Dear all,

In last week’s email, I wrote about how the High School Sports Awards Evening celebrated the ever-growing success of our sports program. In the seven days since then, two more evening events have highlighted where we are, and where we are going. Last Thursday, we hosted our new High School students and their families, including eighth graders who are coming over from the Bleecker Street building. Many of our current students and parents were there to help us welcome these new members of our community, and one parent – who is just now ending her 22nd and last year as a parent of a student at the school – gave an especially moving speech about what the High School has meant for her and her children.

However, last night – appropriately – belonged to the Seniors. This year’s Senior Project Evening featured so many fabulous presentations that I hesitate to single any of them out. I will say that in the weeks of the internships, our students were scientists and ad men and women and photographers and musicians and volunteer organizers and mechanics and hospital interns and editors and film historians and seamstresses and theater workers and pastry chefs and political activists and on and on and on. I am attaching here the program for the evening and the complete list of titles and mentors. Our Mission Statement begins, “Our goal is to educate students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners and to pursue academic excellence and individual achievement, in a context of respect for others and service to the community.” Based on these projects and these presentations, we as a school can be pleased with the extent to which we have succeeded in this goal with these students. Great credit goes to the High School faculty, who worked tirelessly to help them with their papers and their presentations. But even greater credit to our students, who followed their passions and made us all very, very proud.

Important year-end reminders/announcements:

* From Phil Kassen, Director–Please be reminded that no nuts or seeds of any type are allowed on the school premises. In spite of repeated reminders over the past two years there continues to be confusion about our policy. NO nuts or seeds are allowed at any school function. This includes seeded bagels (poppy seeds, sesame seeds and bagels with everything on them) and foods such as hummus that are made with sesame past (tahini). No nuts or seeds in breads, muffins, candy, cakes, cheeses, etc. Accidental contact with these foods puts the lives of a number of members of the school community in danger.

* Parents of Seniors: The Senior Banquet is scheduled for June 9 at 6:30 PM. Because this is a formal sit-down dinner and space in the PAC is extremely limited, we will only be able to allow for two guests per Senior. If you have not already, please RSVP to Bari Buiso at 212-477-5316 x275 right away.

* Parents of Seniors, Part II: The Senior Prom is scheduled for Saturday, June 4 at 9:00 PM. If your son or daughter has not yet purchased tickets, please call Janel Frazier at 718-884-2469 or Katerina Ellingsen at 718-496-3570.

* Reminder – Families of Asian Children: A group of parents of Asian-American children will meet on Friday, June 3rd, in the 6th Ave. Cafeteria at 8:45 AM. This diverse group includes families with roots throughout Asia and the Pacific; topics of common interest include language instruction, recruitment of Asian students and cultural issues faced by our children. Parents in all divisions are invited. If you are interested but can’t attend, please e-mail parent Susie Marples at susiemarples@yahoo.com for future info.

* From PA Co-Presidents Myra Mason and Kasey Picayo: Please join the Parents Association for our “Adios Carlos” pot-luck breakfast on June 6th at 8am in the 6th Ave. cafeteria. Everyone is welcome. Bring a breakfast dish if you can. Please have your child write a note to Carlos on the blue form that was handed out last Friday in all classes (extras are available at the reception desks in both buildings). Please return the forms to reception by Friday, June 3rd. Thank you.

* LREI has joined NYC-Parents in Action, Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1979, serving parents of children in the New York City independent schools. Parents in Action offers the following for parents:

a) FOCUS, a parenting guide, is designed to help parents communicate more effectively with their children and to prepare families to cope with critical issues facing children and adolescents in New York City today. FOCUS provides information on a variety of topics including social activities, substance abuse, and safety. The current edition of FOCUS is available on the web.

b) SEMINARS, held several times a year, offer insight from professionals in the fields of parenting, child psychology, pediatrics, and adolescent medicine. In addition, Teen Scene, an annual seminar, provides a unique opportunity to hear teens from various New York City independent schools talk about what they do, where they go, and the issues that are of particular interest to them and their peers.

c) NEWSLETTERS, published three times a year, feature coverage of NYC-Parents in Action seminars, with advice from experts on child and adolescent development, health, and the effects on children and adolescents of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. The newsletters also provide information on various NYC-Parents in Action programs and events. Current newsletters are available on the web.

d) PARENT DISCUSSION GROUPS, offer a way for parents to share ideas, experiences, and concerns with the parents of their child’s classmates. Led by trained facilitators, the discussion groups are available to parents of kindergartners through twelfth graders. Discussion groups at each participating school are scheduled by the school’s representative who serves as liaison to NYC-Parents in Action.

