Kindness and Justice

Dear Families:

The values and norms at the center of our learning community may be easy to speak and write about in abstract terms, but they are much harder to live by in our daily lives. In schools, where these ideas often exist as expectations, our attention and energy are often drawn to those instances where the norms are not being met. As a result, we sometimes forget to recognize those individuals who on a daily basis meet and even surpass our expectations for what it means to be a member of a community. Two key values that guide much of our work at LREI are kindness and justice. In advisory groups today, we talked about the meaning of these two values and committed to a challenge to thank the members of our community who manifest these values in their actions.

In our discussions, we acknowledged that acts of kindness and justice can happen anywhere, at anytime, and between any two people, even if they do not see each other as friends. These acts may be small, but they are contagious, they spread to others and each act celebrates the ideas of our greatest social movement leaders. So for the next week, we have committed ourselves to be more aware of these simple actions and to bring them to each other’s attention. When we observe an act of kindness or justice, we will let that person know and we will inscribe the act on the Kindness and Justice Wall that will reside outside of my office. As Martin Luther King III said:

My father once said, ‘Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.’ If young people can commit to a day of kindness and justice, they can commit to a week of kindness and justice – a week becomes a month, a month becomes a year and a year becomes a lifetime.

So we will try to do a better job living and affirming these shared community values, which are certainly worthy of our attention with our annual MLK assembly just around the corner (more on that next week).

Also on the subject of affirming our community values, this week at Middle School meeting, we formally recognized the 2006-2007 Irwin Scholars. The Irwin Scholars program is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes eighth graders for their sustained commitment to academic excellence, active participation in the life of the Middle School, service to the community, demonstrated leadership, and the potential to serve as a community leader in the High School. This year we had more applicants than ever before, which made the selection process all the more difficult because the quality of applicants was so strong. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the faculty and administration to all of the applicants for their thoughtful essays and interviews and am pleased to share with you the 2006-2007 Irwin Scholars. They are Amy, Any, Eda, Emily W., Margret and Jake.

I wish you a good long weekend and, in the spirit of the letter that Phil sent out earlier this week, one also filled with service.

 

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.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.)

General:
Parents in Action Flyer
Eighth Grade:
Costa Rica Trip Form
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) 1) Middle School “Pajama Day” is tomorrow. Highlights will include hot chocolate and cookies at lunch and stories read by 8th graders during independent reading. Here are a few guidelines, which were developed by the Student Association on the occasion of the first Pajama Day (they had fun coming up with them):

  • Just because it’s Pajama Day doesn’t mean the dress code went to sleep
  • A robe adds a nice touch
  • No lingerie or underwear
  • If you wear boxers, please wear some type of undergarment beneath
  • Slippers are fine, but you should bring a pair of shoes/sneakers (especially if you have PE)
  • Blankets and stuffed animals are welcomed, but should not be so big that they require their own desk
  • If you don’t wear pajamas, we do not want to know about it!
  • If you can imagine Mark wearing it, it is probably okay.

2) A reminder that the first Middle School dance will take place on Friday, January 19th (this is a change from the February 2nd date on the Art Calendar). The dance will start at 6:30PM for fifth graders and at 7:00PM for sixth-eighth graders. Permission forms will go home on Tuesday.

3) It’s time again for the Middle School to participate in the National Geographic Geography Bee (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/index.html). The first round of the Bee will take place between January 12th-19th in the classroom. In this round, students respond orally to a series of geography-related questions. Participation in the Bee is voluntary and those who don’t want to participate will serve as the audience for their peers who do choose to participate. We will do the final and championship rounds at Middle School meeting on Wednesday, January 24th. The winner of the championship round will then take the state-qualifying test on Monday, January 29th. If you think your child may be interested in participating, some useful preparation resources can be found at:

http://geography.about.com/library/quiz/blpreviss.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/ax/newquizstart.html
http://geography.about.com/od/testyourknowledge/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/resources.html

4) Meeting About Tuition Increase and 2007-2008 Budget: Michel de Konkoly Thege, Director of Finance and Operations, will give presentations to the LREI community concerning the planned tuition increase and overall budget for the 2007-2008 school year. These presentations will take place at 6:30PM on Tuesday, January 16th in the Charlton Street cafeteria and at 8:00AM and 8:45AM on Wednesday, January 24th in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. All parents and other members of the LREI community are invited to attend and ask questions.

5) There’s an updated Home Game only basketball schedule on the web – enjoy !
http://www.lrei.org/athletics/pdf/winter_sports_home.pdf

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

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 2006-2007 calendar. You can also access their on-line calendar of events at www.parentsinaction.org.

For Eighth Grade Families . . . .
1) Parent meetings for the foreign language class trips to Costa Rica and France will take place on Tuesday, January 23rd at 800AM. Gabrielle’s meeting will be held in the auditorium and Sharyn’s meeting will be held in the science lab. These meetings will provide an opportunity to here more about the specifics of the trip and to ask questions. Some additional points to help you prepare for the meeting:

  • We will be asking for information including medical info and prescriptions, allergies, emergency contacts, birthdays abroad, etc.

