March 19, 2021
Dear LREI Community,
Happy Founders Day! Every year on the day before Spring Break we celebrate the founding of our school and the amazing woman who created the Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School, Elisabeth Irwin herself. We celebrate the critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, and courage that inspired her generation of progressive educators. As the great American philosopher John Dewey said in the forward to the 1941 book, The Little Red School House, “The lively and vital story of the Little Red School House is evidence that the new movement is indeed coming of age… it supplies the much needed proof that nothing stands in the way of adoption of the new purposes and methods….”
Last year we were unable to celebrate Founders Day as we were busy creating LREI@home. However, this year we will have the full celebration which will include gathering with our buddies, attending the Founders Day assembly, and eating ice cream. The centerpiece of the day is the annual Founders Day play, which has a cast of familiar faces and reenacts the school’s early days. As this year we cannot assemble for live theater, the cast and crew have created a video version for all to enjoy. They even included the annual audience participation reactions. Though not the same as being all together, it is pretty darn close and, for the first time, families will be able to watch the show. We hope you enjoy it. (Link below.)
If your child was not in school today (sorry ninth and tenth graders) we owe them some ice cream. If your family is 100% remote, you may have to provide your own sweet treat this year.
Elisabeth Irwin created our school, our community, to demonstrate the power of progressive education; an education that connects academic and intellectual mastery, a dedication to equity and justice, and involvement with the world and with the events of the day. There is no way she could have predicted what would happen in the ensuing 100 years, let alone over the past 12 months. She knew, however, that her brand of progressive education would meet the moment, no matter when or what, and that to do so the school would have to change, to evolve, to adapt. So brilliant. We will continue to meet the moment and evolve in order to do so. As Miss Irwin said:
“The school will not always be just what it is now, but we hope it will always be a place where ideas can grow, where heresy will be looked upon as possible truth, and where prejudice will dwindle from lack of room to grow. We hope it will be a place where freedom will lead to judgment — where ideals, year after year, are outgrown like last season’s coat for larger ones to take their places.”
A final thought on this mid-March day. The seniors have completed their required classes. They will return in April to participate in their senior capstone project. Thank you, seniors, for your work this year, for your good humor and good spirits, for your leadership and participation. Congratulations and we look forward to hearing of your plans for the future in the coming weeks, and to celebrations of all of your accomplishments as we head towards the end of the school year.
Enjoy your break, one and all.
Be well, 
Reminders and Notes
- If you missed last Friday’s “LREI Women’s Sports Panel,” it was a true celebration of athletes, coaches, athletics, hard work, and dedication. You can watch the recording here.
- Beginning tomorrow you will be able to order students’ lunches through the end of May. Please do so before April 5, 2021.
The following is the text from the note that Ava Dawson, Health Director sent to you earlier this week.
Please read the below information about travel and testing for our return from Spring Break. In addition to any travel testing protocols, everyone who is returning in person on 4/12 must have a negative laboratory-confirmed non-rapid COVID PCR test taken on or after 4/3 to return (unless you have been informed of a different protocol/date by the nursing team).
If you will be returning for on-site learning care during the remote week, the test must be taken on or after 3/28.
Travel Updates:
DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE GOVERNOR HAS YET TO SIGN THE NEW REGULATIONS, AND AS OUR BREAK STRADDLES THE PROPOSED APRIL 1 CHANGE, WE WILL NOT BE ALTERING OUR TRAVEL POLICY. PLEASE READ THE POLICY AND REQUIREMENTS BELOW AS THERE ARE SOME MINOR CHANGES.
As you may have heard, last Thursday New York State formally adopted the CDC guidance on vaccination and COVID illness as it relates to travel and exposure quarantines. Friday night, the governor proposed a change to the mandatory travel quarantine for domestic travel for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, making the quarantine recommended as of April 1.
To maintain the safety of the entire LREI community, we will require all families to quarantine and test in accordance with the recommendations in the NYS travel advisory. We will also require all faculty, staff, and students to submit a negative PCR taken on or after 4/3, regardless of vaccination status.
Domestic Travel:
- Must test within the 3 days prior to the return to NY
- Must test by on day 4 after returning to NY (travel day is day 0)
- Must quarantine until tests are resulted and monitor for symptoms for 14 days
Any International Travel (regardless of CDC risk level):
- Must quarantine for 7 full days and monitor for symptoms for 14 days
- Must test within the 3 days prior to the return to NY
- Must test on day 4-5 after returning to NY (travel day is day 0)
Vaccinated Travelers
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- Travelers who have completed their vaccine course 2 weeks prior to travel will not be required to quarantine prior to return for 90 days for DOMESTIC travel only
- Fully vaccinated faculty, staff and students will still be required to submit a negative PCR test on day 4 after travel, as the risk of transmission is not 0.
- International travel continues to require quarantine, even if fully vaccinated.
- If parents are vaccinated, but the student is not, the student must quarantine and test in accordance with the travel advisory.
- If you have vaccinated travelers visiting you from out of town, they must be more than 2 weeks post-completion of their full vaccine series to avoid quarantine.
Travelers with a history of COVID-19 in the past 90 days:
- Domestic travel: Will not be required to test or quarantine. Must monitor for symptoms for 14 days after return and be tested if they develop.
- International travel: Will be required to follow the above international travel protocol. Because a person may test positive for 90 days after infection, you may choose to quarantine for 10 days after return.
Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
Best,
Ava