Ronnie Halper will be the LREI liaison to Parents in Action for the 2005-2006 school year. We have established a link from the LREI website to the Parents in Action website where newsletters and announcements of their events will be provided. Please feel free to contact Ronnie if you have any questions.

* Year-end schedule: Final exams/presentations will occur on Tuesday – Thursday June 7 – 9. Students are expected at school at 8:45 AM each day. On Friday, June 10 we will have the Trimester III Arts assembly (again, students expected at 8:45 AM), followed by lunch and then graduation at Skirball auditorium. We ask that students dress respectfully on that day (no shorts, no sandals). Students should plan on being in school on both days (Tuesday, school ends at 12:00 PM).

* Congratulations to 9th Grader Christy Rodriguez, who was the subject of the New York Cares Volunteer Spotlight for the month of May. In their write-up of Christy, the New York Cares flyer writes that, “From working with seniors, serving meals, sorting coats, to gardening, Christy can be counted upon to get the job done and with enthusiasm. Volunteering isn’t always easy, especially if there is a big job to complete and not many volunteers, but Christy has shown that nothing will stop her from doing her part!”

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, June 3, 8:45 AM – Families of Asian Children, 6th Ave. Cafeteria

Tuesday, June 7 – Thursday, June 9 – Final exams/presentations

Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM – Senior Banquet

Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation!

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 terrific night on Tuesday! The High School Sports Awards Evening was a fun, touching and inspiring affair. What is becoming evident is not just the rapidly increasing number of students who participate in sports – and the equally rapidly growing number of those sports offered at LREI – but, more importantly, the growing intensity that LREI students are bringing to athletics with each passing year. Teams are practicing more and more often and with more and more sophistication, and as a result we are starting to beat teams from schools with far larger student populations. The jewel in this year’s crown of athletics teams, as I mentioned in last week’s email, is the 2005 GISAL Championship Track team. Yesterday, we sent seven girls from the team to the New York State Association of Independent Schools New York City Division Championship meet on Randall’s Island. Competing against teams from all over the city, LREI’s 4 x 100m team took the gold medal with a time of 55.09 seconds. We also took home a bronze medal in the 100m and placed fourth in the 400m and the 4 x 400m. Go Knights!

There were also two beautiful evenings of music/entertainment this past week: last Thursday’s Spring Chorus Concert and Saturday’s Human Rights Coffeehouse. The music at the Coffeehouse was supplemented by a series of powerful readings on human rights issues. If you have not made a habit in the past of attending these kinds of evening events, make a promise to yourself to do so next year!

Finally, a word about Parent Rep meetings, and our last one of the year this past Monday. The Parent Reps serve an important function in any school, but all the more at LREI where parents play such a vital role in everything from planning art and literary evenings to running the school store to providing much needed assistance at plays and musicals. Parent Reps also help to bring general parental concerns to the administration – namely, to me – and this year’s reps performed that task forcefully but always respectfully. This year, we have an especially large contingent of Senior Parent Reps, some of whom have served as reps for just a few years and some of whom have served through more than one child at the school. We are very much in need of active parents who can help us to make up for the loss of wisdom, energy and institutional memory we will experience when these parents become the parents of alumnae and alumni. Please consider volunteering to be a parent rep for next year.

I should tell you that this Parent Rep meeting ended with a series of unplanned testimonials by these parents about what the school had done for their children, testimonials that were warm and funny and truly moving.

Important year-end reminders:

* Parents of Seniors: The Senior Banquet is scheduled for June 9 at 6:30 PM. Because this is a formal sit-down dinner and space in the PAC is extremely limited, we will only be able to allow for two guests per Senior. If you have not already, please RSVP to Bari Buiso at 212-477-5316 x275 right away.

* Parents of Seniors, Part II: The Senior Prom is scheduled for Saturday, June 4 at 9:00 PM. If your son or daughter has not yet purchased tickets, please call Janel Frazier at 718-884-2469 or Katerina Ellingsen at 718-496-3570.

* On Wednesday, June 1 we will have our Senior Project evening. This is an inspiring event in which our twelfth graders display their culminating papers and give formal presentations on both their field work and their research. This evening is open to the entire LREI community.

