Stepping Out On a Limb

Dear Families,

For the past two days, fifth and sixth graders have taken to the woods, ponds and craft shops at the Ashokan Center with joyful enthusiasm. This annual three-day trip provides students with an opportunity to build community while they explore the natural world and consider our place in it. The trip also provides numerous situations where students must work collaboratively in order to solve a variety of challenges. Tonight, they will take on the roles of developers, environmentalists, community residents, politicians and members of the media as they work to resolve a proposed development plan in the simulated community of Enchanted Valley.

Throughout the three days, each student will likely confront moments of personal challenge as s/he ponders how to do something new or how to address something that s/he knows is difficult based on prior experience. In each of these situations, students will likely take advantage of the support of a friend or teacher who will help them to navigate through the risk at hand. It is this support and safety that helps students to explore the obvious and not so obvious opportunities for learning connected to their efforts. In this way, the Ashokan experience helps to frame a set a habits that are essential to the on-going LREI learning experience. These habits have been defined in many ways, but I like the way that they are articulated by the educator David Perkins and his colleagues. They identify the following set of dispositions:

  • The disposition to be broad and adventurous
  • The disposition toward wondering, problem finding, and investigating
  • The disposition to build explanations and understandings
  • The disposition to make plans and be strategic
  • The disposition to be intellectually careful
  • The disposition to seek and evaluate reasons
  • The disposition to be metacognitive

In images, here are some of those dispositions being practiced at Ashokan as students push beyond the obvious and seek unusual ideas, see other points of view, challenge assumptions, explore new territory and go beyond the boundaries.
ropessaw
pondforge
smithsimoncanoecorn

Of General Interest . . .

1) From Phil Kassen on behalf of LREI’s Parents Association: The LREI Exchange is an online community created and launched by the LREI Parents Association.  It was nice to see some of our colleagues finding fruitful ways to use this resource.  A number of our members expressed a desire to opt out of participating in this e-community.  We are sorry for any frustration that the launch of the LREI exchange may have caused.  The LREI Exchange is now offline.  We will take a few days to reorganize and will be back in touch with all on how those who are interested can opt-in and choose the settings that best fit their needs.

2) The LREI Parents Association invites you to their annual Welcome Fair to be held on on Tuesday, September 22nd at 5:30PM at the Charlton Street building. Click here to view the event flyer.

3) For updates on faculty performances, openings, presentations, and publications visit the Faculty in the News page on the school web site.

4) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA – http://www.parentsinaction.org/). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Click here to view upcoming events and/or to download their calendar.

For All Grades . . .
1) You can access teachers’ blogs by following the “Digital Classroom” link on the sidebar.

2) Please note that the Middle School Curriculum Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29th at 6:30PM.

For Eighth and Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Soccer and Volleyball players: Please note that the practices scheduled for tomorrow have been canceled due to the holiday that begins tomorrow evening.

2) For families of students participating in soccer, volleyball, or cross country, students must have submitted a completed permission form (click here to download the form) to be eligible to participate. We ask that you also read the Sports Information Packet. The full practice and game schedules for each team can be accessed online at http://lrei.org/athletics/fallsports.html. If you have any questions, contact Athletic Director Peter Fisher at pfisher@lrei.org.

3) Students made their major and minor elective selections on Monday and were given their placements on Tuesday. If you have not already done, we encourage you to discuss these placements with them. The major classes met twice this week and the first official minor class meeting will take place this coming Monday. Questions about instrumental music and music lab should be directed to Matt McLean (mmclean@lrei.org). Questions about vocal music should be directed to Ledell Mulvaney (lmulvaney@lrei.org). Questions about drama should be directed to Joanne Magee (jmagee@lrei.org). Questions about the dance major should be directed to Deborah Damast (ddamast@lrei.org) and questions about the dance minor should be directed to Peggy Peloquin (ppeloquin@lrei.org).

4) A reminder for those interested in participating in the Middle School chorus that rehearsals take place on Tuesdays. Seventh and eighth graders should meet Ledell at 11:30AM in the auditorium. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ledell at lmulvaney@lrei.org.

5) Practices for the Middle School robotics team will begin on Wednesday, September 23rd. Practices will run from 3:15PM until 5:15PM. A snack will be provided. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact coach Sherezada Acosta at sacosta@lrei.org.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) If you have not done so already, please register your child for the October Williamsburg trip. Click here to download the registration form. A reminder that payments should be made directly to the tour company NCT. If you have payment questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1 ) Practices for the Middle School robotics team will begin on Wednesday, September 23rd. Practices will run from 3:15PM until 5:15PM. A snack will be provided. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact coach Sherezada Acosta at sacosta@lrei.org.

For Sixth and Fifth Grade Families . . .
1 ) Students are having a wonderful time at Ashokan. If you have not checked out the “tweets,” you can do so at http://twitter.com/LREI_MS_Trips/. The group is expected to return to school by 3:00PM. You can call reception after 12:00PM to get updates on the status of their return.

2) The Middle School Intramural Soccer program will start on Tuesday, September, 22nd at 7AM at JJ Walker Field (click here for a map and address) with subsequent practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have any questions, please contact Larry Kaplan at lkaplan@lrei.org.

3) A reminder for those interested in participating in the Middle School chorus that rehearsals take place on Tuesdays. Fifth and sixth graders should meet Ledell at 11:00AM in the auditorium. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Ledell at lmulvaney@lrei.org.

4) For those interested in participating in the band, practice sessions will take place on Fridays. Fifth and sixth graders should meet Matt in the auditorium at 2:15PM. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Matt at mmclean@lrei.org.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .

1) A number of you have inquired about Robotics opportunities for fifth graders. In the fall, students may participate in the Afterschool robotics enrichment class, which meets on Thursdays at 3:45PM. There is a fee for this class and a an Afterschool registration form must be completed and returned to the Afterschool office by September 14th. In the late winter/early spring, fifth graders will begin the robotics unit of their science class, which is also coordinated with their computer class. Towards the end of the spring, interested students will have the opportunity to prepare for and participate in the Robo Expo, which is an exhibition and competition with other NYC independent school. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me or science teacher Sherezada Acosta (sacosta@lrei.org).

============= For additional information, follow these links: =============

  • View all events with the LREI On-line Calendar
  • Click here to see the 2009-2010 calendar.
  • LREI Athletics. For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
  • Click here to view the Middle School Photo Gallery.

A reminder that the individual homework blog and the “feeds” for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). These feeds provide an easy “one-click” solution to find out what has been assigned for homework. Keep in mind that a feed will only show what has been posted as of the time you check it.

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.

Be well,
Mark

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