At home and abroad . . .

From guest blogger Phil Kassen:

Dear LREI Community,

Two exciting announcements:

Number 1
As families in the Lower School are aware, we recently completed our search for a new lower school principal. I am thrilled to share with all members of the LREI community that Namita Tolia will join us on July 1, 2008 as the head of our lower division. Please click here to read the announcement I sent to lower school families upon Namita’s appointment. While there will be many occasions to do so in the coming months, I do not want to miss this opportunity to thank Sharon DuPree for the wonderful work she is doing as Interim Lower School Principal.

I could not be more pleased with the outcome of our search process. Namita is a warm, smart, thoughtful and passionate person. The process to select Sharon’s successor was open to all members of the lower school community and included a number of representatives of the middle school, high school and Board of Trustees. Leading the search was a committee made up of almost half of the lower school faculty. This group was assisted by an ad hoc Parents Association Advisory Committee that acted as a liaison between the search committee and the parent body. Each of the four finalists, selected from a pool of 18 first round candidates who, in turn, were selected from the hundreds of resumes we received, met with a large number (over 50) of lower school parents, the advisory committee, Suzanne Cohen—lower school assistant principal, Mark Silberberg and Ruth Jurgensen—the middle and high school principals, a group of fourth graders, a number of trustees, the senior administrative team, the early kindergarten and the entire lower school faculty. After all four finalists had finished their marathon visit, we had a day devoted to gathering feedback from each of the aforementioned groups. This information was added to all that we had received earlier in the process. As our search drew to a close, the faculty committee and I spent many hours together evaluating our experiences with the four candidates and all that we had learned about these four educators and about the institution over the prior weeks and months.

As I stated earlier, I am so pleased that Namita will be joining us and am sure that when you have a chance to meet her you will be as impressed with her as those involved in the search are. I am equally thrilled with the process, described above, that brought Namita to us. So many people gave considerable time and thought to this effort. Members of the community gathered together in order to listen to, and learn from, each other. Questions were asked and answered, assumptions were tested and understandings were challenged. In the end I think that we all had a deeper understanding of LREI’s mission and of the essential role that the lower school holds in meeting these ends. As the process came to its successful conclusion, all involved felt renewed support for the institution’s belief that each voice—each point of view—has value. Decisions that consider the range of experience represented by the members of our community may be difficult and may create some dissonance. This is okay, however, as, even with this temporary discord, decisions made in an inclusive manner are inherently more productive and enriching for the community. Thank you to all for your honest, thoughtful and supportive participation.

Number 2
Look out world, here we come! Our middle school robotics team is one of two teams from the U.S. that has been invited to participate in an international robotics competition in Tokyo later this spring. This team, coached by middle school teachers Sherezada Acosta and Carin Cohen, has done very well in each of the four years that it has been competing in the FIRST LEGO League Tournaments. Last year the team won the 3rd place Champions Award and the 1st place Team Work Award. Earlier this year, the senior team, made up of seventh and eighth graders, placed first out of all participating schools in Manhattan in the Robot Performance category. The rookie squad, made up of sixth graders, won the Champions Award. A few weeks ago the team was awarded the 5th place Robot Design Award in the All City Championship. The judges in the tournaments in which we have competed over the years have been impressed with how articulate and resourceful our students are as well as with how well the team members work together. It was for these reasons that they were chosen to represent the U.S. in the FIRST LEGO League Asian Open Championship. A tremendous amount of hard work awaits these students between now and late April when they take off for points east. We could not be prouder of the team and its coaches and look forward to hearing of their successes. Stay tuned, in the weeks to come, for more information on this exciting adventure.

Finally (I know I said two items), congratulations to our middle school boys’ basketball team on their 61-23 victory over the Browning School for the league championship earlier this week. Come out and watch the boys play in the opening game of the league’s end of season tournament on February 27th at the Thompson Street Athletic Center.

Exciting times,

Phil

This Week’s Attachments
General:
Visibility Exhibit Letter
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) We are very pleased to announce that six of our high school photography students were selected among High School and University student submissions for an upcoming exhibition at Synchronicity Fine Arts, 106 West 13th Street. The opening reception is on February 9 from 2-5 PM; the show runs from February 5 through March 1.

2) This Saturday, February 9th, from 7-9PM in the PAC at 40 Charlton Street, The Coffee House you’ve all been waiting for is finally here. There will be bands from all thee divisions (3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th grades) as well as faculty performances from the Lower and High Schools! Its going to be a rocking Coffee House, so come out and support the performers.

3) Please read the attached letter from the LREI Lesbian Gay Straight alliance (LGSA) announcing the upcoming Visibility show. The deadline for photos and captions is this Monday, February 11th. It would be great if would could increase the number of contributions from Middle School families.

4) Upcoming Service events:

• Monday, February 4, 2008 — Pennies for Patients Drive begins (through 2/25)
  Since 1994, millions of dollars have been raised in pennies and other spare change by more than 10 million elementary, middle and high school students throughout the country. The funds, collected during a three-week period, benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Everyone who participates is a winner! Students across the country are collecting pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters during the Pennies for Patients campaigns benefiting the Society.
• February 11 through 15th – is the “Have a Heart/ Get a Heart” collection sponsored by the LREI Community Service Committee for the Room To Grow organization. We are collecting new and GENTLY used items (baby, toddler needs: clothing, equipment and books) for ages new born to 5 years old. We will be donating whatever we collect to a couple of different organizations in the NYC area. Donations can be left at the front desk. We will be giving a heart sticker to all who bring in donations next week. Please click here for more information.
• Monday, March 3, 2008 — Project Cicero Book Drive (through March 6)
  We are an annual non-profit book drive designed to create — or supplement — school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Now in its eighth year, Project Cicero has distributed nearly 1,000,000 new and gently used books to 5,500 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching 180,000 students. We solicit donations from individuals and families from over 90 independent, public, and parochial schools each year, and have received generous contributions from many book publishers.
• As a class fundraiser, the ninth graders are collecting used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. They will send the collected items to an organization that recycles them and the class will receive cash for these items. Please note that the collection is limited to used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. For additional information go to www.fundingfactory.com. They will begin collecting used cartridges and cell phones on Wednesday, February 6th and will continue until Thursday, May 22nd. A collection box will be located in the Sixth Avenue lobby. Tell your friends and family about this opportunity so that these items can be recycled and don’t end up in landfills.

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

6) On Thursday, February 28, 2008, 7:00PM, Freedom Institute‘s Independent School Program presents an evening with Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair on “How to Be a Go-To Parent: Raising Kids of Character.” To be held at the Nightingale-Bamford School (20 East 92nd Street, New York, NY). For more information, contact: Charlanne Zepf Bauerlein at 212-838-0044 ext. 11.

7) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). 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. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2007-2008 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

For all grades . . .
A reminder that Middle School students will take the ERBs next Tuesday through Thursday. Please make sure that your child gets a good night’s sleep before each day of testing and that s/he has a good breakfast.

For Eighth Grade Families . . . .
1) Please make sure that your child is registered for the DC trip and that all balances are due by 3/4/08. Click here to access the registration form.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For additional information, follow these links:

• Calendar of Events
• 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.

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

Be well,
Mark