* Families of Asian Children: A group of parents of Asian-American children will meet on Friday, June 3rd, in the 6th Ave. Cafeteria at 8:45 AM. This diverse group includes families with roots throughout Asia and the Pacific; topics of common interest include language instruction, recruitment of Asian students and cultural issues faced by our children. Parents in all divisions are invited. If you are interested but can’t attend, please e-mail parent Susie Marples at susiemarples@yahoo.com for future info.

* Year-end schedule: Final exams/presentations will occur on Tuesday – Thursday June 7 – 9. Students are expected at school at 8:45 AM each day. On Friday, June 10 we will have the Trimester III Arts assembly (again, students expected at 8:45 AM), followed by lunch and then graduation at Skirball auditorium. We ask that students dress respectfully on that day (no shorts, no sandals). We will announce the schedule for the following Monday and Tuesday in next week’s email, but students should plan on being in school on both days (Tuesday, school ends at 12:00 PM).

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, May 26, 6:30 PM – High School New Families Evening

Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM – Senior Project Evening

Friday, June 3, 8:45 AM – Families of Asian Children, 6th Ave. Cafeteria

Tuesday, June 7 – Thursday, June 9 – Final exams/presentations

Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM – Senior Banquet

Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation!

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,

Late May/early June is an exciting – and often exhausting – time in the life of the school. Evening events abound, as students get to celebrate their achievements in any number of areas. Please choose one or more of these events to attend (I will go into some detail below). But first, a few important announcements:

* Parents of Seniors: The Senior Banquet is scheduled for June 9 at 6:30 PM. Because this is a formal sit-down dinner and space in the PAC is extremely limited, we will only be able to allow for two guests per Senior. Please RSVP to Bari Buiso at 212-477-5316 x275 by Monday, 5/23.

* On Tuesday, the LREI Girls High School track team won its first ever GISAL (Girls Independent School Athletic League) championship. Aria Carlston won the 400 meter race, and the girls also won the 4x400m and 4x800m races. In addition, the team took silver medals in the 4 x 100m, 100m and 200m races, and bronze in the 200m. The girls’ total of 90 points was far ahead of the second place team’s 74 points, and actually placed the team 4th among all co-ed teams (the wining co-ed team had 141 points). Seven girls posted times in various races that qualified them for the NYSAIS (New York State Association of Independent Schools) State Championships meet next Wednesday. With seven ninth graders and only a few seniors graduating, the team is poised to dominate for years to come!

* Also on Tuesday, we had a very nice assembly of readings from IE, the Grade 7 – 12 Arts magazine. The poetry, prose, art, photography – and even a movie script! – in this magazine amply demonstrate the wide range of our students’ artistic abilities. A copy will be mailed to all High School homes.

* Please read the attached letter from Phil about Field Day on Friday, May 27.

Please also note the following notices about upcoming evening events:

* Tonight’s Spring Chorus Concert (see attached flyer) is always a wonderful interdivisional evening of singing and instrumental music. The entertainment starts at 6:30 PM.

* On Saturday, we will have our last Coffeehouse of the year in the Charlton Street PAC. This night of instrumental music, signing and dramatic readings will have a human rights theme. All are welcome!

* On Tuesday, May 24 we will have our High School Sports Awards Evening. This year, the High School had 90 students participate in a junior varsity or varsity sport. It is interesting to note that this is roughly the same number of students in the High School during the 2001-2002 school year. However, it also means that we can no longer accommodate a sit-down dinner in the PAC. We will have refreshments starting at 6:00 PM, including wrap sandwiches, available in the cafeteria before holding the awards ceremony starting promptly at 6:30 PM in the PAC.

* On Wednesday, June 1 we will have our Senior Project evening. This is an inspiring event in which our twelfth graders display their culminating papers and give formal presentations on both their field work and their research. This evening is open to the entire LREI community.

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, May 19, 6:30PM – Spring Chorus Concert, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 21, 7:00PM – Coffeehouse, Charlton Street PAC

Monday, May 23, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Tuesday, May 24, 6:00 PM – High School Sports Awards Evening

Thursday, May 26, 6:30 PM – High School New Families Evening

Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM – Senior Project Evening

Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM – Senior Banquet

Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation!