  • Please bring in a copy of your child’s passport (or the passport and we’ll make a copy)

  • We will talk about the itinerary, evening activities, currency (electrical and monetary) etc

  • Please plan to be there with your child so that everyone is on the same page in terms of educational and behavioral expectations.

  • For those going to Costa Rica: Costa Rica requires a parental permission form to be signed and notarized for Gabrielle to take your child into and out of the country. Please read the attachment carefully. You should print the form and bring it filled out and notarized to the meeting. If you fill out the form and would like to get it notarized at the meeting, Gabrielle will try to arrange that. Please let her know.

  • You can email Gabrielle (gkeller@lrei.org) or Sharyn (shahn@lrei.org) anytime with questions/concerns that you’d like addressed at the meeting.

 

 

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Looking Ahead at LREI: All parents of third to seventh grade students are being invited to an informal evening with Director Phil Kassen for a conversation about “The Value of an LREI Education” as your child enters the middle and upper years. Invitations were mailed to you this week. Please note you are given three evenings to choose from in order to accommodate your schedule: January 9th, January 18th or January 23rd. If you have any questions, please contact Rowena Penaranda (ext. 295) or Sandra Song (ext. 275).

2) Our annual seventh grade Parent Adolescent Issues Evening will take place on Wednesday, February 7th, at 6:30PM. If you have any issues/concerns/questions that you would like School Psychologist Andrew Weiss or me to address, please email one of us (aweiss@lrei.org or msilberberg@lrei.org).

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Looking Ahead at LREI: All parents of third to seventh grade students are being invited to an informal evening with Director Phil Kassen for a conversation about “The Value of an LREI Education” as your child enters the middle and upper years. Invitations were mailed to you this week. Please note you are given three evenings to choose from in order to accommodate your schedule: January 9th, January 18th or January 23rd. If you have any questions, please contact Rowena Penaranda (ext. 295) or Sandra Song (ext. 275).

2) Our annual fifth and sixth grade Parent Adolescent Issues Evening will take place on Monday, February 5th, at 6:30PM. If you have any issues/concerns/questions that you would like School Psychologist Andrew Weiss or me to address, please email one of us (aweiss@lrei.org or msilberberg@lrei.org).

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Looking Ahead at LREI: All parents of third to seventh grade students are being invited to an informal evening with Director Phil Kassen for a conversation about “The Value of an LREI Education” as your child enters the middle and upper years. Invitations were mailed to you this week. Please note you are given three evenings to choose from in order to accommodate your schedule: January 9th, January 18th or January 23rd. If you have any questions, please contact Rowena Penaranda (ext. 295) or Sandra Song (ext. 275).

2) On Thursday, January 25th, the fifth grade will travel to the Brooklyn Museum to view the museum’s Egyptian collection. Please make sure that your child brings a bag lunch (no nuts, seeds, or glass bottles) on this day.

3) Our annual fifth and sixth grade Parent Adolescent Issues Evening will take place on Monday, February 5th, at 6:30PM. If you have any issues/concerns/questions that you would like School Psychologist Andrew Weiss or me to address, please email one of us (aweiss@lrei.org or msilberberg@lrei.org).

Middle School Sports
Schedules, permission forms and general information about Middle School sports programs can be found at http://www.lrei.org/athletics/index.html. Information is also available through the LREI Sports Hotline at 212.477.5316 x 494.

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)

  • Monday, January 15, 2007 — Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday-School Closed
  • Tuesday, January 16, 2007, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, January 17, 2007 — MS MLK Assembly
  • Thursday, January 18, 2007, 6:00PM — MS POCOC Mtg.
  • Friday, January 19, 2007 — MS End of 2nd Quarter
  • Friday, January 19, 2007, 7:00PM — MS Dance
  • Thursday, January 25th, 11:00AM — Fifth grade to the Brooklyn Museum to view their Egyptian collection
  • Friday, January 26, 2007, 5:00PM – Karamu
  • Saturday, February 3, 2007, 7:00PM – Coffeehouse
  • Tuesday, February 13, 2007, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep. Mtg.
  • Tuesday, February 13, 2007 — MS ERBs (through Thursday, February 15, 2006)
  • Wednesday, February 14, 2007 — MS Literary Festival
  • Thursday, February 15, 2007, 6:00PM — MS POCOC Meeting
  • Monday, February 19, 2007 — Presidents’ Weekend-School Closed (school reopens on Wednesday, February 21, 2007)
  • Wednesday, February 21, 2007 — MS Black History Month Assembly
  • Friday, February 23rd — 8th grade Spanish classes to the Guggenheim
  • Friday, February 23, 2007, 7:30PM — Eighth Grade DISC Dance @ Grace Church
  • Thursday, March 15, 2007, 6:00PM — MS POCOC Mtg.
  • Tuesday, March 20, 2007, 8:15AM — MS Parent Rep. Mtg.
  • Wednesday, March 21, 2007, 6:00PM — Sixth Grade Medieval Pageant
  • Thursday, March 22, 2007 — Fifth Grade Egyptian Tomb
  • Friday, March 23, 2007 — Founder’s Day
  • Friday, March 23, 2007 — MS End of 3rd Quarter
  • Friday, March 23, 2007 — Spring Break-School closes at 12:00PM (school reopens on Monday, April 9, 2006)

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

Be well,
Mark

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