Phil Kassen, guest blogger, here. A quick word of “Thanks” to all of our students for their hard work and dedication and for being involved and active members of their classrooms. Within the last three weeks we have experienced the outstanding high school musical and a series of one-act plays written by juniors and seniors—among them a musical depiction of the seven deadly sins. High schoolers also spent a day learning about American foreign policy and the war in Iraq. For more information on Global War on Terror Day—a series of student created and taught seminars on the current world situation—see Ruth Jurgensen’s high school blog from last week. Fifth and sixth graders presented major social studies projects this week. Working with the art, music and drama teachers, sixth graders presented their annual Medieval Pageant featuring folk tales from Europe, Asia and Africa. Fifth graders turned their classrooms into an Egyptian tomb. Visitors were treated to a variety of artifacts including beautiful artwork, life size sarcophagi and a variety of Egyptian relics. In the Lower School, we all enjoyed and learned from the annual Art Show, which included work from all lower school students; the first grades’ bookstore, bakery and penguin study; the third graders’ presentation on the Native Americans of the northern woodlands and publishing parties in various classrooms. The stands were filled with cheering fans at the Thompson Street Athletic Center last Friday as the faculty lost a close game to the middle and high school basketball teams in our annual Spirit Game. Finally, today we have three groups leaving on foreign adventures—a group of high school students are off to visit a school in Munich with which we have an exchange relationship and the eighth graders are off to Costa Rica or Paris, depending on whether they study Spanish or French. A well deserved rest approaches. All that separates us from Spring Break is the Founder’s Day Assembly with its traditional re-enactment of the founding of the school and annual ice cream celebration.

One comment about next week. This year the annual Kick Butts Day is on Wednesday, March 28th. Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (www.tobaccofreekids.org), Kick Butts Day is a day of learning and activism focused on ending the use of tobacco and tobacco products by children and teens. A few facts from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids web site:

• Each day, about 4,000 kids try their first cigarette; and each day another 1,000 other kids under 18 years of age become new regular, daily smokers. That’s 416,000 new underage daily smokers each year.
• The addiction rate for smoking is higher than the addiction rates for marijuana, alcohol, or cocaine; and symptoms of serious nicotine addiction often occur only weeks or even just days after youth "experimentation" with smoking first begins.
• 90 percent of all adult smokers begin while in their teens, or earlier, and nearly two-thirds become regular, daily smokers before they reach the age of 19.
• Roughly one-third of all youth smokers will eventually die prematurely from smoking-caused disease.

As a school community, one of the most important things we can do to promote our children’s health is to emphatically state that it is unacceptable for our students, of any age, to smoke. No exceptions. We will look for every opportunity to reinforce the message that smoking is neither cool nor glamorous and that the expectation of the adults in their lives is that your children will never smoke. We will also spend considerable time discussing the manipulative messages used by tobacco companies in their advertising campaigns.

I encourage all families to spend time discussing the dangers of tobacco use and to take every opportunity presented by advertising, movies and TV to discuss the often misleading messages about smoking presented by the media.

Interested in additional resources about kids and smoking?

http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/body/smoking/
http://www.scenesmoking.org/
http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/smoking.html

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. Please don’t hesitate to email or call if you would like to discuss it further. Have a great spring break. See you on April 9th!!

Phil

This Week's Attachments:

Diane and Lisa's Early Kindergarten

Kindergarten Screening Letter

Kelly and Ayanna's Third Grade

Chap and Meredith's Third Grade

Kelly and Ayanna's Social Studies

Chap and Meredith's Social Studies

Third Grade Internet Use

March 15th Parent Rep Meeting Notes

Spanish Resource List

This Week's Announcements:

Early Dismissal:
A reminder that school will be closing at noon tomorrow (11:45 for Early Childhood) and there will be no Afterschool.

Lost and Found:
Tomorrow is the last day to browse Lost & Found. All remaining unclaimed items will be donated to God's Love.

Upcoming Parent Events:
Facebook, AIM, Club Penguin, BitTorents, YouTube, and countless other old, new and emerging web technologies are used by our children everyday. What do you know about them? How safe are they for your kids? Are there ways to make my child/tween/teen's computer environment safer and more productive? What can I do as a parent? What can the school do? The answers to these and other questions in a frank discussion on kids and technology moderated by the LREI tech coordinators. We will visit some sites, explore options that will make you child's cyber-environment safer and give you an overview of what we teach at LREI about internet safety. Additional resources will be given out for parents on paper and on www.lrei.org.
Two sessions:
Session One for parents of 7th - 12th graders on April 17th at 6:30 in the Sixth Avenue auditorium
Session Two for parents of 3rd - 6th graders on April 18th at 6:30 in the Sixth Avenue auditorium.

