Dear Families,

Just as the immigration debate heats up in Congress, interest also builds within our Fourth Grade, whose year long study is, in fact, immigration. Recently, students were assigned an optional piece of homework – to prepare for an upcoming "Immigration Debate". Those interested were required to research different aspects of the issue and to respond to the following with six to ten persuasive points: "Should undocumented immigrants be allowed to stay in the United States and become citizens?" Points to ponder were provided by their teachers and students were advised that debate participants needed to be prepared to argue either side of the issue, not necessarily the one corresponding to their own points of view.

By Wednesday, eight students in each classroom were seated behind tables ready to share opening comments and to follow up with rebuttal arguments. Fourth Graders stepped into this arena with a level of seriousness, commitment and respect for complexity that made us all proud.

Those debaters who felt that guest workers should remain in the U.S. raised the following points:

• We are a nation of immigrants; this is the land of opportunity. All immigrants add diversity to this culture.
• Immigrants have children who are American citizens and families would be separated from each other if undocumented workers were sent back to their homelands.
• Undocumented workers’ countries are very poor. These people are just trying to survive and they risked their lives to get here.
• They help the economy and do jobs that Americans won’t do.
• They would legalize themselves if they could.
• They have roots in their communities and they work hard. If 13 million people go away, we’ll lose billions of dollars.
  

The other side of the issue was represented as follows:

• "Illegal immigrants" could have criminal records, but we wouldn’t know it. Some may be smuggling weapons into our country.
• Some may take jobs away from citizens, from the homeless – and from legal immigrants who worked hard to get here.
• If all undocumented workers stay here, English won’t be the main language anymore.
• Undocumented immigrants send the money they earn back to their homelands and that affects our economy.
• States near the Mexican border can’t support the needs of these immigrant families. Many undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes.
• They broke the law to get here, so they can be considered criminals.

Afterward, students in attendance rated the two opposing teams according to: Quality of arguments (Were they persuasive?), Communication (Did they make their points clear?) and Etiquette (Were they polite and respectful?) They assigned a numerical value to each criterion and a winning team was identified. In their concluding conversations, students recognized that this experience had allowed them to "step into other people’s shoes", to empathize and connect with points of view other than their own. They said they had learned more than they had expected to, and importantly, they had been able to disagree respectfully. Bravo!

Congratulations to teachers Suzanne Cohen, Erin Hannon, Patricia Conroy and Carin Cohen for creating and structuring this inspiring forum! And to the Fourth Grade students who today took a big step toward Middle School maturity as they dove into the complexity of this very real issue.

Elaine

This Week's Attachments:
Early Kindergarten
Fours and Early Kindergarten Song Lyrics
Kindergarten Song Lyrics
Afterschool Enrichment Share
Afterschool Piano Recital and Instrumental Concert
Spanish Resource List

Click here to see a list of the colleges that our seniors have enrolled in for the past three years. This year's class, like their predecessors, had a successful college search process. We are proud of each of them. A list of this year's acceptances can be found at www.lrei.org. Congratulations LREI Class of 2006!

Announcements:

LREI Summer Fun-Raiser - the Fun-raiser is tonight! Click here for details.

Field Day - Field Day is tomorrow - Friday, May 26. This is a time for children to have fun outdoors with their buddies. School will dismiss at 1:00 (Fours-Fourth Grades, 12:45). Please note that these times are different than our typical half-day dismissals.

Message from the Librarians:
It's that time of year again! The library will be closed to circulation beginning May 30. Books may be checked in, but not checked out. Please bring back all outstanding material as soon as possible so that the librarians can check in and inventory our collection. The library space will be available as always to students and their parents during school hours.

Upcoming Events:

5/25 - TONIGHT! - Summer Fun-Raiser!

5/26 - TOMORROW! - Field Day!

5/29 - School Closed for Memorial Day

5/31 - 6:00PM - Brooke and Charles' Kindergarten Picnic

6/5 - 6:00PM - Jamie and Dave's First Grade Picnic

6/6 - 6:00PM - Michelle and Laura's Fours Picnic

6/7 - 6:00PM - Luise and Julia's Kindergarten Picnic

6/8 - 8:45AM - Multicultural Committee Meeting

6/8 - 6:00PM - Diane and Molly's Early Kindergarten Picnic

6/9 - High School Graduation - School closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades, 11:45AM)

6/12 - 9:00AM - Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, Auditorium

6/13 - Last Day of School - School Closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades, 11:45AM)

Click here to access the full calendar.

Dear Families,

In last week’s Morning Meeting, I asked the Second, Third and Fourth Graders about events they were looking forward to now that we’re nearing the end of the school year. They mentioned the following: Mother’s Day, the Human Rights Coffee House, the Chorus Concert, Grandparents and Special Friends Day, Field Day, the Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, class potlucks, assemblies, class trips and Afterschool Shares. All this coming at us (and them!) within the span of just under four weeks!

