In a Reflective Mood

Dear Families,

With the end of the year almost upon us, students in all grades are hard at work on a range of culminating activities. I look forward to seeing all of you in the coming weeks at the various grade level potlucks and celebrations. These are always wonderful opportunities to enjoy the impressive work that students have done this year and provide a window through which you can view the richness of their daily school experience.

Students are also in the process of reflecting on the year and considering goals achieved and areas for continued effort. These reflections will ultimately be shaped into their end-of-year comments that will appear in their fourth quarter progress reports. Giving students the final word in these reports has been an exciting process for us. While it has helped to narrow the distance between the student and her/his report, it has also helped students to discover a greater sense of ownership in their work and their overall school experience.

It is a powerful experience for me to read all of these comments. Students are articulate, celebratory, demanding, critical and honest in ways that are truly inspiring. When considered in total, they provide compelling evidence for the thoughtful and passionate teaching and learning that goes on in the Middle School each day. I look forward to reading this year’s collection of comments; I know that you will too.

So far only 13 hours have been logged in our “Getting Tools to City Schools — Turning Chores into Service Drive.” We can do better. The long weekend should provide ample opportunity for some helpful work that your child can do around the home. Below is additional information about the drive:

  • Getting Tools To City Schools – Over the course of the year, we have had a number of collection drives to collect school supplies to make 200 binders that will be donated to students in one of Getting Tools to City Schools‘ partner schools. We are asking middle school students to ask parents, friends and relatives if there are chores around the home that they can do. In compensation for this work, you will contribute $2/hour worked to support our collaboration with Getting Tools to City Schools. All of the money raised will be used to buy school supplies at wholesale cost. Please use the attached certificate to record hours worked by your child. We ask that the monies earned and the completed certificate(s) be returned to your child’s advisor. At the end of the month, the homeroom that has logged the most hours will earn a pizza lunch party.

Finally, tomorrow, Friday, May 28th, we will hold our annual Field Day at Pier 40. Prior to beginning the day’s Field Day festivities, we will convene as a community on Charlton Street to celebrate the completion of the most recent phase of renovations/expansion at the high school.

imageAll members of the LREI community are invited to join in the Ribbon Cutting event of the new Charlton Street facility. This event will take place at 9:00AM on Friday, May 28, before Field Day. Parents of MIddle School students are invited to walk to the event with their child’s class or join us at Charlton Street. The ribbon cutting ceremony will last for 20-30 minutes and then the students will go to Field Day. Adults will  then be invited into the building to join a tour and enjoy refreshments.

We’re looking forward to an exciting day! School will close at 1:00PM on this day. Some additional information follows:

  • It is important for all students to arrive on time.
  • To celebrate the importance of the day, LREI will be providing each student with a Ribbon Cutting/Field Day t-shirt. T-shirts will be distributed on Friday morning. Students do not need to wear any special color shirt to school on Field Day.
  • Students will spend the first part of Field Day in activities with their buddies. The younger lower school classes will return to the school after lunch while the third through twelfth grades will participate in a variety of activities in mixed age groups.
  • Students will need to bring their own lunch along with a container of water. (No nuts or seeds, please.) Plastic bottles are fine, but please no glass containers! Clothing should be comfortable and easy to move in, shorts or sweatpants and athletic shoes. No sandals. Sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat are strongly recommended.
  • We will return to school in time for 1:00PM dismissal.

Of General Interest . . .

1) Click here to access the most current “At a Glance” calendar for the 2010-2011 school year. This calendar includes Family Conference dates not included in the last version that was sent by Phil.

2) From the Admissions Team: Spring Admissions Alert — Greetings! As the end of the school year approaches, the Admissions Office is already planning for Fall 2011. In order to best anticipate enrollment needs, it is helpful for the department to know the number of current LREI families who intend apply for admission for a sibling for the 2011-2012 school year. In order to facilitate our planning for 2011-2012 we ask that you contact the Admissions Office by June 11th to provide your child’s name, date of birth, current grade and school name, and the grade to which she or he will apply for the 2010-2011 school year. In doing so you will assist the admissions office with entering this information into our database so we may provide you with information about the process beginning in late summer. As a point of reference, please be advised that LREI offers an optional Early Notification Program for applicants to Fours, Kindergarten and First Grade who are siblings of current LREI students, children of faculty or staff, and children or grandchildren of alumni. This program expedites the admissions process for those who are members of the community and benefits the School by clarifying the number of places available in each grade for the general applicant pool. Applicants to Fours and Kindergarten must be four years old and five years old respectively by September 1st of the year in which a child will begin school. Should you have any questions about the admissions process for your child, please contact the admissions office at 212.477.5316. You may also send us information about your child by sending the aforementioned details to admissions@lrei.org. We look forward to our continued work with LREI families. Best wishes for a healthy spring!