High School Preview Night:
Thinking Ahead? Join us for the High School Preview Night on Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30pm in the Charlton Street Performing Arts Center (PAC). This is a wonderful opportunity for Middle School and Lower School parents to learn more about the High School from parents, students and recent alumni. We hope to see you there! RSVP to the Admissions Office at ext. 305.

In the Upcoming Weeks...

3/23- Founder's Day, Noon Dismissal (11:45 for Early Childhood)

4/9- School resumes after Spring Break

4/10- High School Preview Night

4/18- Third Grade Assembly, 8:45AM

4/18- Internet Safety Discussion, 6:30PM. Bleeker Street Auditorium

4/20- School Closed for Parent Teacher Conferences

4/25- First Grade Assembly, 8:45AM

4/27- Noon dismissal for Parent Teacher Conferences, no Afterschool

Dear Lower School Families,

"Eighty years ago, Elisabeth Irwin revolutionized American education by taking students out of the classroom and into the world —
and by bringing the world into the classroom."
(from the LREI website, written by Nick O’Han)

Eighty years later, our school is still doing just this. As an institution, we value opportunities which allow our students to extend and enrich their studies inside the classroom by going out into the world: visiting places, interviewing people, and making observations to bring back. Here is a sampling of just a few places our classes are exploring outside of their classrooms lately, allowing a more meaningful experience of studies inside the classroom:

• Fourth Graders have been studying how instruments can work together as an ensemble through their work with recorders. To bring this idea to life, they traveled to Lincoln Center to attend a dress rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic, allowing children to hear many instruments working together in the performance of George Gershwin's An American in Paris and Melinda Wagner's Trombone Concerto (a world premiere!).
  
• As Third Graders come to the end of a recent collaborative research project on the planets, a trip to the Rose Center for Earth & Space on Monday will be a culminating experience. Students will view large scale models of the planets and other interactive exhibits, allowing classroom experiments, research and discussions about the solar system, stars and constellations, and universe to be considered through a different perspective and presentation.
  
• After interviewing, observing and gathering information at various local bookstores, Gina and Rebecca’s First Graders celebrated the opening of the "Booksey Boo Bookstore" this week! Children worked to create merchandise, modeled after important things they saw for sale in the bookstores they visited, including books, bookmarks, postcards, "books on DVD," and cupcakes.
  
• In Kindergarten, children have learned and discussed the ways that animals stay warm and survive outside during the winter months. To deepen this understanding, they traveled today to the Central Park Zoo to observe first-hand how animals living outdoors in New York City adapt and adjust to the challenges of and changes in temperature and weather during winter, and now the beginnings of spring.

In a similar way, our school community welcomes visitors from the world of education, interested in learning about our progressive ideals, to come into our classrooms. For a school that is not associated with a college, university, or education training program, the number of educators who visit our school each year is astounding. Each year, we welcome educators to observe, listen, and learn – as Elisabeth Irwin believed, to go out of their own classrooms and into the world. By opening our classrooms to others, we have the opportunity to engage in conversation about our practice, and to connect with the broader educational community.

During this school year alone, our visitors have included experienced teachers, undergraduate and graduate students, new teachers, and administrators from New York City, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, and even other countries, including:

• Westchester Community College
• Hunter College
• Fieldston School
• Bank Street College of Education
• Medgar Evers Community College
• Corlears School
• New York University
• Episcopal School
• Buckley School
• and Iceland, where groups of teachers, principals, and founders of new playschools now visit NYC independent school annually, primarily to observe our work with blocks.

In addition, many schools typically organize one or two professional development days during the school year – a day off for students, a day of learning from outside speakers, discussions, workshops or meetings for faculty. This year, the Children’s Aid Society school in our neighborhood used their professional development day to bring the entire faculty of more than 35 teachers to visit our school! This was another special opportunity for us to share our practices and ideas with other educators, and to deepen our connection with a neighboring school.
As we move into warmer weather and the beginnings of springtime, may the coming of a new season bring you new opportunities to go out into the world, and to bring the world in. I’m happy to have had a chance to share with you in this week’s blog.