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,

This is proving to be a particularly fruitful year in terms of the High School’s service to the community. In last week’s email, I talked about the community service-themed Buddy Day activities and the large number of High School students who will be walking in Sunday’s AIDS Walk New York. However, the High School has become affiliated with a number of other organizations and will be providing a variety of services over the next few weeks:

* City Year: From their website: “An Action Tank for national service, City Year seeks to demonstrate, improve and promote the concept of national service as a means for building a stronger democracy.” Senior Philip Ellison is doing his Senior Internship with City Year, and his experience has been so successful that he will be joining their corps for a full year (Americorps modeled their year-long program on CityYear’s). He will also lead a group of LREI students on Saturday, May 14th to participate in City Year’s 2nd Annual One Harlem Service Day. Activities will include painting, creating murals, and landscaping.

* Earth Celebrations: From their website: “Earth Celebrations is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering ecological awareness through the arts.” Earth Celebrations has its annual Rites of Spring Pageant on Saturday, May 21st. Many LREI students have volunteered to help with the pageant itself, which for 15 years has involved bringing costumes, giant Puppets, Samba bands, and art performances to the community gardens of the Lower East Side and the East Village. Students have also volunteered to help with pre-pageant publicity and even with a puppet-making workshop the day before the pageant.

* The Community Service Roundtable spearheaded the effort to raise money for the Tsunami Relief Drive. The Benefit Concert raised over $17,000 for UNICEF. In addition, the donation drive which was carried out in stores and restaurants around The Village as well as in the corridors and classrooms of the school buildings netted another $3,000, which was distributed to five organizations: Heifer Project, CARE, Habitat for Humanity, Knightsbridge International and Save the Children.

* In the evening on Saturday, May 21, we will have our last Coffeehouse of the year, and it will have a Human Rights theme. Stay tuned for more details …

* Finally, in Tuesday’s assembly, the new President of the student body Michelle Hererra presented Biology and Environmental Science teacher Bhawanie Singh with the 2004 President’s Call to Service Award for the volunteer work he has done on child abuse, spousal abuse and literacy for immigrants. Bhawanie raised awareness of these issues through his weekly radio show to the community – The Bhawanie Singh Sunday Night Show – which is aired every Sunday night from 9:00 – 11:00 PM on WWRL 1600 AM Radio. He was nominated by the North American Institute for Psychotherapy and Counseling on behalf of the Indo-Caribbean community of the tri-state region. Congratulations, Bhawanie!!

Other announcements:

* Reminder: Parents of tenth and eleventh graders – and interested others – please see the attached letter from Director of College Guidance and Eleventh Grade Dean Amy Shapiro about the NYU offerings available to Juniors and Seniors in Fall, 2005. Applications are due on Tuesday, May 17. I am attaching this in both .pdf and MS Word format for your convenience!

* LREI High School films are once again getting noticed! This Saturday, at the Westport Youth Film Festival, the following films are playing:

Haavisto, Samuli: “Let It Ride” (Naked Riot music video, starring Matt Levinson)
Rodriguez, Jerelyn: “I Never Loved Him” (Minimester poetry film)
Zhang, Alex: “Protest? What Protest?” (Documentary about the protests surrounding last year’s NYC Republican National Convention)

Jerelyn also has another film playing at the Festival, “A Sweet Affair,” which she made last summer at the Ghetto Film School.

* The High School Jazz Band gave bravura performances last Wednesday at the Big Auction and again last Friday with tap dancer and LREI parent Derrick Grant (“Bring in Da Noise …”) at a special Lower School assembly. You can catch them again at the Spring Concert on Thursday May 19 or at the Coffeehouse on the 21st!

* As promised, attached you will find a list of our High School seniors’ college acceptances for the past two years and this year’s list of the seniors’ plans for next year. We are proud of their accomplishments and excited about their choices. Our Dean of College Guidance has already begun her work with this year’s 11th graders and their families. As I reported in my April 28 Weekly Email,the students spent two days visiting colleges in and around Philadelphia in order to help them to begin to formulate their ideas, goals and questions as they move into their senior year. Once again, congratulations to our seniors on their excellent choices and good luck to our juniors as they enter an important time in their lives. For more information on our college guidance process please see the College Admissions Process section of our web site.

* Finally, once again, please note the upcoming events listed below, including the Spring Chorus Concert (see attached flyer) on May 19 and the RESCHEDULED COFFEEHOUSE on May 21. Note also that the May 18 Parent Reps Meeting HAS been rescheduled for Monday, May 23.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, May 19, 6:30PM – Spring Chorus Concert, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 21, 7:00PM – Coffeehouse, Charlton Street PAC – NOTE NEW DATE!!

