Guest Blog from Phil
Dear Lower School 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!
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LETTERS FROM LOWER SCHOOL TEACHERS
All Fours, Fours-K, and Kindergartners: The early childhood classes are getting ready to share some music with you! Our music assemblies are coming up on November 11 (Kindergarten) and November 18 (4s’s/K and Fours). Please click here for a letter with info about our assemblies from Sue, Early Childhood Music Specialist.
All First Graders: Homework is a new and novel experience for First Graders. Please click here for an informative letter with answers to frequently asked questions about homework.
All Second Graders: It has been exciting to get to know ourselves as readers! Please click here to view a letter about developing our reading strategies in the second grade.
Dot & Becka’s Third Grade: Please click here to view our letter about field trips, and what we’re up to in the classroom this week!
Kate & Karen’s Fourth Grade: Click here to read about our social studies unit on immigration, exploring robotics in science and our first meeting with our 11th grade buddies!
All Fourth Graders: Please click here for ideas on how to extend learning beyond the classroom in November.
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UPCOMING LOWER SCHOOL MEETINGS & EVENTS
For the most up-to-date information visit the school’s online calendar at www.lrei.org/calendar. Click here to download the one-page 2009-10 school calendar.
11/6 & 11/13 LS/MS Parent Teacher Conferences & Childcare: Lower School and Afterschool closed on these dates. Sign-up sheets for childcare (conference only or full day) are now available at the front desk in the lobby. Full day childcare is $20 per child. You may pack a bag lunch (please, no nuts or seeds) for your child that day; morning snack and pizza lunch will be provided. Please contact Dena Tasse-Winter if you have any questions (dwinter@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, ext. 215). Childcare drop-off and pick-up will be in the Big Room (4th Fl.) on November 6th.
11/9 Middle School Tour for 4th Grade Parents – 8:45 a.m. Parents of Fourth Graders, please attend a special tour and talk about Middle School with Mark Silberberg, Middle School Principal.
11/10 3rd and 4th Grade Family Math Night, 6:30 p.m. – Math games, math activities, smiles and laughter… count me in! Please click here for the flyer with details. Please note that childcare is available for siblings of your 3rd and 4th graders, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
11/16 Vonick’s 3rd Grade Farm Trip Breakfast, 8:45 a.m.
11/17 Kate’s 4th Grade Farm Trip Breakfast, 8:45 a.m.
11/17 1st and 2nd Grade Family Math Night, 6:30 p.m. – Math games, math activities, smiles and laughter… count me in! Please click here for the flyer with details. Please note that childcare is available for siblings of your 1st and 2nd graders, from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
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LOWER SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
All Lower School Assemblies are held in our Auditorium at 8:45 a.m.
FALL 2009
11/11 – Kindergarten Music Assembly
11/18 – 4s & 4s-K Music Assembly
12/2 – 3rd Grade Music Assembly
SPRING 2010
4/7 – 4s & 4s-K Music Assembly
4/14 – 1st Grade Music Assembly
4/21 – Kindergarten Music Assembly
4/28 – 2nd Grade Music Assembly
5/12 – 3rd Grade Music Assembly
5/19 – 4th Grade Music Assembly
5/26 – Kindergarten Movement Assembly
6/2 – 4s & 4s-K Movement Assembly
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UPCOMING PARENT ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
11/5 Adult Chorus, 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
11/9 Multi Cultural Committee Meeting
11/10 LS POCOC Meeting
11/12 Literary Committee Meeting
11/16 Multi Cultural Committee Meeting
11/17 How to Raise an Ally: Social Justice @ LREI
11/18 Parent SEED Meeting
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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
*Coffee Pond Photography recently sent information for ordering your child’s school portraits. Occasionally, a parent or student may want a different look from the original portrait taken, in which case Coffeepond will offer an opportunity for a retake, which is scheduled for 11/16/2009. Simply click on the retake link on your child’s portrait page to register. Please sign up at least 2 days before the scheduled day. If you have not received information by either email or mail please contact their Customer Care Department directly for assistance. By phone: 1-800-632-2323 ext “0.” By Email: Lifeguards@coffeepond.com
*Red is Green Committee Announcements:
The Red is Green committee is sponsoring a week long Clothing Drive to celebrate America Recycles Day. Beginning next Monday, November 9, through Friday, November 13, drop off your unwanted (but clean) clothing, curtains, linens, towels, shoes, hats, handbags and belts. They will be recycled or reused in places like Eastern Europe and South America. Look for drop-off boxes in the 6th Ave. lobby and the high school lobby. For more information, click here for our flyer, or go to www.wearablecollections.com.
Starting Monday November 2nd bring in your empty ink cartridges to be recycled at LREI. Every year in the US we throw over 375 million ink cartridges away in the trash. Empty ink cartridges will be accepted at both the high school and at 6th Ave locations. Bins are located by the reception desk.
*LREI High School Thespians present an original play for all LREI audiences (LS, MS, & HS)!
THE SPIRIT OF THE RIDGE is inspired by the lives and legends of the Lenni Lenape, the indigenous Native Americans who lived here in NYC and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic States for thousands and thousands of years.
Set inside a pre-contact Lenape wigwam, THE SPIRIT OF THE RIDGE is a story about the timelessness and necessity of friendship and peace, and the importance of connecting to the past. Themes and topics covered in the play include school bullying, inner-strength, loyalty, compassion, celebrating differences, and learning about Native cultures and traditions. Shows are scheduled for Friday, November 13th, at 7:00PM, and Saturday, November 14th, at 2:00PM and 7:00PM and will take place at the Charlton Street Performing Arts Center. Tickets will be on sale next week in both the Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street locations. For more information contact Meghan Farley Astrachan at 212-477-5316 x399.
*Visit the Afterschool Photo Blog at http://blog.lrei.org/afterschoolphotos/ to get a glimpse of what we have been up to in Afterschool. Photos will continue to be posted, so please return throughout the year (you may visit any time by clicking “Afterschool Photos Blog” on the left side of this page, under “LREI Links”).