Weekly Email June 1, 2006

Dear Parents,

As always, the end of the year brings with it wonderful culminations and achievements. Students are hard at work bringing projects in all of their classes to conclusions, and we will get to see the fruits of those labors during next week's Final Exams/Presentations (see the attached schedule for the last days of school; I will write more about exams and presentations next week). In addition, along with the athletic accomplishments I listed last week, the LREI Boys High School Softball teach won the ISAL Tournament, beating Birch-Wathan-Lennox in the finals 10-6. We are sending four students from that team - including two 10th graders! - to the league all-star game. Once again, go Knights!

Standing out among all of these happenings: Last night was an amazing night that belonged entirely to the Seniors. This year's Senior Project Evening featured so many fabulous presentations that I hesitate to single any of them out. I will say that in the weeks of the internships and during the research process, our students worked in the arts (“Cabaret”, “Special Effects, “The Future of Comics”, “The Integration of Hip Hop & Gospel”, “Theater for Social Change”, “Classical Music & The Test of Time” and “The Political Power of the Image”); real estate (“Real Estate 101” and “Blue: The Lower East Side”); education (“The Products of Lower Expectations” and “The Profit of Racism”); food (“The Food & Food Politics of Classical Rome”, “Chocolate” and “Catering 101”); politics (“Where the Responsibility Lies” and “Iran & The United States: A Complex Alliance”); and on and on. In addition, two of our students’ projects took them abroad (“La Nouvelle Vague” and “Falling in Love with Bavarians”). I am attaching here the program for the evening and the complete list of titles and mentors. Our Mission Statement begins, "Our goal is to educate students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners and to pursue academic excellence and individual achievement, in a context of respect for others and service to the community." Based on these projects and these presentations, we as a school can be pleased with the extent to which we have succeeded in this goal with these students. Great credit goes to the High School faculty, who worked tirelessly to help them with their papers and their presentations, and especially to Senior Project Coordinators Adele and Antonio. But even greater credit to our students, who followed their passions and made us all very, very proud.

An upcoming event: Family Picnic: Sunday, June 11th
Welcoming families touched by adoption and the friends and classmates who support us. A chance to celebrate LREI's diverse community of families. ALL ARE WELCOME! 
Time: 1AM on, throughout the afternoon
Place: Hudson River Park (just north of the World Financial Centre)
We'll set up on the grass just across from the playground. Look for lots of balloons! Bring your own lunch/snack/beverage and something to sit on. There are sprinklers for younger kids so bring bathing suits and towels.
Rain Date: Sometime in September
Sponsored by the LREI Adoptive Families Committee  
For more info, contact Susan Glass at: sglass9@nyc.rr.com or Mamie McIndoe at: mmcindoe@marblechurch.org

All the best,

Tony

CALENDAR

June
* Monday 5 Last day of Trimester III classes
* Tuesday 6-Thursday 8 Trimester III Exams/Presentations; End of Trimester II
* Thursday 8 Senior Banquet
* Friday 9 Graduation
* Monday 12-Tuesday 13 Closing days
* Tuesday 13 School closes at noon for Summer Vacation


As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org. Also, note the links to the Middle and Lower School weekly emails on the right. Please take a look at what the students in the other two divisions are up to!

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If you are having trouble opening the attachments, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.