3) Click here to access the photo collection of LREI events and happenings at our on-line photo gallery. Enjoy these pictures of our middle schoolers beautifying Little Red Square as part of the city’s It’s My Park Day efforts:

[flickrslideshow acct_name=”lrei-photos” id=”72157624126624532″ width=”460″ height=”345″]

4) From the Art Auction Committee: There are still some pieces of art that are for sale so please visit http://artauction.lrei.org/ for additional information and to view items that are available. If you have any questions, please contact Maude Kebbon at mkebbon@lrei.org or 212-477-5316, ext. 232.

5) Join us on the 17th Annual LREI Camping Trip — June 4, 5 and 6
All LREI families and their children — from the 4’s through high school — are invited to participate in fun, swimming, hiking, games, fishing, and S’mores! – Sign up online at http://lrei.org/caleven/camping/ with PayPal. The deadline for sign up is tomorrow, May 28. Detailed information including directions/map, camping rules, etc. can be found at http://lrei.org/pdf/CampingInfo.pdf. We look forward to seeing you there!

6) The School Store will be open on Wednesday, June 2nd, at the Sixth Avenue entrance from 8:00-9:00AM. If bad weather, we will open on Thursday, June 3rd. See you there!

7) From the Literary Committee: Are your kids’ bookshelves so full they’re about to buckle? You can start clearing them out for the first ever Little REaD Book Swap! On June 8th and 9th, bring those books that your kids loved a few years ago, but will never read again to school to swap for something new. Please–only kids’ books in good condition. Foreign-language books are fine. Any leftover books will be given to the GO Project or other charities. Please help recirculate good books around our community! Stay tuned for more details.

8) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • For more details about our monthly recycling drives and Go Green to School dates, please click Red is Green PA Page.

9) From PA Co-Presidents Regina Trumbull and Kim Hostler: 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. Also in the Family Handbook (p.38), there 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.

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

11) 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) On Monday morning we had our annual 24 Challenge Tournament and the finals were held at this week’s Middle School meeting. The object of the game is to make 24 from the four numbers on the game card. Players can add, subtract, multiply and divide all four numbers on the card, but each number can only be used once. Here is an example:

Example: One solution to the card shown above is:

4 x 3 = 12, 12 x 2 = 24, 24 ÷ 1 = 24

Congratualtions to the following middle schoolers for winning their respective categories:

  • Single-digit double dot: sixth grader Ethan A.
  • Double-digit double dot: sixth grader Adam
  • Integer single dot: sixth grader Pia
  • Integer double dot: eighth grader Benno

2) From the Afterschool program:

  • The Afterschool Piano and Voice Recital and Instrumental Concert will take place on Tuesday, June 1st.
    Piano and Voice Recital, 5:30 in the PAPAS
    Instrumental Concert, 6:30 in the Auditorium
  • The Afterschool Karate Share and Enrichment Share will take place on Thursday, June 3rd.
    Karate Share, 5:30 in the Auditorium
    Enrichment Share, 6:00 in the PAPAS
  • Take a look at what we’ve been cooking in Afterschool! Our recipe blog includes detailed recipes and pictures of the dishes that the Reds and Blues have been making in Afterschool: http://blog.lrei.org/afterschoolphotos/recipes/

3) A message from librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan: Please keep in mind that as in years past, circulation in the Sixth Avenue library will end on Monday, May 31st. This means that we will no longer check books out so that we can prepare the library for our annual inventory of the collection. Please do your very best to return any and all library materials during this week so the librarians can shelve them before starting inventory. This inventory is crucial to maintaining the integrity of our holdings and making sure that what is on our shelves matches what is in our computer catalog. Students and parents can continue to use the library space, computers and materials for independent reading or small group work during this time. If you have any questions or concerns about these procedures, please do not hesitate to speak to me.

