Notable Performances

Dear Families:

With our first National Geographic Geography Bee under our belts, kudos to all of the students who participated in the preliminary round last week. Congratulations to Aaron and Robbie in the 5th Grade, Honour in the 6th Grade, Molly in the 7th Grade, and Sofi in the 8th Grade for their achievement in the preliminary round and for their participation in the final round of the LREI National Geographic Bee. Congratulations to 8th Grader Mariana for her third-place performance and to 6th Grader Lucas for his second place performance in the final round. Congratulations finally to 7th Grader Nick for his first-place performance, which makes him eligible to take the qualifying test for the state level of the National Geographic Geography Bee. The Bee provided an excellent opportunity to reinforce our high academic standards, allow peers to support the efforts of their classmates, and to express school spirit, all three of which the middle school students did admirably.

In the same spirit, the Bee follows on the heels of last weekend’s production of the Middle School play “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged.” I was thoroughly impressed with the level of dedication and commitment that students put into the rehearsal process and into the three productions. The richness of creative spirit and passionate commitment to the arts was clearly evident in their performances and in the efforts of those who worked behind the scenes on the play.

Well done!

This Week’s Attachments

(Click on the links below to open the attachments. If you are having trouble opening the links, go to http://www.columbia.edu/~mis14/ to access the files.)

1) Karamu

2) Middle School Dance Update

3) Middle School Literary Festival

4) LREI Arts Festival

5) Tsunami Relief Efforts

Of School-wide Interest . . .

1) Reminder – School is closed both this Friday (all school professional development day) and this Monday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday)

2) By adding your email address in the “Subscribe” box below, you will get an automatic email notification whenever a new post is added to the “Weekly News.” I will still continue to send the Thursday notification; this is just another way to stay connected.

3) From Director Phil Kassen: Attached you will find a letter describing LREI’s participation in the global tsunami relief efforts. This letter is also posted on our website–www.lrei.org.

4) A Message from Michel de Konkoly Thege, Director of Finance and Operations, about Re-Enrollment for 2005-2006: Materials to re-enroll students for the 2005-2006 school year are being mailed during the week of January 10 to all families whose students are in good academic standing and where tuition obligations that are currently due have been paid or arrangements made for payment. In the case of families that are not current on tuition obligations, no re-enrollment materials will be mailed until payment or an arrangement for payment is made, and LREI will begin the process to fill the spot in the relevant grade on January 17. In the case of families applying for tuition remission, re-enrollment materials are being mailed in cases where the applications, including the Report of Family Contribution from School and Student Service for Financial Aid, are complete.

5) Our first middle school dance of the year is scheduled for Friday, February 4th at 7PM in the Charlton Street PAC. I have attached some general information about the dance, which can be accessed through the link above. This information will be especially useful for 5th Grade families and for families new to LREI. I wanted to get this information to you now so that you had a general overview of the dance. However, there is the possibility that the dance will be connected to a Dance-A-Thon event as part of LREI’s schoolwide Tsunami-related relief efforts. As a result, this may impact somewhat on the times indicated on the attachment. Once this plan is fully developed, I will send the updated information to you.

6) From High School Principal Tony Fisher: I have attached a workshop proposal form for LREI Arts Festival 2005! This year, the Arts Festival is occurring on Friday, February 11, and will involve all students from grades 8 through 12. This is an exciting day when students choose from a variety of workshops offered by faculty, friends, parents and others in and out of the LREI school community. The workshops run in the morning and are followed by an afternoon of exhibitions. For more details, please see the attachment; in particular, if you or someone you know is interested in offering a workshop, please send the form in to me by Friday, January 28.

7) We are now in the process of organizing this year’s Middle School Literary Festival, which is scheduled for Wednesday, February 16th. This annual event, which is a celebration of the writing and reading that goes on in our community everyday, is an excellent opportunity for parental involvement. Please read the attached letter from Middle School Dean of Students Noni Polhill for more information.