Monday, May 23, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Tuesday, May 24, 6:30 PM – High School Sports Awards Evening

Thursday, May 26, 6:30 PM – High School New Families Evening

Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM – Senior Project Evening

Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM – Senior Banquet

Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation!

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,

This week’s goings-on/announcements:

1) Yesterday, the High School Girls Track Team, led by coach Orville Drummond, took home the first place trophy from the York prep Invitational Track Meet. Two of the girls, Ninth Grader Aria Carlston and Tenth Grader Kristin Crichlow, were meet Co-MVP’s. Go, Lady Knights!!!

2) We had a terrific Buddy Day on Monday. The Eleventh and Seventh Grade buddies worked together to build enthusiasm and support for LREI’s participation for AIDS Walk New York. Students worked together to research facts about HIV/AIDS and then made signs for the Lower, Middle and High School to urge members of the community to sign up and raise money for GMHC (an organization which provides services for men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS). In fact, while we do not have exact numbers, close to 50% of the High School students are signed up to walk on Sunday, May 15. In addition, the Ninth and Third Grade buddies listened to stories of individual acts of service to the community and the brainstormed ideas about future community service. Finally, the Tenth and First Grade buddies decorated shopping bags for God’s Love We Deliver (“Nutritious meals for people living with AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses.”) and then had some shared time out on the Houston Street playground.

An additional note on the Aids Walk from Middle School Dean of Co-Curricular Program Gabrielle Keller:

If you registered/walked last year, just email me at gkeller@lrei.org and I’ll re-register you. If you would like to sign up for the first time, email me and I’ll contact you about the information I’ll need to register you. I’m looking forward to another successful walk this year. I hope you’ll join us. IF YOU’RE NOT PLANNING ON WALKING, GO ONLINE TO www.aidswalk.net AND SPONSOR ONE OR MORE LREI COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

3) The Seniors continue on with their internships. From restaurant to theater to hospital to publishing house to garage to Planned Parenthood to local Greenwich Village newspaper to photography studio – and on, and on – our twelfth graders are doing meaningful work that ties in with research they have begun and will continue. The final written projects will be research paper intertwined with personal reflection. The Seniors will finish up their internships on Thursday, May 12 and spend the next two weeks working with their individual faculty mentors – and each other – on polishing up their papers and preparing their presentations for Senior Project Evening on June 1 at 6:30. Rest assured that you will hear about the internships and the projects in much more detail …

4) Parents of tenth and eleventh graders – and interested others – please see the attached letter from Director of College Guidance and Eleventh Grade Dean Amy Shapiro about the NYU offerings available to Juniors and Seniors in Fall, 2005. Applications are due on Tuesday, May 17. I am attaching this in both .pdf and MS Word format for your convenience!

5) Please see the attached letter from the Literary Committee on their Spring Book Sale. Literary Committee members Amy Weisser, Susie Marples and Leslie Overton have done the bulk of the work on this project and we are grateful to them!

6) Because we are awaiting some last minute decisions from our twelfth graders, we will wait until next week to present the promised 2004-2005 college acceptances and up-to-the-minute matriculation news for the class of 2005.

7) Once again, please note the upcoming events listed below, including the Middle School play (featuring many soon-to-be High Schoolers) on May 6 and 7, the Spring Chorus Concert (see attached flyer) on May 19 and the RESCHEDULED COFFEEHOUSE on May 21. Note also that the May 18 Parent Reps Meeting MAY be rescheduled.

8) 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!

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, May 6, 7:00PM – Middle School Musical, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 7, 2:00PM & 7:00PM – Middle School Musical, Charlton Street PAC

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street – MAY BE RESCHEDULED

Thursday, May 19, 6:30PM – Spring Chorus Concert, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 21, 7:00PM – Coffeehouse, Charlton Street PAC – NOTE NEW DATE!!

Tuesday, May 24, 6:30 PM – HS Sports Awards banquet

Thursday, May 26, 6:30 PM – High School New Families Evening

Wednesday, June 1, 6:30 PM – Senior Project Evening

Thursday, June 9, 6:30 PM – Senior Banquet

Friday, June 10, 1:00 PM – Graduation!

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org.

