LREI celebrates diversity every day, but right now, we’re celebrating in a special way with Visibility: Lesbian and Gay People We Love, a community photo exhibit through March 19. A big thanks to all who attended the reception on Monday, March 8. It was an evening honoring love, support, and openness. Enjoy these pictures, and check out the real photographs–all submitted by LREI folks–in the main hallway and auditorium at 6th Avenue.

Click here to view photos courtesy of Steve Neiman.

Hundreds of parents, faculty, staff, and friends of the LREI community came out to bid and mingle at this year’s cocktail reception, held on Thursday, March 4 at Splashlight studios in Soho.

A special thank you to the many talented artists who donated pieces for the event. All proceeds will benefit LREI’s tuition remission program, which provides scholarships to over 30 percent of our student body.

Click here for photos of the event.

Dear LREI Community,

I want to start this note by thanking all who donated to Monday’s collection of materials bound for Haiti.  The outpouring of support was inspiring. Thank you also to the middle school students, families and faculty who participated in the organization and packing of your donations. According to our sources at charity : water your donations have already arrived in Haiti.  Click here to view a short video about charity : water’s efforts.   Thank you to Ella Crivello, (LREI ’08) for connecting us with charity : water.

Each year our high school students host a number of Coffeehouses—informal open mike evenings of music and spoken word.  The students have decided to devote the Coffeehouse on February 6^th to support of the relief efforts in Haiti.  I join the students in inviting you to come together with fellow members of the LREI community on Saturday, February 6^th, beginning at 6:30PM in the Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street for this benefit event.

From MicahDov Gottlieb, High School Assistant Principal—This Coffee House will be an entertaining event in support of a worthy cause. We already have a great line-up of high school, middle school, faculty, and community members set to perform. If you are interested in performing or helping out in any way, please contact Micah at MDGottlieb@LREI.org.  Mark your calendar now!

All money raised during the Coffeehouse, and other fundraising efforts, will support the work of two organizations. One, Partners in Health, has been involved in healthcare efforts in Haiti for many years.  Learn more about them at www.pih.org.  The second, The Harris Rosen Foundation, was founded by LREI alum, Harris Rosen, ’57.  The Rosen Foundation is working with Haitian communities in Florida to send money and supplies to Haiti.  The Foundation is also beginning to plan for rebuilding efforts including funding the development of earthquake and hurricane resistant housing.

In addition to the Coffeehouse, all proceeds from this year’s Karamu! celebration—this Friday night—will also be used to support these two organizations.

A number of LREI community members have asked how we plan our responses to events such as last week’s earthquake.  In general, we allow ourselves the time to make deliberate decisions about our involvement.  Our responses to world events must address LREI’s educational and social justice missions.  Through our responses we teach about the specifics of the events, about the politics and history of the region, about how we can use current circumstances to think ahead to the “next time,” and about activism.  Finally, we have to plan for our ongoing involvement, if any, and as events slow somewhat we find time to learn from our actions.  To the point of ongoing involvement, we have decided that next February’s Coffeehouse will be a second fund raiser for organizations involved in rebuilding efforts in Haiti.

Thank you again for your interest and involvement.

Best,

Phil

Thank you to the all of the families who dropped much needed supplies off at the school Friday, Saturday and Monday. Thank you also to the many students and families who helped to sort, organize and bag all of the supplies that we received. The following is a conservative estimate of the number of items that were donated:

• 1500 liters of water
• more than a thousand individual bars of soap
• close to 200 blankets
• 175 packs of gauze and band-aids
• 150 packs of feminine hygiene products
• 135 packs of medical gloves
• 55 tooth brushes and toothpaste
• 45 towels and linens
• 30 sleeping bags
• 20 packages of deodorant
• 20 packages of diapers and wipes
• 13 tents
• 10 bedrolls and tarps
• 2 first aid kits
• 2 bags of assorted clothes

Click here to view a slideshow of the event.

Have you ever wanted to go back to school in a progressive classroom similar to your child’s?  Intrigued by what you hear around the dinner table? Many parents of LREI students tell us how they wish that they could have the experiences that their children have each day.

In response to significant parent interest, this winter LREI will be offering two evening courses for adults, taught by members of our outstanding faculty.  These will be seminar style courses, with an emphasis on discussion and open dialogue between participants.  Two members of our high school faculty, Julia Heaton (English Teacher, former Acting High School Principal, former Academic Dean) and Tom Murphy (History Teacher, History Department Chair), will be offering abridged versions of their most popular offerings—Dangerous Language and Global War on Terror: American Foreign Policy Since 9/11, respectively.

