We, Us, Our
Dear Families,
As Kindergarten families experienced just this morning, there is something about singing together, that stays in your heart long after. That is why, to mark the wonderfully historic occasion of Americans’ selection of a new president, the lower school gathered together (last Wednesday) to sing. We sang This land is Your Land, Common Thread, and My Roots Go Down. We sat and listened together as the president-elect told us in an excerpt from his speech about the 106-year-old woman voting in Atlanta, how much of America’s history she’s lived through, and how much that meant to her. We noted the absolutely clear message that all of our students, of every shape and size, of every beautiful shade of skin, of every texture of hair, and of every type of family, with any name – no matter how it is pronounced – can grow up and be whatever they feel called to be. They can be president. Or an artist, or a scientist, or a writer, or a teacher, or whatever they would like to be.
Phil pointed out Barack Obama’s inspiring use of the words We, Us, and Our, throughout his victory speech. “What does that mean to you?” Phil asked our students. (Please ask your child what that means to her or him, because in that big assembly, they did not all get a chance to say out loud!) Several students got a chance draw what that means to them, and two examples from second grade, worth a thousand words of course, are just below my note.
Also below if you scroll down, you will see a note from Dawn describing this year’s Penny Harvest effort. A timely example of We, Us, Our in action. I am so proud of the LREI students leading and participating in this effort to support those in need. The Penny Harvest works by “converting [children’s] natural compassion for others into action by collecting pennies and turning those pennies into grants for community organizations.” Sounds to me like a formula for the alchemy that eventually prepares students to be active citizens in a democracy. And I’m looking forward to seeing in what other ways we are inspired to show what We, Us, and Our mean to us together.
Warmly,
Namita
LOWER SCHOOL NOTES & ATTACHMENTS
(click on the links below to view and print information from teachers and specialists.)
- First & Second grades: a note about Math & Science night (1030-12-msnight)
- Fourth grade: a message from LS Librarian, Stacy Dillon (1113-4-Library)
- All grades: Please click here for the ‘at a glance’ calendar for the 2008-09 school year.
UPCOMING PARENT MEETINGS & EVENTS
- 11/14: All divisions closed, Parent Teacher conference day
- 11/18: Photo Re-take day
- 11/18, 6pm: 1st & 2nd grade Math and Science Night (1030-12-msnight)
- 11/19, 8:45AM: Fours & EK Music Assembly
- For an up-to-date, searchable all school calendar, please visit www.lrei.org/calendar
WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
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From Phil Kassen, Director:
While I am always happy to have people drop in to see me, I am not always in my office when people stop by. In order to make it easier to find me, I will be available for drop in conversations, in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria, from 8:45AM-9:30AM on November 21st, December 5th, December 12th and December 17th. Hope to see you there.
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A reminder, From the LREI Family Handbook:
Vacations: We remind families to only take vacations during LREI breaks and that your child’s time away from school does not begin before the school break does or end afterwards. Teachers use each scheduled day to support their classroom program goals and the School’s mission. Students who miss days adjacent to breaks, or who take vacations outside of our break times, miss work and can disrupt planned activities. This affects the learning of the absent students and her/his classmates. In addition, divisional or all-school assemblies often precede our longer vacations. These gatherings are essential for creating the sort of community that drew you to LREI. Students sing, listen to speakers, applaud their schoolmates, meet students in other divisions and generally strengthen community ties.
We will not honor families’ requests to receive work their children will miss due to family vacation plans. Families that are presented with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to make an extended visit to another city, country, etc. should speak to their child’s principal.
In general, we are focused on making sure that we are using each moment of each school day as effectively as possible. Part of being able to do this is to have each student in school each of these days. Thank you for your support of these efforts.
Philip Kassen,
Director
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Dear Parents-
The Kindergartens, EK’s and Fours will be having their Parent Assemblies soon!
Wed., November 12th- Kindergartens- Wed., November 19th- Fours and EK
They will be at 8:45 to about 9:15 in the auditorium. It will be a chance for you to see what we’ve been doing in music class. It’s very informal, not really a performance. When you bring your child to school, stay in the classroom until it’s time to come down together. You are invited to sit with your child on the floor and you’ll be able to hear your child sing and join in now and then. (We’ll have a few chairs for those who need them.) I am excited to attach some audio files here for you to get a preview of some songs. We can add songs as the year goes on.
I look forward to seeing you soon!
Sue Ribaudo
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Childcare for upcoming Math & Science nights:
3rd & 4th grade – 11/11
1st & 2nd grade – 11/18
Childcare will be available at the usual fee of $15 per child and $5 for siblings. If you require childcare for either evening you must signup on the sheets at the reception desk. The will be a sheet for each evening. You can also email Mary Shea (mshea-at-lrei.org) no later than Monday, November 10th. Please remember that when you arrive you must sign your child in and when leaving you must sign out. Pizza and Juice will be served.
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Penny Harvest:
This year’s Penny Harvest will be led by the fourth graders. Over 500 NYC schools participate in this project through the organization Common Cents. The idea is that if we pool all the “idle pennies” sitting in jars or on dressers throughout the city, much good work could be done with the money. Last year LREI contributed $500 to the Bowery Mission and $500 to Greenpeace. City-wide, close to $800,000 was contibuted to over 1700 community organizations.
Fourth Graders will be visiting lower school classrooms to tell students about the project. Each child will receive a brochure describing the project and a bag for collecting pennies. Pennies should be returned to school and dropped into the container in their classroom.
It is a particularly important time for children to learn about the importance of this type of work. Yesterday’s Times reported a significant drop in the amount of food that soup kitchens and food pantries are able to provide to an increasing number of clients. Many such programs will be needing additional funding. We ask that all lower school parents talk with their children about the project. Perhaps they could tell other family members about it. Some children have even put containers and posters in their buildings to collect the pennies of their neighbors.
We will also accept other coins. Feel free to contact me with any other questions.
Thank you,
Dawn Wheatley
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Red is Green Update: This week The Red is Green Committee launched LREI’s monthly recycling drive. Each month you will have an opportunity to recycle items that are not easily recycled at home. November’s recycling drive is dedicated to plastic bags, which currently cannot be recycled with regular plastics. You can find a box for collecting these bags by the reception desk at the Sixth Avenue campus as well as in the Charlton Street building. Our first day we collected over 150 bags! The monthly recycling drive is a fun and easy way for our kids to get involved in taking better care of our planet so please keep an eye out for the monthly drive in the lobby. Next month’s recycling drive will be old sneakers!
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LREI High School Night at the Apple Store
November 19th, 6PM
12th Grade Arts Showcase
Come celebrate Senior Arts including Music, Film, Photography and Theatre
School Night at the Apple Store is designed to give students the opportunity to celebrate the works they have created using Apple technology. The store becomes a theater for students and teachers to showcase these projects for family, friends and teachers.
Apple Store Soho
second floor screening room
103 Prince Street, NYC
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Music Assemblies, First – Fourth Grades: The Lower School Assemblies are a wonderful opportunity for parents to see the concepts and songs learned in music class. Rhythm, melody, harmony, form as well as creative movement and interpretive listening will showcase the grade level assemblies. Parents, please join us and be prepared to participate! – Ledell Mulvaney, Music Teacher
- Third Grade, Wednesday, 12/3 at 8:45am
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