September 28, 2023
Dear LREI Families,
Welcome to Fall and to all that is on the LREI calendar that comes with the season. We have busy months ahead. There are many opportunities for parents to join conversations with peers, with members of the school’s staff, and with some combination of the two. As you have heard from the Parents Association, the PA committees and affinity groups are getting going. As you have and/or will hear from the principals, there are any number of grade level and divisional events planned for the months ahead – student trips, conversations with principals and other members of the staff, and opportunities to hear what is going on in classrooms. We will also host Community Table meals with me and potluck gatherings for each grade, organized by the class parent reps. And don’t forget the Halloween Fair!
We hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities to get to know one another and for your children to enjoy more of the LREI program. Throughout these events, we hope that your children and that you will ask the questions that you have regarding the school’s program and what lies ahead this school year and beyond. I heard many, many excellent questions coming from parents at “Discovering LREI” at the three curriculum nights we have had so far and know that there will be many more posed during the remaining three program focused evenings that we will host in the coming weeks. Join in and bring your questions.
We love questions. We build our academic program around students putting one of their greatest tools – their curiosity – to use each and every day. If a class or activity begins with a question and ends with even more, then we are surely achieving our goal. Remaining curious, and wondering is a real skill and you can watch a child’s natural curiosity grow through our progressive program with their childlike curiosity sharpening and becoming more sophisticated. A world filled with question-askers is a world filled with problem-solvers. As LREI’s Assistant Director Allison Isbell often says, “Great learners ask great questions.” I asked Allison to expand this thought a bit. She added:
“When working with students, I often repeat this line in an effort to de-center a durable idea in American education–that smartness means independently having all the answers. While having content knowledge in an area of study is important–developing the ability to ask a question, to follow an inquiry, and construct understanding of novel phenomena is critical for our students as they move beyond LREI.”
We believe in this idea, that Great learners ask great questions so strongly, that we built our new LREI.org homepage around it. Starting tomorrow you will see question askers on our homepage, representing the “askers” and “answerers” that fill our schoolrooms every day.
When you visit LREI.org, you will find a fresh look and you can click “Menu” for your favorite links.
I hope to see you around campus and remember, Bring your questions!