We are a busy community with exciting, overlapping agendas. And while this is standard fare in our adult worlds, research tells us that this is not the ideal recipe for learning and growing among young people. Reflection, consolidation, comparison and evaluation are processes that spark a deeper kind of growth and understanding. They allow children to merge aspects of their learning, to both generalize from the specific and personalize from the generic, to form opinions and to speculate. They require time.

Because we know this, we are revisiting our current schedule. As a faculty, we have been putting our heads together for much of this year to come up with ways to streamline our students’ school experience. The following are among our goals:

• To create uninterrupted blocks of time for in-depth analysis and creative endeavor
• To build a pattern of predictability into the schedule that allows students the stability of a familiar rhythm
• To extend the possibility of integrated efforts among classroom and specialist teachers
• To permit teachers a greater degree of flexibility and increased opportunity to respond to student interest and program demands
• To ensure regular recess and/or social times
  

We realize that some classes will need to be reduced or reconfigured in order to make space for more student-friendly routines. Of course, we will keep this to a minimum. Faculty are committed to the process, our conversations have been productive and we are confident that the overall benefits to your children will be significant.

Elaine

This Week's Attachments:
FIELD DAY
Fours
Luise and Julia's Kindergarten
Spanish Story Hour
Spanish Resource List

Announcements:

Grandparents and Special Friends Day is tomorrow! - Fours through First Grade visitors will gather in the auditorium at 9:00AM for a light breakfast and welcome from Phil and Elaine. They will then visit in classrooms from 9:30AM until 11:00AM. Second through Fourth Grade visitors will gather in the auditorium at 1:00PM to be greeted by Phil and Elaine. They will spend time in their host's classroom from 1:30PM to 3:00PM. Adult-sized seating will be available in each room.

- Two helpful thoughts:

• Please let your child's visitor know the name of her or his teacher.
• Please be sure your child's teacher knows who will be picking your child up at 3:00PM.

Scooters - Please help us keep the lobby and bench area clear by not storing scooters there. Please put scooters in your child's cubby area for storage during the day.

Spring Into Summer Book Fair - The book fair is next Thursday, May 25th! Click here for details.

LREI Summer Fun-Raiser - The fun-raiser is next Thursday, May 25th! Click here for more information.

Field Day - Field Day is next Friday, May 26. This is a time for children to have fun outdoors with their buddies. School will dismiss at 1:00 (Fours-Fourth Grades, 12:45). Please note that these times are different than our typical half-day dismissals.

First Grade Bookstore - The grand opening of Gina and Elizabeth's First Grade Bookstore is Wednesday, May 31st. Stay tuned for more information!

LREI Camping Trip - Dig the tent out of storage! It's time for the 13th annual LREI Camping Trip, June 2-4. It's a great time filled with swimming, softball, fishing, campfires, s'mores and a wonderful dinner by Peter Hoffman of the Savoy.

The cost is $30 per adult and $20 per child. For more information see us in the lobby on Wednesday, May 17 and Thursday, May 25, contact Richard Cleves at 917-408-6211 or richard@cxny.org, or check the LREI website. A great time will be had by all! Payment deadline is May 26.

Upcoming Events:

5/19 - TOMORROW - Grandparents and Special Friends Day!

5/22 - 6:00PM - Chap and Michael's Third Grade Picnic

5/23 - 6:00PM - Dorothy and Romy's First Grade Picnic

5/24 - 8:45AM - Second Grade Assembly

5/24 - 6:00PM - Gina and Elizabeth's First Grade Picnic

5/25 - Spring Into Summer Book Fair!

5/25 - LREI Summer Fun-Raiser!

5/26 - Field Day! School closes at 1:00PM (Fours-First Grades 12:45)

5/29 - School Closed for Memorial Day

5/31 - 6:00PM - Brooke and Charles' Kindergarten Picnic

6/5 - 6:00PM - Jamie and Dave's First Grade Picnic

6/6 - 6:00PM - Michelle and Laura's Fours Picnic

6/7 - 6:00PM - Luise and Julia's Kindergarten Picnic

6/8 - 8:45AM - Multicultural Committee Meeting

6/8 - 6:00PM - Diane and Molly's Early Kindergarten Picnic

6/9 - High School Graduation - School closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades, 11:45AM)

6/12 - 9:00AM - Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, Auditorium

6/13 - Last Day of School - School closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades, 11:45AM)

Click here to access the full calendar.

Dear Families,

Next Friday is our bi-annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day in the Lower and Middle Schools. I’m looking forward to the chance to greet and chat with guests who are returning for their fifth and sixth visits and to welcome those entering our school for the very first time. As might be expected, children arrive that morning full of expectation and eager to show their visitors what school life is all about. In preparation, some classes have practiced the art of introducing guests to teachers and other visitors. Other groups have prepared special treats to be shared. Some will use a power point presentation to illustrate recent curriculum. Blocks will be shelved, artwork hung and spaces cleared to allow for added seating.

