Divisional News from Phil

Dear LREI Families,

Hello. Phil Kassen here, contributing to the divisional blogs this week. Please be sure to check below to read important announcements from your division’s principals. Three short comments this week.

  1. At this point in the school year most of you have been to your division’s curriculum night. You have heard from your child’s teacher(s) and have a sense of the academic journey your children will undertake this school year. If you continue to have questions about the year’s program or about how it matches your child’s interests or needs, please contact your child’s teachers or your divisional principal.

    2. In the divisional blogs of the past few weeks the principals have written a great deal about community and the ways in which we foster and support the development of classroom communities. This was also the topic of conversation for our LREI 101 meeting for new families this week. (New families that did not participate in LREI 101 this week should contact Chap, our Director of Diversity and Community at schapman-at-lrei.org to sign up for next week’s session.) I encourage you to visit the Lower School blog to read Sharon Dupree’s comments on her introduction to the Lower School community as the new principal. I also suggest that you visit the Middle School blog to read Mark Silberberg’s posting on the new Middle School advisory system. Mark and the Middle School faculty worked tirelessly over the past year to create an advisory system that meets the needs of middle school students and works to create safe comfortable places in which early adolescents can foster relationships with classmates and feel increasingly comfortable taking personal and academic risks. Finally, please visit the High School blog to read Ruth’s comments on “Gender and Sexuality, What’s Next in the Conversation,” a series of discussions and assemblies that will occur throughout the year for the High School students. I was amazed at the focused attention that our high school students brought to this difficult topic at last week’s assembly with Don McPherson. Our High School students are so trusting of each other and enjoy being challenged to be their best selves individually and their best collective self. Very impressive!

  2. Please visit www.lrei.org and experience the fresh look of the home page. In addition, we are excited to let you know that the LREI Event Calendar can be accessed online at http://www.lrei.org/calendar/. From the main page you can view the calendar, by day, week or month. When you first view the calendar, you will see the events for a default set of event categories. If you click on the “Filter Events” link in the lower left-hand corner, you will be taken to a window that will allow you to personalize the calendar. For example, sports schedules are not included in the default set of events. If your child plays on a Middle School or High School team, you can check the box for that team to have the schedule appear on your calendar. When you make changes, click on the “Apply Filter” button to have your new preferences stored.If you have a desktop calendar or PDA compatible with the iCalendar standard you can subscribe to a calendar or download events. Currently the iCalendar standard is fully supported by Apple’s iCal, and the Mozilla Calendar. If your calendar software cannot subscribe to a whole category of events, you should still be able to download a category. To subscribe to or download the whole calendar or a specific category, click on the link “Subscribe & Download” in the lower left-hand corner of the main calendar page. You can also download individual events by clicking on the link “copy this event into your personal desktop calendar” which you will find on each page that lists event details.We hope that this calendar will provide an additional avenue for you to be connected to the many events at LREI.

Thanks to those who offered thoughts and suggestions about the dangerous crossing at Houston St. and Sixth Ave. We are working with the Sixth Precinct and our City Councilperson to address this situation. In the meantime I encourage you to avoid crossing Houston St. on the east side of Sixth Avenue.

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

School Picture Day is coming up! Coffee Pond Photography will be taking individual portraits of each student and each class. Your child’s pictures will be taken on 10/15/07 (in case of inclement weather, pictures will be taken on 10/29). Portraits will be taken indoors in case of inclement weather. You then will receive proofs in the mail directly from Coffee Pond and you may choose which photograph you like best. All orders must be placed online using the Coffee Pond website after photo day. To geth the best photo of your child, please make sure they are dressed appropriately that day. If you have any questions, you can email Coffee Pond at lifeguards@coffeepond.com or call 800.635.2323 between 9am and 5pm on weekdays.

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A note about LS Spanish from Julie. In Spanish, children are learning to:

  • survey each others’ favorite sports, juices, colors, and animals, and make tables and bar graphs showing the results. Ask them, ¿Cuál deporte / bebida / color / animal te gusta más? (Fourth Grade)
  • identify multiples of three. Ask them to count with you, like this: Uno, dos, tres, caracoles, cuatro, cinco, seis, caracoles, etc. (Third Grade)
  • name the colors of favorite fruits. Ask them, ¿De qué color es la pera / la manzana / el plátano? (Second Grade)
  • sing “Bingo” in Spanish. Sing with them “Un perro grande tengo yo, y se llama Beato.” (First Grade)
  • name animals and their movements. Say with them, “La rana salta, el pez nada,” and watch how they move. Kindergarten and Early Kindergarten)
  • Tell who is in their families, and whether they are big or small. Say with them, “La mamá es grande. El bebé es chiquitito.” (Fours)

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From Shop Teacher Peggy Resnick: Pathways carved by the Fourth Graders are featured in the lobby display case of the Sixth Avenue building. Fourth Graders learned how to use chisels to remove wood and then added materials to create personal pathways. Be sure to see them this week!

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From Director of Diversity & Community Sandra (Chap) Chapman: I would like to inform you of our orientation session for families of children that are new to LREI. LREI 101 will provide an in-depth, interactive, and engaging introduction to LREI, its mission, philosophy, and diversity initiatives. These sessions will offer participants an opportunity to learn more about the School community and values and your child’s classroom experience. LREI 101 will be held on Thursday, October 11 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm at 40 Charlton Street. Please contact the receptionist at 212-477-5316 to let us know if you will attend. Contact me either by phone (x294), or by e-mail schapman-at-lrei.org, if you have questions about LREI 101. I look forward to further discussions with you about LREI.

PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS

  • School Closed: Friday, 10/5 (Faculty & Staff Professional Day) and Monday, 10/8 (Columbus Day)
  • Kate & Dave’s Fourth Grade Farm Trip to Hawthorne Valley: Tuesday, 10/9 to Friday, 10/12
  • Learn Your Library Morning (All parents welcome!): Wednesday, 10/17 at 8:45AM
  • Third Grade Farm Trip Meeting: Wednesday, 10/10 at 8:00AM
  • LS Parents of Children of Color Meeting: Wednesday, 10/10 at 8:45AM
  • Parent SEED Meeting: Wednesday, 10/10 at 6:30PM
  • LREI 101: Thursday, 10/11 at 6:30PM
  • This month’s Afterschool’s First Friday is on 10/12

LOWER SCHOOL NEWS

  • For families in Lauren & Molly’s Kindergarten: Click here for a class update from Lauren & Molly’s class and click here for the text from the class curriculum night.
  • For families in Dorothy and Debbie’s First grade: Click here for a post-curriculum night class update letter.
  • For all LS families: Click here for a letter from Julie Sterling about Spanish.

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