Take care,
Megan

This Week's Attachments:

Letter Responding to Tragic Incident

Dorothy and Stacey's First Grade

Second Grade Publishing Party

Third Grade Reading

Third Grade Feature Article

Third Grade

Math at LREI

Parent Rep Meeting Notes

Spanish Resource List



This Week's Announcements:

Visiting Author:
On March 20th Tim Wise will speak with the LREI community on the topic of privilege and class in America. Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, and on over 400 college campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, and the Law Schools at Yale and Columbia. Many of our faculty members have heard Mr. Wise speak and found him to be engaging and insightful. He will spend a good part of the day here on March. 20th and 21st meeting with students, faculty and parents.
Parent Events featuring Tim Wise:
Tuesday, March 20th, 7:00PM, Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street. (Child Care Available, please sign up at the Sixth Ave. Reception Desk.
Wednesday, March 21st, 8:45 AM, Sixth Avenue Cafeteria, Breakfast Discussion with Tim Wise. There are several copies of Tim Wise’s book, White Like Me, in each library.Click here for more information about Tim Wise: www.timwise.org.
Tim Wise’s visit to LREI is generously supported by the Wendling Foundation as part of an ongoing grant to support our diversity efforts, including the visit by the Human Race Machine earlier this year.

Dance Performance:
THE LREI STEP TEAM will be performing as part of FAMILY MATTERS Dance Theater Workshop on March 17th at 2:00pm. The body becomes a canvas on which colorful legends and rueful stories are painted. Strokes of genius are delivered by Merce Cunningham alum Glen Rumsey presenting a gender-bending ballet, the inspirational step dancing of the LREI STEP TEAM, and the Brazilian influenced free world music of The Nation Beat. The feast continues with Lawrence Goldhuber and his all-diva cast who serve-up a cautionary tale about what canhappen if you eat too much. Flamenco fans will delight in the foot falls of the Ballet Hispanico School Ensemble, while the graceful Trinayan Collective execute a fable in the Odissi style of classical Indian dance.The Dance Theatre Workshop is located at 219 west 19th street. For reservations call (212) 924-0077 TKTS $10.00 children $20.00 adults

High School Preview Night
Thinking Ahead? Join us for the High School Preview Night on Tuesday, April 10th at 6:30pm in the Charlton Street Performing Arts Center (PAC). This is a wonderful opportunity for Middle School and Lower School parents to learn more about the High School from parents, students and recent alumni. We hope to see you there! RSVP to the Admissions Office at ext. 305.


In the Upcoming Weeks...

3/17- LREI High School Step Team performs in "Family Matters"

3/20- Tim Wise Reading, 7:00PM

3/21- Breakfast Discussion with Tim Wise, 8:45AM

3/23- Founder's Day, Noon Dismissal (11:45 for Early Childhood)

3/23-4/9- Spring Break

4/10- High School Preview Night

Dear Lower School Parents,

DOCTOR, LAWYER, BUILDER, MANICURIST…

Who provides the goods and services that we New Yorkers rely on? This question has been a thread of inquiry running through the Second Grade social studies curriculum. Based equally on their own experiences and developmental worldview, and on their classroom studies of NYC, Second Graders responded by creating fictional city workers, first as characters in the block area and later as "autobiographical" subjects. Each worker’s profile was developed through the writer’s workshop process, from rough draft to final publication.

As you will see in the excerpts below, some New Yorkers are city workers, some hold down two jobs; some have large families, others live and work alone. Their occupations, hobbies and neighborhoods are varied.

______________________________________________________________

"My name is Leo. I work for the mayor. I am also a waiter. I work with the mayor and the chef…. When I don’t work, I ice skate and jump rope. I live in Queens and I like it just the way it is."

"My name is Emma. We live on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. I live with my daughter Jessy. I am a D.J. A D.J. is a person who talks on the radio. I like my job because I get to wear cool suits. "

"My name is Henry. I live in the Bronx. My friend Bob lives next door. Bob has some children and I do too. We both have dogs. I work in a restaurant. I am the cook. I am good at cooking because I look in the cookbook."

"My name is Ashly. I am a gardener. I get to work by bus. I live in Brooklyn with my husband and 6 kids. When I am not at work, I play with my kids. We play tag, doctor or dentist."

