China. Guo-Qing plans to develop students’ aesthetic appreciation of Chinese characters along with proficiency in oral and written communication. The course will be designed for students who have never studied Mandarin before, but Guo-Qing is confident that she will be able to accommodate students who do have some familiarity as well. The program will expand to ninth and tenth grades in 2006-2007, ninth, tenth and eleventh grades in 2007-2008 and then to all four grades in 2008-2009. For the next few years, students in grades in which Chinese is not taught will have the opportunity to do independent study/Honors Projects with Guo-Qing (in addition to their regular foreign language classes). Please feel free to contact Foreign Language Department Chair Adele Pelz or myself if you have further questions.

Let me take this opportunity to introduce you quickly to other new faculty (I will give more details in my summer letter). Alissa Wall will teach mathematics and some physics next year. Alissa has an AB in Geophysics from Harvard and has taught mathematics at the Commonwealth School in Boston as well as at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn. Alissa is also a serious dancer and a volunteer at Housing Works. Preethi Thomas will be our new science teacher, teaching physics, chemistry and a new eleventh grade Astronomy course. Preethi has a BS in Science Education from NYU (concentration in Physics) and an MA in Curriculum and Teaching from Teachers College, Columbia University. Preethi has taught at Washington Irving High School and has most recently been working with Girls Incorporated of New York City. Bill Bailey will teach one section of tenth grade History. Bill is a thirty-five year veteran of Concord Academy, birthplace of GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Educators Network). For the past three years, he has been teaching history part-time at a variety of New York City independent schools. Bill has a BA and an MA in History from Columbia University. Finally, Vinay Chowdhry will be our new Media Arts teacher. Vinay has a BA in Film and Video from Penn State University and an MFA in Film and Video from Bard College’s Milton Avery Graduate School. Vinay has a variety of teaching experiences, including teaching graduate-level film courses at The New School as well as teaching film to at-risk youth in the Bronx through the Women’s Housing Economic Development Corp. Vinay is an accomplished filmmaker, with experience making commercials and narrative films, as well as experimental films, many involving dance and politics.

Along with new faculty, we have additional courses to announce. In addition to the Chinese program and the new Astronomy course mentioned above, the English Department will move from fixed eleventh and twelfth grade courses to mixed-grade electives, just as the History Department did starting last year. The History Department will add electives, including a course taught by Director of Diversity and Community Sharon Dupree tentatively titled “Economics, Race and Class” (taught this year as a Seniors-only two trimester course) and a course taught by Director of Education Nick O’Han titled “The Communities of New York.” The Arts Department is also expanding with additional Music courses as well as course offerings in Graphic Design and Animation.

With all of this growth has come some growing pains; we have to rethink all of our ‘systems’, from fire drills to scheduling classes, and as our Seniors have reminded us (as mentioned above), we have to work to keep the small school feel even as we grow ever larger. When I started two years ago, I invited any and all families who wished to meet with me over the summer to set up a time to do so. Let me make that same offer now. I am eager to hear your thoughts and suggestions as we continue to move the High School forward.

One attachment to this email: An end-of-year message from Director Phil Kassen.

And one announcement: LREI celebrates Gay Pride: Sunday, June 26, 2005. Be a part of a worldwide movement for freedom and equality, and march with the LREI banner in the 2005 NYC PRIDE parade. It’s fun and festive, and kids are very welcome. High School students may earn three hours of community service credit. The LREI group will meet on the northwest corner of 29th St and 5th Avenue by the Marble Collegiate Church at 12.15 PM. (We will join the march midway, along with the CenterKids families.) LREI will be officially announced at two points along the route: 24th and 5th, and Christopher and Greenwich. Two years ago, we were the first school ever to march, and we proudly wore our Elisabeth Irwin T-shirts. The crowd went wild! Come and join us, or come out and cheer us on. For more info, contact nancy@workman.com or phone Kate Edgar, 917-583-6269.

Finally – the summer reading list will be ready in a matter of days. Ninth and tenth graders will choose one book from the list of books suggested by faculty plus one mandatory book, while eleventh and twelfth graders will choose two books from the list. The list will be mailed to all High School families shortly. If you are away, it will be available online at http://www.lrei.org/libres/ls_3e.html.

Schedule for the remainder of the year:
– Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM (Tonight) – Senior Banquet – The School Store will be open for those who want a last shot at LREI paraphernalia!
– Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation at NYU’s Skirball Auditorium – Ticket Required
– Tuesday, June 15, 12:00 PM – SUMMER VACATION BEGINS!!!!

On a personal note – thanks to all faculty, parents and especially students for a tremendously fun and fulfilling second year. Have a great summer – see you in September!

Take care one and all,

Tony

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.