Dear Families,

One can find over twenty-five different definitions of plagiarism and about a dozen different types of plagiarism, including cyber-plagiarism, incremental plagiarism, intentional plagiarism, global plagiarism, patchwork plagiarism and unintentional plagiarism.

In this Internet Age, it is becoming more and more difficult to determine what counts as plagiarism. As a result, more and more time is spent in classes discussing the definition, yet one all-inclusive policy is difficult to reach. The members of this year's Honor Board, a group of students elected by their peers to represent any member of the student body who finds themselves in a disciplinary situation involving one's integrity or honesty, decided to take the problem of plagiarism on as one of their projects for the school year (not unlike Student Government, which is actively reworking LREI's Student Handbook).

Honor Board began their work with an assembly, which ended with an explanation of Honor Board's role in the school community, and with a definition of plagiarism here at LREI. Here is the definition they decided to use in cases of plagiarism. A student has plagiarized if the student did not acknowledge using someone else's

words or phrases
ideas or thoughts
term paper
recording
images
computer code
experiment results
lecture content

or if a student uses his or her own previously submitted work or he or she falsifies data.

Further, members of Honor Board met with each class to go over different scenarios of plagiarism or cheating students may or may not find themselves in. Here is an example of one of the scenarios discussed during class meetings:

"You and a friend are struggling in Physics class. You work together on an assignment for class. You both do the work and hand in exactly the same work. A friend of yours was absent from class, so you give your assignment to that person and he/she copies it exactly. Who is plagiarizing? Who is cheating? Who is responsible?"

One can imagine just how complicated it is to determine what happened, who is to blame, and what the consequences should be. However difficult, Honor Board will continue its work to bring us closer to clarity and closer to a resolution regarding this complex issue. What is the faculty doing? We will have two guest speakers in the spring, an expert in academic honesty, and a copyright lawyer to discuss fair use with us.

It is really great to have a partnership with the student body regarding those issues most important to the community. Working together, we can provide a clear definition of plagiarism, a program that continues to value honesty and integrity above all things when it comes to one's academic and social experiences, guidelines across the curriculum for all students and hopefully in the future, a distinctive honor code.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

All the best,


Ruth

March 2, 3, 2007- High School Play, "Apartment 6D," 7PM, PAC
March 5-9, 2007- Exam Week
March 9, 2007- End of Trimester Party, 8PM-11:00PM, PAC
March 12, 2007- First Monday, "Global War on Terror"
March 13, 2007- Arts Assembly I, 1 PM
March 15, 2007- Arts Assembly II, 1 PM
March 16, 2007- An evening of One Acts, 6:30PM, PAC
March 20, 2007-Parent Rep meeting, 6:30PM with Special Guest Speaker, Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son and Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White.

March 22, 2007- Eleventh Grade College Trip to Columbia University
March 23, 2007- Founder's Day

Academic Calendar, Trimester II


Mar. 2-End, Trimester 2
Mar. 5-Review day for all classes
Mar. 6-Reading day for all students
Mar. 7-9- Exams
Mar. 14-Grades and Comments due, 8:30 AM





This Week's Attachments and Announcements:

1. 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.

2. Coming soon! Saturday, March 17, 2 PM at Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19 Street, our LREI 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.

3. 5) 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.

4. From Phil Kassen, Director: Dear Families, click here for the calendar for the 2007-2008 school year. I am sorry that it is so late in coming. I hope that this has not caused any inconvenience. A couple of notes--the two long vacations have moved back to their traditional spots, we will have two professional development days for faculty—October 5th and February 29th—and we have added a second full day of conferences for the Lower School in the fall and the spring. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions.

4. After notifying students in homeroom and advisory about missing or long overdue books, we are now preparing to send invoices home for lost books. This invoice will detail the missing text(s) and the price of the book. Please know, replacement copies are accepted!


5. Think LREI Big Auction!
While shopping in your favorite stores or dining out at your favorite
restaurant, take along some donor forms and make on-the-spot requests.
It's easier than you think!

Think...
Restaurants
Entertainment (tickets to shows, sporting events, film festivals)
Beauty and Health (facials, massages, spa gift certificates)
Wine, Champagne and Specialty Foods
Children's Items and Services (passes to museums, classes, birthday party certificates)
Designer Fashion (handbags, gift certificates, jewelry)
Vacation Homes
Creative One-of-a-Kind Events (behind the scenes tours,backstage passes)
Frequent Flyer Miles and Preferred Guest Points

Donation forms can be found at here or in
Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street lobbies. Please return your forms to
the LREI Development Office no later than Friday, March 2nd. If you
have any questions, please contact Sandra Song at ssong@lrei.org.

Remember...
The Big Auction is on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007.
All proceeds of the auction support Tuition Assistance.
Donations are tax deductible.


6. Attention Sports Fans---Friday, March 16th (not Friday, February 23 as originally announced) will be the annual LREI Spirit Game that will match up LREI's multi-talented faculty/staff against the up-and-coming stars of the Middle School and High School basketball teams. This will be a great opportunity to witness the athletic talents of our student athletes and to experience firsthand how exciting it has been to have a home court gym this year. At half time there will be a foul shooting contest for athletes sixth grade or younger. We have hosted some amazing games this season, where the roars for the home team were heard on Houston Street. So come out and see what all of the excitement is about -- March 16th at 3:30PM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street between Houston and Prince. We look forward to having a big crowd help to celebrate the end of our first year of having a "home court advantage."

7.Please do not schedule appointments, medical or otherwise, during the school day, between 8:30 AM and 3:50 PM. When a student must leave early for a non-emergency, it is very disruptive to the academic program and to a student's progress in any given class. Thank you.

8. As Spring Break approaches, please do not plan vacations that fall outside of scheduled school breaks. Each school day is important. Today's classroom experiences are building blocks for tomorrow's. Missing school on either end of a scheduled break, or at any time other than when school is closed, is disruptive to your child's education and to that of her/his classmates. Often, the days preceding our longer breaks include community events such as buddy activities and assemblies. These essential community events are important. We feel strongly that students should not miss these occasions. It is our policy that teachers not prepare work ahead of time, or help students to catch up, if your family will be vacationing at times when school is in session. If your family is presented with a singular opportunity to travel that offers significant educational advantages we encourage you to speak with the division's principal in advance.

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.