"My name is Jack. I live on Manhattan Island. I live by myself and my job is making newspapers. Also, I deliver the newspapers…. I like my job because I get to find things out."

"My name is Sidny and I live in the country. I work on a farm. I send food to a restaurant in the city. I usually wake up at 4AM."

"My name is Bill. I work in a power plant. I answer the phone. When I am free, I play chess."

"My name is Kathy. I live in Manhattan on the Upper West Side. I work in a clothing store. Its name is Target. I am a cashier and changing room boss. I like meeting new people and seeing them happy. I am 27 years old."

"My name is Jesse. I live in Manhattan. I build buildings and I like my work."

"My name is Cindy. I work at Elisabeth Irwin High School. I teach music to the 10th Grade. I live with my daughter Lola. She goes to the school I work at."

"My name is Alex. I work at the fire station and live with other firemen. My job is the fire chief. I like my job because I like speeding along the road."

"My name is John. I am a doorman and I live on the Lower East Side. In my spare time I like to play soccer with my kids."

"My name is Jack and I live on Broadway. My job is being a major league baseball player. I pitch a lot and bat and hit homers. I take a taxi to work."

"My name is Susan. I live in Brooklyn and I have a great view of the Brooklyn Bridge. I don’t have kids. I teach history. My kids don’t have recess. They’re always busy."

"My name is Elly. I live on the Lower East Side. I work at the spa. I give manicures to kids and adults. When I’m free, I go shopping and read books in the park."

Elaine


This Week's Attachment:

Third Grade


This Week's Announcements:

Visiting Author:
On March 20th Tim Wise will speak with the LREI community on the topic of privilege and class in America. Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Wise has spoken in 48 states, and on over 400 college campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, and the Law Schools at Yale and Columbia. Many of our faculty members have heard Mr. Wise speak and found him to be engaging and insightful. He will spend a good part of the day here on March. 20th and 21st meeting with students, faculty and parents.
Parent Events featuring Tim Wise:
Tuesday, March 20th, 7:00PM, Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street. (Child Care Available, please sign up at the Sixth Ave. Reception Desk.
Wednesday, March 21st, 8:45 AM, Sixth Avenue Cafeteria, Breakfast Discussion with Tim Wise. (We recommend you attend the evening talk on March 20th if you plan to attend this conversation.)
There are several copies of Tim Wise’s book, White Like Me, in each library.
Click here for more information about Tim Wise: www.timwise.org
Tim Wise’s visit to LREI is generously supported by the Wendling Foundation as part of an ongoing grant to support our diversity efforts, including the visit by the Human Race Machine earlier this year.

Quilting:
An open invitation to those in our community who would like to participate in creating this year's Afghan Quilt for the Big Auction: It is time to pick up your needles and yarn and knit or crochet a 6x6" square in colors and patterns of your choosing to be assembled into a beautiful, cozy, handmade creation. In celebration of this group effort, Claudia Baez will host a Champagne & Cheese Knitting Circle on Wednesday, March 14th for anyone who would like to participate. Beginners to seasoned knitters and crocheters are welcome. Please bring your children and encourage them to give it a try! All you need to start is some yarn and a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook. We will meet at 260 West Broadway, #11B, from 4-6PM. If you can't join us on March 14th, you can drop completed squares off in the collection box in the Sixth Avenue lobby up until Thursday, April 12th. This us a perfect project for Spring Break that will also support the school.If you have any questions, please contact Jenna Torres at jennasdreamworld@hotmail.com.

Click Here

Dance Performance:
THE LREI STEP TEAM will be performing as part of FAMILY MATTERS Dance Theater Workshop on March 17th at 2:00pm. The body becomes a canvas on which colorful legends and rueful stories are painted. Strokes of genius are delivered by Merce Cunningham alum Glen Rumsey presenting a gender-bending ballet, the inspirational step dancing of the LREI STEP TEAM, and the Brazilian influenced free world music of The Nation Beat. The feast continues with Lawrence Goldhuber and his all-diva cast who serve-up a cautionary tale about what can
happen if you eat too much. Flamenco fans will delight in the foot falls of the Ballet Hispanico School Ensemble, while the graceful Trinayan Collective execute a fable in the Odissi style of classical Indian dance.
The Dance Theatre Workshop is located at 219 west 19th street. For reservations call (212) 924-0077 TKTS $10.00 children $20.00 adults

Annual Spirit Game:
An Invitation to All LREI Families---- Click here for information on our annual Spirit Game! This event is fun for LREI students of all ages and a great way for lower, middle and high school families to support our hard working student athletes. LREI Spirit Game, Friday, March 16th, 3:30PM--Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street (between Houston and Prince.)

