Happy Earth Day
Dear Families,
It was so nice to be greeted this morning by children with a sunny “Happy Earth Day!” I want to thank the Red is Green parent committee for organizing wonderful Earth Day activities for us. Students who attended loved it! They learned about worms and composting, they made art from recycled materials, they crushed natural ingredients to make paint, and they planted seeds to take home and grow. What a great way to celebrate Earth Day at LREI!
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Sincerely,
Namita
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LETTERS FROM LOWER SCHOOL TEACHERS
Elizabeth & Stephanie’s K: Please click here for our letter.
All Second Grade Families: Click here for a note about food pantry donations from the second grade.
Vonick & Randi’s Third Grade: Please click here for this week’s updates!
Dot & Becka’s Third Grade: Please click here for this week’s updates!
All Third Grade Families: Click here for a note from Stacy, our Lower School Librarian.
Dina & Jessi’s Fourth Grade: Click here for our newsletter. Also, click here for the “4th Grade Fraction Unit Parent Letter” and here for “Related Activities to Try At Home.”
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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.
4/23 LS/MS Parent Teacher Conferences & Childcare: Lower School and Afterschool closed. Sign-up sheets for childcare (conference only or full day) is available in the lobby. Full day childcare is $20 per child, conference-only childcare is available free of charge. You may pack a bag lunch (please, no nuts or seeds) for your child that day; morning snack and pizza lunch will be provided. Childcare will take place in the Big Room on the 4th floor. Please contact Dena Tasse-Winter if you have any questions (dwinter@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, ext. 215).
4/26 The Internet is Public Life Today – social networking for parents.
The internet is a great resource and fun for socializing; come join us in learning best how to enjoy and explore the internet safely and responsibly.
Join your fellow LREI parents/guardians for a discussion of our childrens’ online lives with a presentation by Don Buckley, Director of Communications Technology at the School at Columbia. April 26th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., Sixth Avenue Auditorium. Click here for a flyer with details.
5/3 What to Expect in First Grade.
5/4 High School Preview Event: Are you thinking about what is on the horizon for your 4th and 5th graders? Please join us on Tuesday, May 4th at 8:30 a.m. for High School Preview Morning with Ruth Jurgensen, HS Principal. You will learn about the program, hear from students and briefly see classes in action as we tour our fabulous new space! Contact the admissions office at bscott@lrei.org to confirm your attendance no later than April 30th. This event is a rescheduling of the High School Preview evening previously slated for April.
5/6 What to Expect in Second Grade.
5/7 Grandparents and Special Friends Day. We are looking forward to a day of fun classroom visits! The following are updated schedules of the day: please click here for the morning schedule (fours through first grade families), and click here for the afternoon schedule (second through fourth grade). If you have not yet rsvp’d please do so as soon as possible, or no later than Wednesday, April 28, 2010. Because we are expecting every child to have a grandparent or special friend that day, we need to know who will be visiting with your child. For those children who do not have a guest, we will arrange one from within the school (teachers and staff). Please call or email Lower School Assistant Dena Tasse-Winter (dwinter@lrei.org) and let her know the name of your child’s visitor or if they need one to be arranged.
5/13 Stir the Pot: Taste of the Future — Thursday, May 13th at 6:00 p.m., Charlton Street. Please click here for more information.
5/13 What to Expect in Third Grade.
5/14 What to Expect in Fourth Grade.
6/4 – 6/6 Save the date: the 17th Annual LREI Camping Trip will take place June 4 -6 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River. All LREI families and their children — from all grades pre-K through high school — are invited to participate. Watch for details and sign-up tables coming soon! If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to help organize, please contact Larry White at LWhite@stern.nyu or (212) 533-1966.
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LOWER SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
All Lower School Music Assemblies are held in our Auditorium at 8:45 a.m., and all Movement Assemblies are held in the Big Room (PAPAS) at 8:45 a.m.
SPRING 2010
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 & Movement Assembly
6/3 – 4s-K Movement Assembly (please note the change in date!)
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UPCOMING PARENT ASSOCIATION MEETINGS
4/26 Committee Service Meeting
4/26 Red is Green Comittee
4/29 Stir the Pot Committee Meeting
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COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
LREI Cookbook: Congratulations to the luck winner of the LREI Cookbook drawing… Rina Root! Thanks to Rina and all the others who have contributed to our new community cookbook, to be published later this year. Also, special thanks to Julia Wilbur, who donated our lovely prize for Rina from her linen collection Plover Organic. If you haven’t sent in a recipe yet, this is your final chance; please send recipes for potluck dishes (anything but desserts) to cookbook@lrei.org.
Adult rED — Click here to read about our next round of adult education classes. Please sign up ASAP as our classes begin on Tuesday, April 20th.
For next year PA interested parents:
Spring is here, so we are starting to plan for the next school year. The PA would like to let you know the many ways you can participate. Becoming a parent rep is a great way to get involved. If you have not been a parent rep before but would like to try it or find out more about it, please let us know. We would be happy to talk to you more about what the job entails. In the meantime, you can look at the Family Handbook, page 36 (link on our website www.LREI.org) for the Parent Rep Guidelines. Of course, until the classes are actually made up for next year (mid-August or so), we cannot match parent reps to classes.
If you’re looking for other ways to get involved, you could consider volunteering for any of our PA committees; please click here for the list. Also in the Family Handbook (p. 38), is a list of the co-chairs of the PA committees if you would like to contact them for more information.
Please email us at PA-Presidents@lrei.org if you would like to get involved.
Thank you,
Regina Trumbull and Kim Hostler
From the Art Auction… Thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Art Auction a rounding success! There are still some pieces of art for sale so please visit http://artauction.lrei.org/ for additional information and to view items that are available. Additionally, there are still tickets available for two exciting events this spring — click here for more details!
From Red is Green Committee…
Please join us for a presentation on Monday, April 26, at 8:45 a.m. in the Sixth Ave. cafeteria on how climate change is affecting our NYC water supply and wastewater infrastructure. Hilary Meltzer, LREI parent and part of NYC’s environmental law team will discuss regional projections about environmental changes and threats to our water supply all posed by climate change.
April’s recycle drive is… Corks. Cork comes from the bark of the cork oak tree. While it is a renewable resource, it takes a long time to harvest (25 years for the first harvest, 9 years thereafter). We recycle corks either by fulfilling teacher demand for them, or sending them to Terracycle, who turns them into products like cork boards. Drop off all used corks – natural or synthetic, wine or champagne. Drop off corks in the Red is Green bins in the Sixth Ave. or Charlton St. lobbies through the month of April.