To: LREI Families
From: Phil Kassen, Director
Re: Four Important Items/Updates – please read them all.
Date: October 29, 2020
THE ELECTION
I share a few thoughts as we head into the weekend and round the corner to Election Day. The election is being discussed in a variety of ways in the three divisions. All of the conversations are terrific – engaging, informative, supportive, and age-appropriate. Kindergarteners are voting on class pet names and are using the voting process to learn and practice math, reading, and writing. Middle school students are talking about the election and the many issues swirling around it while engaging in student government elections, making the more general conversations both about the world and about their world. In addition to the conversations in their classes and advisory groups, high school students, led by The Democracy Project – a student-created advocacy organization, are engaging in a variety of conversations, assemblies, and activities and will have a full day of programming on Election Day. The Democracy Project and the 11th/12th grade Elections elective will be in touch with ways for the whole community to be involved on Election Day.
In addition to the preparation for the days leading up to Election Day, we are thinking about the days after Election Day. It is likely that we will not know who the President-elect is when we awaken on Wednesday morning. That “not-knowing” will be hard for some, adults and students alike. The endless news that will accompany the waiting will be grueling. I strongly suggest limiting your child’s access to non-stop news during this time.
It will be important for the adults to model for the students how to handle the interregnum between the election and a result. This modeling not only means going about our daily lives but also modeling how to process the questions and concerns we have. And then there is the modeling of the way we respond once there is a result. How can we hear this information and respond with both our hearts and our heads? It is essential to acknowledge that the results will impact different lives differently. Another great conversation in which families can engage.
Thanks to the Parents Association for organizing two election focused speaker events. You can watch both recordings on the LREI Community Events page on LREI Connect.
GENERAL CORONAVIRUS HEALTH REMINDERS
Things to avoid
- Being indoors together. Clearly, this will become more likely as the weather changes;
- Traveling together in confined spaces, such as cars;
- Anything unmasked, including eating/drinking;
- Sleepovers;
- Large groups.
For our older students, it is essential that they follow these rules, even when adults are not around. We sent a note to the parents of older students and defined “large groups” as 50 or more. Some of you asked, “Why 50+?” That is the NY State regulation, though this number is smaller in the NYC red, orange, and yellow zones (Not sure of your zone? click here.) Remember where you go, your zone follows.
We strongly suggest that high school students follow the same guidelines as younger students – small, consistent groups. How small? If I had to choose, three – five. Truly small. Sleepovers, even with three – five, or two, will increase the risk of transmission.
The return of the college students – A reminder that if you have college-aged children returning home for Thanksgiving (and likely staying until the New Year) they should quarantine if they are traveling from a state on NY State’s Travel Advisory list. You will have to answer “Yes” to question 5 on the Magnus survey. This will trigger a conversation with the school nurse regarding steps you are taking to quarantine the travelers from the rest of those in your household.
We urge you to consider the health and safety of your family and of the community as you make your Thanksgiving plans. More and more states are being added to the NY State Travel Advisory list. We know this may be a hard decision. That said, this is a challenging and precarious moment.
LREI’S RANDOM SAMPLING TESTING PROGRAM
Today we had our first round of tests and it went well. Thank you to our guinea pigs. We have already alerted those who will be tested next week. Thanks in advance to the second round of testers.
- Each week, on Wednesday or Thursday we will send an email to those who have been selected.
- These people will have to schedule a five-minute telemedicine visit. The link to do so is in the information email you will receive.
- Ava will create a schedule for the testing days.
- On Tuesdays we will test 9th/10th graders.
- On Thursdays we will test all other grades.
- Ava will contact parents of those students who are selected who are in the Fours – Third grade to see if an adult would like to be there with the student during the test.
Thank you for your participation in our efforts to better gauge the health of the community. We have heard that there is a worry that having the test in school may have students associate school with the discomfort of the test. This has not been our experience, whether with lice checks or when we administered the H1N1 vaccine. There is a long history of schools participating in public health efforts. Some of us remember getting vaccines for smallpox and polio in school, and being tested for tuberculosis each year. It is this generation’s turn.
We are a community. We come together to celebrate in the good times and to take part in protecting each other when the situation requires it. This is a moment to talk with our children about each of us helping all of us. We all have a role to play and a responsibility to be a part of the solution. There are ways to talk about the seriousness of the moment without scaring our children. Again, an important conversation for families to have. There is a lot of information regarding coronavirus on this page, including suggestions for preparing your child for nasal swabs. Curious what happens when you are tested in school? Just ask Allison, high school co-principal.
HALLOWEEN
As you plan for Saturday’s festivities, please keep in mind the importance of wearing masks, physical distancing, washing hands, and staying in small, consistent groups of friends even when masked and outside. We know that some of our older students are excited about the possibility of a Halloween party with the big day landing on a Saturday. Alas, not this year, PLEASE. Halloween parties are the sort of teen event that lead to high schools having to go 100% online. We really want to stay in school.
Halloween suggestions from the high school Student Government:
Halloween Movie Night: Whether it be a horror movie, or our personal favorites, Halloween kids’ movies, gather your friends and have a Netflix Party, Zoom share, or Discord call (for optimal screen sharing quality) to share your love for some spooky movies. (Phil added, “Here are some scary movie suggestions from Common Sense Media.”)
Minecraft Trick-or-Treating: Someone made a trick-or-treating Minecraft server! You can hang out on the server, explore the builds, and Server address: play.obby.club and click on the skeleton. It’s a pretty big build and it’s cool to see everyone else on it!
Pumpkin Carving: If you haven’t carved a pumpkin yet, that would be a great thing to do with your friends on Zoom or FaceTime!
Attached is a bigger list of things to do, and Do’s and Don’ts for this year.
Remember to stay safe, and keep other people in mind.
Have a great Halloween!
Student Government
The BEST idea of what to do on HALLOWEEN is to join
LREI’s Virtual Halloween Fair.
1:00p.m., Saturday, October 31, 2020
Arts and Crafts
Dance Party with DJ Natalie
A Magician
A Spooky Story, with secret special guest reader
To join the Halloween Fair, please go to LREI Community events.
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I join the student government in wishing you all the best for Halloween, if you are a fan, and for your health and happiness, in general, as always.