Each course will be open to 15 participants.  There will be pre-seminar reading assignments (to be completed over Winter Break) with additional shorter supplemental assignments during the five-week session.  The courses meet simultaneously.  If you are interested in participating, please choose one, with the expectation that you will attend all five sessions.  While there are no required writing assignments, participants are encouraged to take notes and respond in writing to the week’s guiding questions.

Classes will meet on the following Tuesday evenings—January 12th, January 19th, January 26th, February 2nd and February 9th. Courses will meet from 6:30PM-8:00PM in the high school, 40 Charlton Street.

There is a $100 registration fee for each participant.

If you would like to register for one of these courses, please contact Rowena Penaranda-Askins at rpenaranda@lrei.org or (212) 477-5316, x295.

Course Descriptions:

Pornography or Masterpiece: Reading Lolita at LREI

“I shall never regret Lolita.  She was like the composition of a beautiful puzzle– its composition and its solution at the same time, since one is a mirror view of the other, depending on the way you look.“ – Vladimir Nabokov, 1964.

“What frightens or disturbs us in Lolita…opens our eyes to ourselves and our worlds. Everyone should read it for the pure joy.” — Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran

Published in 1955, Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita was hailed by Graham Greene as one of the best books of all time and also “the filthiest book I have ever read…sheer unrestrained pornography” (John Gordon, London Sunday Express, 1956).  For the past half century, this iconic story of a middle-aged professor’s infatuation with his adolescent stepdaughter continues to fascinate, intoxicate and alienate readers of all ages.  In this five-week seminar, we will journey together through the novel Lolita, analyzing the text in terms of character, language, formal structure, and theme.  Furthermore, we will consider the novel’s publication history (banned in several countries) as well as its complicated position in the literary “canon”.  Finally, we will discuss the societal and moral implications of the novel’s subject, and the complicity we feel as readers when we are at once “entranced with the book while abhorring its author” (Nabokov, Lolita).  Participants will read an annotated version of Lolita as well as selected works of literary criticism.

The Global War on Terror: American Foreign Policy Since 9/11

“We will rid the world of evildoers.” — Bush, Sept. 17.

The Global War on Terrorism (or GWOT) is the name of a campaign with the stated goal of ending international terrorism by preventing terrorist groups from posing a threat, and by putting an end to state sponsorship of terrorism. This campaign was launched by the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. carried out by al-Qaeda. After more than eight years the name has changed yet the conflict continues. In this five-week seminar, we will use a combination of primary sources, articles and Frontline documentaries to examine the evolution of the war against radical Islam. By looking at how we got here we may develop a better understanding of what we should do next.

Week One: Al Qaeda and the New Terrorism

Week Two: The Bush Foreign Policy Revolution

Week Three: The War in Afghanistan

Week Four: The War in Iraq

Week Five: The Global War on Terror and Human Rights

THE LOOMING TOWER  Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.   By Lawrence Wright. Illustrated. 469 pp. Alfred A. Knopf.

Civic education specialist, Joel Westheimer, encourages us to raise justice-oriented citizens (click here to read his article on democracy and education). This individual looks at the root of a problem and the layers of complexity involved in understanding unjust situations before attempting to join others in exploring strategies and finding resolutions. There are various curricular opportunities at LREI where students’ awareness of social justice issues in history and in the present is raised. They learn of the actions of justice-oriented citizens and the impact their work has in creating necessary change.

While at home, on a play-date, or on a walk around the city, you and your children are encountering injustices and unfair treatment of various groups of people. Sometimes our observations lead us to take action and we join organizations, volunteer our time, write letters, read literature to become more informed, or talk about the issue further at the kitchen table. Sometimes it is as simple as how we address a disagreement between siblings that begins with, “That’s not fair!” One might ask, “What else can I do to help my child be an engaged, sensitive, and active citizen?” “How do I raise a child of the 21st Century to be inclusive and socially just?” “How do I raise an Ally?”

Join us in a discussion to explore how you can help raise a social justice ally. Friday, November 20, 2009 at 8:45 am in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria. Grab some coffee, bring a friend, and engage in the first of a 3 part series of discussions with fellow LREI parents.

Director Phil Kassen and Lower School Students tour 42 Charlton Street

Dear Families,

I have spent a fair amount of time over the past few days sharing the new construction our Charlton Street campus with a variety of members of the LREI community. As you have heard, over the summer we completely renovated the high school’s lobby and one of our science labs, as well as beginning work on the creation of new and renovated spaces in the adjacent townhouse. These spaces include generous basement rooms excavated from what was the townhouse’s rear yard in addition to a restored parlor, circa 1840, that will house our College Guidance Office. It is exciting to watch the construction crews at work and to imagine what this new space will add to the high school program once completed and occupied.