4) Just a heads up that the annual End-of-Year Middle School dance will take place on Friday, June 4th a the Charlton Street PAC. The dance will start at 6:00PM and pizza and ice cream will be provided. The dance will end at 8:30PM.

5) On Friday, June 11th, the Middle School students will attend our High School Graduation Ceremony held at New York University. Please note that this is not an early dismissal day for Middle School students. Students will leave the Sixth Avenue building at about 12:45PM. At the graduation, Middle School students will be recognized for their hard work, completion of their current grade and their movement to the next and will join in the celebration of the accomplishments of the seniors as they move on to the next phase in their education. As this is a very special occasion, we ask that students dress appropriately—no jeans, no printed T-shirts, shirts with collars and shoes are preferable. After graduation, the students will return to the Sixth Avenue buildings by 3:15PM.

6) The Judo team will hold its annual spring LREI Shiai (tournament) an Friday, June 11th at 3:30PM in the Thompson Street Athletic Center. For the tournament , students will be grouped into small subsections determined by gender and weight to compete against each other. The winners of each of the smaller subsections will then compete against each other for the title, “The Grand Champion.” There will be one Grand Champion for boys and one for girls. Each Judoka (practitioner) will have at least one match and will medal. The awards for “Best Technique” and “Best Fighting Spirit” will be on the line for both girl and boy divisions respectfully. The award ceremony and belt promotions immediately follow the Shiai and, at this time, we will issue the esteemed honor of “Player of the Year.” The Shiai is always a great event and, as in years past, we hope to see many students and families in the stands.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .

1) Please join is on Tuesday, June 8th, at 6:00PM in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for the Science Exploratorium. This culminating event will afford students an opportunity to share with you the fruits of their independent research on key science concepts that were explored throughout the year.

2) Mark your calendar: Eighth Grade Pre-Moving Up Party, Friday, June 11th. Please arrive by 6:00PM for the Potluck Dinner and Recognition Program. Additional details from your parent reps will follow. Click here to access the potluck sign-up form (make sure that you select the tab for the correct event).

3) The Moving Up Assembly/Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 15th, in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. The assembly will start promptly at 9:00AM and will run until about 10:30AM. Given space constraints we ask that only immediate family members attend (that being said, if there are extenuating circumstances please contact me directly). Immediately following the assembly, the eighth graders will return to their classroom and parents will exit out the Bleecker Street doors and gather by the steps in front of Sarah’s classroom. The rest of the Middle School community will exit the building from the Sixth Avenue side and then join families by the steps. When all are assembled, the eighth graders will receive their certificates and process one-by-one down the steps.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .

1) The seventh grade potluck breakfast and Constitution Works is scheduled for Thursday, June 10th. The breakfast will begin at 8:00AM in the seventh grade classrooms. Following the potluck, we will leave for the Constitution Works program at 9:15AM, which will be conducted at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Parents are encouraged to attend this exciting event. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast. Click here to access the potluck sign-up form (make sure that you select the tab for the correct event).

2) Looking further ahead to next year, click here to access the registration form for the spring Gettysburg/DC  trip that will take place next May. I’m sending you this information now so that you can spread out payments over a longer period of time. If you register online, please use the following trip ID#: 55757. If you have specific questions about payment, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .

1) The annual sixth grade poetry and potluck breakfast will take place on Tuesday, June 8th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast. Click here to access the potluck sign-up form (make sure that you select the tab for the correct event).

2) Looking further ahead to next year, click here to access the registration form for the Williamsburg / Jamestown trip that will take place next October. I’m sending you this information now so that you can spread out payments over a longer period of time. If you register online, please use the following trip ID#: A76310. W e would like all families to register for the trip by the end of the month. If you have specific questions about payment, please do not hesitate to contact me.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .

1) Our annual Grecian Festival will take place on the evening of Wednesday, June 9th at 6:00PM. From 6:00-6:30PM, you are invited to view students’ projects in the computer lab and in the science lab. At 6:30PM, we will convene in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for a dramatic presentation, which will be followed by the fifth grade potluck in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Your class reps will be contacting you about the potluck. Click here to access the potluck sign-up form (make sure that you select the tab for the correct event).

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

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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