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 start this week’s email with a note from Director of College Guidance and Eleventh Grade Dean Amy Shapiro. While this note is written to Eleventh Grade parents, I believe that this is an important note for everyone to read. Our college guidance program is truly progressive in every sense of the word: individualized, student-centered, and empowering. By the time students apply to schools, they feel fully in charge of the process, and they have found colleges and universities that they feel fit their own individual talents and needs. I give you over to Amy:

Dear Eleventh Grade Parents,

I write today to update you about TWO important college-related announcements.

First:
Last week’s college trip was an absolute success. The students were enthusiastic, well-behaved, attentive, and prepared. They impressed the admissions representatives with their thoughtful questions and genuine interest, and they were model representatives of LREI. Most importantly, though, they are now ready and better able to discuss with you (and with me) those qualities and programs they are seeking as they continue to conduct their college research (i.e., City school or suburbs?, Art school or liberal arts?, Small school or larger?, Public or private?, University or college?, etc.). With this experience under their belts, they also are better prepared to consider and evaluate the programs and facilities that are of interest to them at any schools they visit in the future. I hope they found the experience a valuable one and that they had as much fun as the chaperones (Sarvjit, Tom, and Micah) and I did.

Second:
There are two college fairs coming up and I strongly encourage you and your child to attend both (I generally do not urge you to attend college fairs but I promise you these won’t disappoint). One is the Manhattan College Fair, scheduled for May 1st from 6pm-8pm. The other is the “Colleges that Change Lives” information session and fair which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 18th from 7-9pm. Details on each of these events including location and some general information are attached. I hope to see you there.

Amy :)

Coming next week from Amy: Lists of college acceptances and up-to-the-minute matriculation news …

Other announcements:

* Next week, on Tuesday May 3rd, LREI welcomes back William Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education and Senior University Scholar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bill Ayers has written extensively about social justice, democracy and the political and cultural contexts of schooling. He will meet with students, visit classes and conduct a faculty workshop. A reception will be sponsored by The Parents Association at 8:45 AM in the 6th Avenue cafeteria. For more about Bill Ayers and about educating for democracy and social justice at LREI please see Nick O’Han’s message about this important educational thinker and innovator.

* The School Store will be open at Charlton Street on Friday from 12 PM – 2 PM. Nothing says “Happy Spring” like stuff with the LREI logo!

* The next High School Parents of Students of Color Group meeting will take place tonight from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM, at 40 Charlton Street, Room 13. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

* Please note the upcoming events listed below, including the Middle School play (featuring many soon-to-be High Schoolers) on May 6 and 7 and the RESCHEDULED COFFEEHOUSE on May 21.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, April 28, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM – High School Parents of Students of Color Group Meeting, Charlton Street

Friday, April 29, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM – School Store open at Charlton Street

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 PM – The Big Auction

Friday, May 6, 7:00PM – Middle School Musical, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 7, 2:00PM & 7:00PM – Middle School Musical, Charlton Street PAC

Wednesday, May 18, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Thursday, May 19, 6:30PM – Spring Chorus Concert, Charlton Street PAC

Saturday, May 21, 7:00PM – Coffeehouse, Charlton Street PAC – NOTE NEW DATE!!

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org for updates and information about goings on around the school. 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.

Dear all,

As you read this email, second trimester grades and comments are on their way to you. As I reviewed the comments, I was struck by a number of things:

* These comments demonstrate the enormous number of ways that students are able to choose their own educational paths. From personal narratives to science projects to creative presentations across the disciplines to uniquely individualized artistic opportunities, in class after class, students are able to direct their own curricula in ways large and small. This is one of the basic tenets of progressive education – that students will be more invested in material they own and will thus better internalize lifelong learning habits and, indeed, love of learning.

* These comments also demonstrate the great extent to which our faculty knows and cares about each individual student. In comment after comment, I was impressed by the insight the teachers have into the students’ learning styles and habits. More impressive, however, was the affection that is so obvious in so many of the comments. I especially noticed the tone of the comments to Seniors. Many of the comments came from teachers who had known the students for several years, and there was an unmistakable mixture of pride and sadness as faculty wished the 12th graders well as they completed their LREI classwork. This continues to be a school built upon the wonderful relationships between students and faculty.