I visited the construction site today with a group of four and five year olds, decked out in shiny LREI hard hats. They asked many thoughtful questions as we watched the sparks fly from where a new stairway was being welded and while looking at the new elevator being assembled out of a room full of parts. It was exciting to hear  these young students make curricular connections, noticing that the steel beams holding up the back of the townhouse were similar to the long blocks they use in their classroom constructions, for example. It was fascinating to stand there having this basic discussion of engineering, knowing that just on the other side of the wall between the old and new spaces was a class of high school students studying topics in mathematics, the knowledge of which makes possible the type of construction their younger schoolmates were watching.

As I walked back to the Sixth Avenue building with these young learners I imagined them entering high school nine years from now. It was not hard to do. These students are learning to work together, to plan, to investigate and to integrate what they learn in school into their daily lives. We saw today how talented they are. They talked as a class about how they would travel to the construction site, about what they might see there, about who they would meet and how to operate appropriately during their visit. Their high school colleagues were involved in a similar exercise in their calculus class, thirty feet away. They were working together to hone problem-solving skills and subject area knowledge in order to better understand the world around them.

I look forward to watching our youngest students grow into their high school selves in ever improving facilities. More importantly, I look forward to watching them develop into ever more able learners and citizens.

Phil

P.S. I will be taking many other students on tours, including increasing numbers of high school students. If you are a parent who drops off on Sixth Avenue, keep an eye out. If you see me in the lobby sporting my red hard hat, it means that I am on my way to lead another tour. Grab a hat and come along!

On Charlton Street we will continue the phase of construction that we started in March. Let me pause to thank the high school students and faculty for their patience during the construction. Major disruption was limited to a few days, but these days were hard.  Thank you very much.   This summer we will be renovating the 40 Charlton Street  Lobby and our chemistry lab, adding an elevator and renovating the townhouse (future home to the college guidance and admissions offices, humanities classrooms and faculty offices) to the west of the current high school building and integrating this restored landmark building into the existing facility.  We will be adding considerable space to the high school’s basement classrooms and enlarging the cafeteria/student center/Lounge. In the fall we will hold classes and receptions in a spacious outdoor Courtyard.  This project is a huge undertaking.  The bulk of the work will be completed in time for the opening of school with the rest coming on line in mid-September.

All four of our librarians are now members of American Library Association committees. This is quite an honor. Congratulations to these dedicated professionals.· Lower School Librarian Stacy Dillon is serving on the 2009 Association for Library Service to Children’s (ALSC) Maureen Hayes Author/Illustrator Award.

· Early Childhood and Interdivisional Librarian Jesse Karp (LREI ’87) has just been invited to serve on the 2009-2010 Young Adult Library Services Association’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens selection committee.

· High School Librarian Karyn Silverman is currently serving on the 2009 Young Adult Library Services Association’s Michael L. Printz Award. The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.

· Middle School Librarian and Library Department Chair Jennifer Hubert Swan is currently serving on the 2009 Young Adult Library Services Association’s Alex Award. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.

Thank you to those who were able to join us last Wednesday for our Building for Action event. It was wonderful to have so many of you there, along with alumni, past parents and staff, to share in the tremendous support for LREI that was in the room. For those of you who were not there, you might want to visit our web site, click on the Building for Action button to view much of the information we shared on the 24^th. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can watch the Then and Now slide show that was a crowd favorite at the event. Or, just click here.

As you heard last week, or will see on the web site, we announced plans to renovate and green all of the classrooms in the Sixth Avenue buildings over the next few summers—we completed the majority of the middle school classes this summer—and to add a great deal of space to the Charlton Street campus, as well as to renovate current Charlton Street spaces. This work grows out of the strategic plan created by the Board of Trustees, and a large group of LREI community members, in 2000. In addition to creating improved spaces for our current student body in the lower, middle and high schools, this campaign will create a larger high school building to provide for the planned increase in the high school student body. A larger high school student body will be more attractive to many prospective families, will allow for an increasingly academic program and will support our tuition remission program for all three divisions and ongoing increases to faculty salaries and professional development funds.

In the weeks and months to come there will be many opportunities to learn more about Building for Action. There will also be opportunities for those who want to join the Building for Action team. There will be a drop-in information session on the morning of Wednesday, October 8^th from 8:15-9:30, in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. I will be available to discuss our goals and to answer any questions you may have.

I look forward to continuing the conversation.

Best,
Phil