This year we are responding to popular demand and reshaping the program so that children’s guests may experience part of a true school day. They will spend over an hour in their host’s classroom, meeting the teachers, participating in activities alongside the children, sharing stories and learning about learning – LREI style. Whether their hosts are five or ten years old, visitors will be invited to join in some part of their experience and to listen and observe, as groups work, create, sing and discuss. Exciting and fun for both generations.

Sharing school experiences is important to young children and underscores the value we place on their everyday classroom commitment. Equally powerful is the bridge created between children’s personal friends and relatives and the world they consider their own – where they know all the players, routines and expectations. Next Friday, your children will be solidly in the position of experts, teaching their visitors the ropes. They’ll explain how a job chart works, what rules are in place for meeting participation, who sits at which table, where work is kept and how the class responds to a teacher’s signal. By this point in the year your children know so much; they really are classroom experts.

Next week they will have an opportunity to share their accomplishments with someone meaningful to them. It is a day for children to feel very proud - and for visitors to enjoy the self-confidence, curiosity, independence and motivation of LREI learners. Thank you for helping us to coordinate this day.

Elaine

This Week's Attachments:

Luise and Julia's Kindergarten

Dorothy and Romy's First Grade

Spanish Resource List

Announcements:

Scooters - Please help us keep the high-traffic area of the first floor clear and safe by bringing your child's scooter to the classroom cubby area for storage during the day.

This Saturday, May 13, 7:00 PM at Charlton Street, we will host the annual Human Rights Coffeehouse. Co-organized by mathematics/music teacher Micah Dov Gottlieb and the High School Human Rights Club, this will be a terrific evening of music, poetry, film and more, all with a human rights theme. A uniquely LREI event - students and faculty, from all three divisions, joined together to entertain us while inspiring us to help to make the world a better place. Please join us!

Early Childhood -
Join Elaine and guest Hollee McGinnis of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, for a discussion including helpful information about listening and responding to our kids as they talk to each other about families in all their wonderful forms.
Tuesday, May 16th at 8:45AM in the Cafeteria
Sponsored by the LREI Adoption Committee

May Book Fair - The Literary Committee will have a Spring into Summer Book Fair in the Auditorium on May 25th. A selection of the optional and all of the required reading titles will be sold from 8AM-6:30PM.

The LREI Summer Fun-Raiser is coming up! Click here for more information.

LREI Camping Trip -
Dig the tent out of storage! It's time for the 13th annual LREI Camping Trip, June 2-4. It's a great time filled with swimming, softball, fishing, campfires, s'mores and wonderful dinner by Peter Hoffman of the Savoy.

The cost is $30 per adult and $20 per child. For more information see us in the lobby on Wednesday, May 17 and Thursday, May 25, contact Richard Cleves at 917-408-6211 or richard@cxny.org, or check the LREI website.

A great time will be had by all! Payment deadline is May 26.

Upcoming Events:

5/12 - 8:45AM - tomorrow - What to Expect in First Grade with Elaine, Cafeteria

5/15 - 6:00PM - Colleen and Ronnie's Second Grade Picnic

5/16 - 8:45AM - Early Childhood discussion with Hollee McGinnis

5/16 - 6:00PM - Kinjal and Caroline's Second Grade Picnic

5/17 - 8:45AM - First Grade Assembly

5/17 - 6:00PM - Kelly and Meredith's Third Grade Picnic

5/18 - Lower and Middle School 24 Game Challenge

5/18 - 8:45AM - Parent Rep Meeting

5/19 - Grandparents and Special Friends Day!

5/22 - 6:00PM - Chap and Michael's Third Grade Picnic

5/23 - 6:00PM - Dorothy and Romy's First Grade Picnic

5/24 - 8:45AM - Second Grade Assembly

5/24 - 6:00PM - Gina and Elizabeth's First Grade Picnic

5/25 - Spring into Summer Book Fair!

5/26 - Field Day! School closes at 1:00PM (Fours-First Grades - 12:45)

5/29 - School Closed for Memorial Day

5/31 - 6:00PM - Brooke and Charles' Kindergarten Picnic

6/5 - 6:00PM - Jamie and Dave's First Grade Picnic

6/6 - 6:00PM - Michelle and Laura's Fours Picnic

6/7 - 6:00PM - Luise and Julia's Kindergarten Picnic

6/8 - 8:45AM - Multicultural Committee Meeting

6/8 - 6:00PM - Diane and Molly's Early Kindergarten Picnic

6/9 - High School Graduation - School closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades - 11:45AM)

6/12 - 9:00AM - Fourth Grade Moving Up Ceremony, Cafeteria

6/13 - Last Day of School - School closes at 12:00PM (Fours-First Grades - 11:45AM)

Click here to access the full calendar.