8) The 5th/6th Grade Intramural basket ball schedule is available on-line at: http://www.lrei.org/athletics/intramural.html

9) From Meryl, for 5th Grade families: The Little Red Chorus will resume its rehearsal schedule beginning the week of Jan. 24, and will continue until our May 19 concert as follows: Tuesdays – 3-3:45 and Thursdays – 8-8:45. If you are the parent of a child who performed in our Winter concert, I hope you

are still glowing with pride at your child’s beautiful and impressive accomplishment. I hope that he/ she will be continuing with us for the duration of the school year. If your child has not yet signed up for Chorus, I urge you to encourage her/ him to join. The choral experience is of great musical value to each participant as well

as being in turn a gift to our LREI community. Please feel free to contact me with any questions via email or my voicemail extension: 360. Here’s to a wonderful and musical Spring!

10) Please join us for Karamu!, the annual performing arts celebration sponsored by the PA Multicultural Committee. Great performances, food and dancing for the whole family. Friday, January 28th. 5:00-9:00 PM. Tickets go on sale Monday, Jan. 24th; they always sell out quickly! Taste of Karamu, an afterschool snack sale, is next Thursday, Jan. 20th, in the 6th Ave. lobby. Please sign up in the 6th Ave. lobby to bring a snack or to help out in other ways, or e-mail lanaflame@yahoo.com. Please also participate in our family photo exhibit; the purple “frames” were sent home this week (extras available in lobby). We look forward to seeing the photos around the school! (Flyer attached.)



Looking Ahead . . .

On the LREI web site additional information about upcoming events can be found at http://www.lrei.org/caleven/index.html (the middle school events page can be found at http://www.lrei.org/midschool/Events.html)

  • Friday, January 14th — Professional Development Day – school closed for all divisions
  • Monday, January 17th — Martin Luther King, Jr., Birthday – school closed
  • Tuesday, January 18th, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, January 19th, 5:30PM — HR Comm. Mtg.
  • Friday, January 21st, 8:30AM — Multicultural Comm. Mtg.
  • Friday, January 21st, 8:30AM — Lit.Comm.Mtg.
  • Friday, January 21st – Love Shakespeare production for 7th and 8th graders @ 2:00PM (tentative)
  • Monday, January 24th, 8:00AM — Development Comm. Mtg.
  • Tuesday, January 25th, 5:30PM — Enroll. & Mkt. Comm. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, January 26th, 6:30PM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg. w/Phil ChSt. caf
  • Friday, January 28th, 5:00PM – KARAMU (set up at noon) ChSt. PAC
  • Saturday, January 29th, 7:00PM — Coffeehouse, ChSt. PAC
  • Wednesday, February 2nd, 10:00AM – 6th Grade to Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
  • Tuesday, February 1st, 8:00AM — Sports Comm. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, February 2nd — Art Auction
  • Thursday, February 3rd, 8:00AM — LGSA Mtg.
  • Thursday, February 3rd — Art Auction
  • Friday, February 4th, 7:00PM — MS Dance
  • Thursday, February 10th, 8:45AM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg., 6th Ave. caf.
  • Friday, February 11th — HS Arts Festival
  • Monday, February 14th, 9:00AM — Comm.Serv.Mtg.
  • Tuesday, February 15th, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep Mtg.
  • Tuesday, February 15th – Thursday, February 17th — ERBs
  • Wednesday, February 16th — Literary Festival
  • Friday, February 18th, 8:30AM — Lit.Comm.Mtg.
  • Monday, February 21st — Presidents’ Weekend – school closed
  • Tuesday, February 22nd — Presidents’ Weekend – school closed
  • Thursday, February 24th, 8:45AM — PA Exec. Bd. Mtg. w/Phil, 6th Ave.caf
  • Thursday, February 24th — LS Art Show
  • Friday, February 25th — LS Art Show

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and interesting information – http://www.lrei.org.

Be well,

Mark

To view the attached .pdf files, please download Adobe Reader, if you do not already have it. Click on the following link or paste it into your browser: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

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