It is also true that because the writing of these comments coincided with the start of the third trimester, the comments took a long time to complete and assemble, longer really than is acceptable. The faculty spent a good deal of time in a recent meeting discussing ways in which we can make our communication home more efficient. As we come up with concrete proposals, I will be sure to discuss these ideas with the parent reps. In addition, High School Technology Coordinator Tim Cooper and I are hard at work on a technological approach that will allow the comments to have a more unified look and format (we are on our way there already, but have not yet arrived at where we should be). Again, the content of the comments is – I think – terrific in the ways I have discussed above, but as we grow as a school we need to improve our format and delivery.

Some announcements:

1) Please see the attached Literary Committee “Stay-at-Home” Flyer. Stay at home and read TONIGHT!!!

2) The next High School Parents of Students of Color Group meeting will take place on Thursday, April 28th from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM, at 40 Charlton Street, Room 13. Please see the attached flyer for more details.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Thursday, April 21 – Literary Committee “Stay-at-Home” Evening

Thursday, April 28, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM – High School Parents of Students of Color Group Meeting, Charlton Street

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 PM – The Big Auction

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org for updates and information about goings on around the school. 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.

Dear all,

Important announcement: Parents of 11th Graders, please read this notice from Director of College Guidance Amy Shapiro about the upcoming college trip on Wednesday April 20 and Thursday April 21. The most crucial reminder – the trip starts when the students arrive at 7:00 AM on Wednesday morning!

Typically, we have hit the ground running as Trimester III begins. There were some exciting events over the past week at Charlton Street:

* On Saturday, we had an extended Coffee House. As usual, the Jazz Band played a nice number, and there were performances by a good number of student and faculty combos. We then had two featured performances by the Medics and the Hysterics, two bands which include LREI High School students. The PAC was packed, and a fabulous time was had by all.

* On Tuesday, the High School celebrated Poem In Your Pocket Day with an assembly dedicated to student and faculty readings. Many members of the community read old favorites, while others read original works. As always, long-time History teacher Mark Bledstein closed the show, this time with a rousing rendition of a monologue from the movie Slam. PIYP Day was actually designated for Wednesday; however, we read our poetry on Tuesday because of another important event on Wednesday …

* On Wednesday, more than thirty-five high school students participated in a national Day of Silence, organized at LREI by the Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance. Each student wore a rainbow ribbon and carried a card that read:

Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence, a national youth movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices. Think about the voices that you are not hearing today. What are you going to do to end the silence?

The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educators Network (GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association (USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment — in effect, the silencing — experienced by LGBT students and their allies.

There was another event on Tuesday evening – Phil, Director of Admissions Samantha Caruth, a number of faculty and students and I talked to parents of current fifth through seventh graders about the High School. Afterward, one parent approached me to say how impressive our students were as they talked about their enthusiasm for their curricular and extracurricular lives at LREI. All of these events together remind me of our commitment to celebrate the intellectual and the aesthetic and the principles of social justice, and to do so every week and every day.

Two more items:

1) Please see the attached Literary Committee “Stay-at-Home” Flyer.

2) Saturday’s Family Sing dedicated to former LREI music teacher Charity Bailey was a remarkable community event, highlighted by the surprise visit of Pete Seeger, who knew Charity when she taught at LREI and came to help us celebrate her musical legacy. For more on the event, including a wonderful photo gallery, go to Nick O’Han’s message at http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/family_sing.html.

Take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, April 15 – School closed – High School Professional/Planning Day

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 PM – The Big Auction

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org for updates and information about goings on around the school. 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.

Dear all,

Welcome back from what I hope was a restful break. The third trimester has begun, and the Charlton Street building is quickly back to its usual buzz. Some important announcements:

1) Music on Saturday, Part I: This Saturday is our annual ” Family Sing,” a terrific Community Event starting at 1:00 PM in the 6th Avenue auditorium. This year we will be remembering the life and legacy of legendary LREI music teacher named Charity Bailey. For more about this remarkable person and the event, please go to Nick O’Han’s message at http://lrei-ed-news.blogspot.com.

2) Music on Saturday, Part II: The Coffeehouse has been moved back 1/2 hour to 6:30 PM on Saturday at Charlton Street – all are welcome!

3) The New York City Stock Market Game program is pleased to announce that a two-person team of LREI 12th graders (members of the Data Analysis class) was the first place finisher in the High School division of the 1/24-4/01 Stock Market Game (SMG) session. The team has been invited to attend the SMG Awards Ceremony held in late May 2005 at the New York Stock Exchange. The ceremony will recognize the top teams of both the Fall 2004 and Spring 2005 sessions. (It should be noted that a different LREI two-person team came in third in the Fall 2004 session!)