Dear Lower School Families,

I hope that you’ve been able to enjoy the beginnings of spring! As the weather warms up, our classes have been out and about, learning from visits to different places. These explorations have included a walk to a local garden to observe signs of spring, trips to the Poet’s House, the South Street Seaport, local bookstores, and the Bronx Zoo to see rainforest habitats, and a neighborhood walk to see construction sites, people working on scaffolding and pouring cement, and even a new sewer being installed!

As an institution, we deeply value providing our students with frequent opportunities to leave the school building and visit places that connect to and enrich their studies. Another rich component of our school community, though often unseen, is to host visitors interested in learning about progressive education. Several times each month, we welcome educators into our school to observe, listen, and learn – to leave their school buildings, and to be enriched by a different perspective. By opening our doors to others, we not only benefit from engaging in conversations about our educational practices and beliefs, but are also participating with and serving within the broader educational community.

This year alone, we’ve hosted approximately 70 visitors to the lower school! Our visitors have included experienced teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, new teachers, and administrators from a wide variety of places, among them Staten Island Academy, the Buckley School, Medgar Evers College, Sunbridge College, Washington Market School, New Canaan Country Day School, New York University, Wagner College, Scholastic Books, Teachers College, and Uganda, whose Queen visited our movement classes earlier in the year.

For the past few years, we’ve also welcomed a special group of visitors: Icelandic educators who come to visit NYC independent schools, an outgrowth of the research done there by Harriet Cuffaro, our Social Studies Consultant. Their primary focus is on our work with blocks - a particularly high priority as blocks are now an established early childhood material in the Icelandic schools. We now have visitors from Iceland to our school annually. This morning, we welcomed our fourth delegation of Icelandic playschool teachers this year! It is truly an exciting and unique experience to be a part of, and a relationship we look forward to continuing.

I’m so pleased to have a chance to share with you in this week’s blog!

May you find moments to enjoy the season in ways that connect and enrich your lives outside of school as well as within.

Happy Spring!
Megan

This Week's Attachments:

Early Kindergarten

Luise and Julia's Kindergarten

Jamie and Dave's First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade

Third Grade #2

Spanish Resource List

Announcements:

Coffeehouse - The annual Human Rights Coffeehouse will be on May 13th at 7:00PM at the high school on Charlton Street. There are still some slots available for members of the community to participate with music, poetry, or any other material with a human rights theme. This Coffeehouse is co-organized by mathematics/music teacher Micah Dov Gottlieb and the High School Human Rights Club. If you are interested, please contact Micah at mdgottlieb@lrei.org.

Early Childhood -
Join Elaine and guest Hollee McGinnis of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, for a discussion including helpful information about listening and responding to our kids as they talk to each other about families in all their wonderful forms.
Tuesday, May 16th at 8:45 in the Cafeteria
Sponsored by the LREI Adoption Committee

May Book Fair - The Literary Committee will have a Spring into Summer Book Fair in the Auditorium on May 25th. A selection of the optional and all of the required reading titles will be sold from 8AM-6:30PM.

Upcoming Events:

5/9 - 8:45AM - Parents of Children of Color (POCOC) Meeting

5/10 - 8:45AM - Fours and EK Assembly

5/10 - 6:00PM - Erin and Carin's Fourth Grade Picnic

5/11 - 8:45AM - What to Expect in Second Grade with Elaine, Cafeteria

5/11 - 8:45AM - Multicultural Committee Meeting

5/11 - 6:00PM - Suzanne and Patricia's Fourth Grade Picnic

5/12 - 8:45AM - What to Expect in First Grade with Elaine, Cafeteria

5/15 - 6:00PM - Colleen and Ronnie's Second Grade Picnic

5/16 - 6:00PM - Kinjal and Caroline's Second Grade Picnic

5/17 - 8:45AM - First Grade Assembly

5/17 - 6:00PM - Kelly and Meredith's Third Grade Picnic

5/18 - Lower and Middle School 24 Game Challenge

5/18 - 8:45AM - Parent Rep Meeting

5/19 - Grandparents and Special Friends Day!

5/22 - 6:00PM - Chap and Michael's Third Grade Picnic

5/23 - 6:00PM - Dorothy and Romy's First Grade Picnic

5/24 - 8:45AM - Second Grade Assembly

5/24 - 6:00PM - Gina and Elizabeth's First Grade Picnic

5/25 - Spring into Summer Book Fair!

5/26 - Field Day! School closes at 1:00PM (Fours-First Grades - 12:45)

5/29 - School Closed for Memorial Day

5/31 - 6:00PM - Brooke and Charles' Kindergarten Picnic

Click here to access the full calendar.