Thoughts this week

April 13, 2022

Dear LREI Families,

I hope that this note finds you well. I am sending this week’s pushpage on Wednesday as it is the night before the last day this week, similar to our usual Thursday messages.

Two thoughts this week.

I continue to think about yesterday’s violence in the subway. Part of the reason for this is quite personal, this is my subway stop. I am there at least ten times per week and have been for twenty years, including early this morning. And I love the subway, deeply. It is essential to my life in NYC. Yesterday’s violent attack was scary for all and, as was true for many, attacked an important place in my life – the launchpad to adventures in this city that I love. I took the train home last night, bypassing 36th Street, getting off one stop farther down the line. Walking home I felt or imagined a change in my neighborhood. A place where I feel very safe, alas now a little less so. A place that is vibrant and active, now subdued. This morning the station felt quieter than usual, though it is a pretty quiet place every day at the time I am there. The street was filled with reporters and police. The station, less so. I know that the neighborhood will regain its energy, no question about it. I am sending thoughts of peace and health to those who were injured and impacted by this senseless act.

This attack brought the violence in our world, near and far, that we read and hear about every day, closer to home for me, for many of us. Sometimes I find it so easy to ignore the violence in our City, in the country, and in the world, convincing myself that it doesn’t affect me. In this attack, other than rocking my emotional life, I was once again spared any impact other than inconvenience. That said, it is harder to dismiss, to put away somewhere and I feel as if I need to somehow be a part of the solution, doing more than feeling horrified, more than saying, “Tsk,tsk.” I don’t know what this means but if I come up with a good idea I will let you know.  Please do the same. Thank you.

I cannot encourage you strongly enough to take full advantage of this round, of each round, of parent/family conferences, coming up on Thursday and/or Monday, depending on your division.   For the first time in 18 years, I won’t have a conference and likely I won’t ever again. Seniors don’t have spring conferences and my younger child is just a few weeks away from graduating. (Would we even want college conferences? “They get a “C-” in laundry and an ”A” in oversleeping!) For those of you with lower school children, in addition to valuing the amazing depth of the lower school teachers’ comments – I think they knew my children better than I did –  you should be looking forward to eight years of family conferences in middle and high school. It is hard sometimes, being in the room with your children, easier at others, and always worthwhile, setting the table for really important conversations to come. Join the conferences with questions and comments, being ready to partner with the teachers, and your children, for the growth to come. I am so grateful to all of the teachers who spent uncounted hours preparing for these brief conversations, for they led my kids and I to a place where we could speak about their work in school more easily than at other times. Parent and family conferences are one of those small moments of parenthood that you don’t know you will miss until you do. Enjoy and take advantage of every minute. Listen to the wisdom that the teachers share and that the children bring to the table. They are the true experts.  s

Be well,

P.S. A reminder that HS students should test at home before returning on Monday.  Middle and lower school students should test on Tuesday before leaving home in the morning.  We have sent or will send test kits home with every student.