4) From the members of the High School Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance (LGSA): On Wednesday, April 13th, students in the high school will be participating in a national Day of Silence organized by the High School LGSA. The Day of Silence, a project of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network ([ http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home.html ]GLSEN) in collaboration with the United States Student Association ([ http://www.usstudents.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=7 ]USSA), is a student-led day of action where those who support making anti-LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) bias unacceptable in schools take a day-long vow of silence to recognize and protest the discrimination and harassment — in effect, the silencing — experienced by LGBT students and their allies.

5) From School Nurses Kitty Highstein and Joanne Gouge: Welcome back to spring! Thank you for everything you’ve done to keep our students with nut/seed allergies safe. Please continue to remember to be especially careful when preparing or buying food to bring into school for special occasions such as potlucks, intermission snacks for plays, publishing parties, etcetera, that none of it contains nuts or seeds of any kind. Meals packed for field trips should also be nut and seed free. The same goes for off-site spring picnics. We hope you all had a wonderful break. It’s good to see everyone again!

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org for updates and information about goings on around the school.

All the best,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Saturday, April 9, 7:00 PM – COFFEEHOUSE AT CHARLTON STREET!!

Friday, April 15 – School closed – High School Professional/Planning Day

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 PM – The Big Auction

(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.)

Dear all,

As we head toward Spring Break, some important attachments:

* Parents of Juniors: Please see the attached note from Director of College Guidance Amy Shapiro on the April/May SAT prep course and the April college trip.

* Please also read Director of Education Nick O’Han’s message about a wonderful community event scheduled for April 9th.

* Also, an important word about Senior Projects. Back in January, I emailed the calendar for the Senior Projects (note – this is now the final calendar, and not a rough draft as indicated on the document). The 12th graders have been hard at work securing internships or other manner of field work on which their written papers will be based. Also as I wrote then, last year’s field experiences ranged from spending time in LREI’s Lower School to working at Otto Ristorante to interning in the psychiatric ward of a hospital to traveling to Poland to investigate pockets of resistance during World War II (and of course I could go on and on). I would like to outline the process for parents of students in all grades, as I think that it is important that everyone understand how we structure this concluding progressive educational experience:

1) In past years, some projects were less successful than they might have been because seniors picked a topic for their paper first and then were not able to find the most appropriate field work. After a great deal of discussion, the Senior Project Committee became convinced that it makes more sense for the students to find their field experience first, and then decide what aspects or facets of that experience they will research and write about. We believe that this process will help to ensure that each senior’s project is an appropriately connected mix of academic study and engagement with the real world.

2) During the first two weeks, of the trimester, seniors will be in a single seminar class each day that will help them through the process of choosing a paper topic and getting a good way through the research and writing process. The students will engage in a great deal of peer review of each other’s ideas and writing as they prepare for the upcoming field work. We will expect seniors in at 10:25 AM each morning, Monday through Thursday of both weeks. During these two weeks, seniors will also begin to meet with their Mentors. Each senior has a faculty Mentor who will help to ensure that the field work is going well and generally help to see the project to fruition.

3) During the field work, Seniors are committed to doing at least twenty hours per week – preferably closer to 25 to 30 – Monday through Thursday for the four weeks. On each Friday, seniors will once again come in to school in order to share each other’s experiences and work on incorporating their journal entries into their papers.

4) After the field work period ends, the students will spend the next two weeks polishing their papers and preparing for Senior Project Presentation Evening on Wednesday, June 1. In groups, the seniors will spend much of this time reading drafts of each others’ work and helping each other to hone their presentations. The exact schedule of these two weeks will be established early in the new trimester.

The Committee has spent a good deal of time adding structure to the Senior Project process in order to make sure that each senior has a rewarding and meaningful experience that will act as the capstone to their progressive high school education.

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org for updates and information about goings on around the school.

Have a restful break and take care,

Tony

UPCOMING EVENTS

Friday, March 18, 12:00 PM – Spring Break begins

Monday, April 4, 8:30 AM – School resumes; start of Trimester III

Saturday, April 9, 7:00 PM – COFFEEHOUSE AT CHARLTON STREET!!

Friday, April 15 – School closed – High School Professional/Planning Day

Tuesday, April 19, 6:30 PM – High School Parent Reps Meeting, Charlton Street

Wednesday, May 4, 6:30 PM – The Big Auction

(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.