In the Upcoming Weeks...

3/9- Lower School Special Assembly (students only)

3/14- Champange and Cheese Knitting Circle

3/15- Parent Rep Meeting

3/17- LREI High School Step Team performs in "Family Matters"

3/23- Founder's Day, Noon Dismissal (11:45 for Early Childhood)

3/23-4/9- Spring Break

Direct from Denver

Dear Lower School Parents,

I am spending this week in Denver at the annual NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) conference. Together with Sharon DuPree, I just presented on what I referred to as the “new” school constituency, lesbian and gay-headed families. Based on our LREI experience, Sharon and I discussed ways that school communities can welcome these families – an authentic and meaningful process only if all school constituencies (parents, prospective parents, students, faculty and administrators) are invited to join in the conversation. Workshop attendees asked many questions, took notes and shared their own experiences. Needless to say, few independent school profiles mirror ours. What we consider school-as-usual – classroom discussion, the Families Assembly, our diversity bulletin board, the Visibility photo exhibit and the shared conversation among parent affinity groups - is rare indeed.

Elaine


This Week's Attachments:

Beth and Molly's Fours

Luise and Michelle's Kindergarten

First Grade

Colleen and Michael's Second Grade

Tasha and Romy's Second Grade

Spanish Resource List

2007 LREI Spirit Game


This Week's Annoucements:

Afterschool's First Friday:
Join us this Friday, March 2nd, from 4:15-5:15 as we welcome First Friday favorites Sruli and Lisa for an afternoon of live Klezmer music and dancing. We will be learning some of the great Old World Klezmer and Hasidic dances such as "Thread the Needle" and "Patsh Tantz".
Multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Sruli and Lisa play the clarinet, violin, accordion, bass recorder, cello and drum. They perform and teach Klezmer music and dance all over the country. Parents and caregivers are welcome to attend this Friday's workshop. Please call the Afterschool office with any questions or to register your child at 212-477-5316, extension 239.

High School Play
Please come to the High School Play, written by LREI Arts Chair and director Meghan Farley Astrachan, "Apartment 6D," 7 PM, Charlton Street PAC, this Friday and Saturday, March 2 and 3. "Apartment 6D" is a play about friendship, loss, betrayal, and hope. Set in a cramped West Village apartment, it is the story of four friends attempting to cope with the future four months after the September 11th disaster that shook the foundations of downtown Manhattan and of the world as they knew it.

Dance Show:
Coming soon! On Saturday, March 17th at 2 PM, at the Dance Theater Workshop on 219 West 19 Street, our LREI High School Step Team will be performing as part of the professional show, "Family Matters". This show is for ages 3 and up! $10 for kids, $20 for adults.

Quilting:
An open invitation to those in our community who would like to participate in creating this year's Afghan Quilt for the Big Auction: It is time to pick up your needles and yarn and knit or crochet a 6x6" square in colors and patterns of your choosing to be assembled into a beautiful, cozy, handmade creation. In celebration of this group effort, Claudia Baez will host a Champagne & Cheese Knitting Circle on Wednesday, March 14th for anyone who would like to participate. Beginners to seasoned knitters and crocheters are welcome. Please bring your children and encourage them to give it a try! All you need to start is some yarn and a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook. We will meet at 260 West Broadway, #11B, from 4-6PM. If you can't join us on March 14th, you can drop completed squares off in the collection box in the Sixth Avenue lobby up until Thursday, April 12th. This us a perfect project for Spring Break that will also support the school.If you have any questions, please contact Jenna Torres at jennasdreamworld@hotmail.com.

Click Here


In the Upcoming Weeks...

3/2- Afterschool's First Friday

3/2-3/3- High School Play

3/9- Lower School Special Assembly (students only)

3/14- Champange and Cheese Knitting Circle

3/15- Parent Rep Meeting

3/17- LREI High School Step Team performs in "Family Matters"

3/23-4/9- Spring Break