Dear Families,

Today's New York Times has an interesting article, Harvard Task Force Calls for New Focus on Teaching and Not Just Research which begins, "You would be stupid if you came to Harvard for the teaching." Of course, Harvard has a distinct reputation. But perhaps it is not for teaching, despite the fact that people attend Harvard "to be around some of the greatest minds on earth." But there is a price. “It’s well known that there are many other colleges where students are much more satisfied with their academic experience,” states a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. He goes on to point out that Amherst is "always pointed to" when it comes to excellence in teaching. In fact, this year, we had one senior struggling to decide between an Ivy and Amherst. His decision came down to exactly that point. He wanted to be recognized as an individual with diverse interests, as he has been here, and to truly interact with his professors, as he has had here. At Harvard, “People...are concerned when they hear that some of our undergraduates can go through four years here and not know a faculty member well enough to get a letter of recommendation.” As Harvard reflects on the possibility of a shift from research and publishing to teaching, it is clear from the article that the value of teaching, of interactive, student centered learning is key in one's educational experience. From the end of the article:

He threw out his lectures in his introductory physics class when he realized his students were not absorbing the underlying principles, relying instead on memory to solve problems. His classes now focus on students working in small groups.

“When I asked them to apply their knowledge in a situation they had not seen before, they failed,” Professor Mazur said. “You have to be able to tackle the new and unfamiliar, not just the familiar, in everything. We have to give the students the skills to solve such problems. That’s the goal of education.”

We're way ahead of you.

All the best,

Ruth

Calendar:

8 2007-2008 Registration for courses will begin (Grades 10-12)
9 Interims due for all students in the arts rotation and earning B- and below.
11 Senior Project ends.
14 John Lennon Bus visits the High School! Senior Class Meeting, 8:30 AM-11:00 AM; Senior Project Presentation meetings to be arranged with Twelfth Grade Dean, Adele Pelz. These meetings will take place through May 24.
14-31 Senior Banquet Entertainment Rehearsal 3:30-5:30 PM
15 Parent Rep meeting, 6:30 PM, Room 13
22 Sports Awards Night, 6:30 PM, PAC. If your child participated on a sports team this year, please plan to attend. Eleventh Graders who participated on a team, but were encouraged to attend the college event, "CTCL - "Colleges That Change Lives," should attend awards ceremony. The college fair is from 7-9:30 PM, and will also be in Tarrytown on May 23. Questions? Please call Amy Shapiro, Director of College Guidance at extension 324.
23 New Families reception, 6:00 PM, PAC
24 Spring into Summer Book Fair, 6th Avenue Auditorium. Spring Concert, 6:30 PM, PAC
25 Field Day, 8:30 AM. All Twelfth Graders must attend.
28 Memorial Day, school closed
29 Honors Project Breakfast, Room 10, 8:00 AM; Rehearsals for senior project presentations, all day.
30 Senior Project Presentation Evening, 6:30 PM

June
2 Prom
7 Senior Banquet, 6:30 PM, PAC
8 Graduation, 1:00 PM, The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts @ NYU
566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South, New York City. RSVP & Ticket Policy for parents of graduating seniors: Seats for the LREI Commencement are limited. All attendees MUST have a ticket to enter the Skirball Center. Each graduating senior is allotted a maximum of six tickets. All other attendees may request tickets which will be available on a first come - first served basis. Please contact Adria Maynor with your ticket requests by May 18. Telephone:(212) 477-5316 x 323 E-mail: amaynor@lrei.org



This Week's Announcements and Attachments:

1. Please be reminded that all students must complete 25 hours of community service this school year. If hours are not completed by June 8, students will have to complete their hours during the summer, but Ruth must approve the community service opportunity.

There are many opportunities available to students now that spring is here! Opportunities include the AIDSWALK on May 20 and several spring clean-up opportunities through the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. Here is a terrific opportunity offered this Saturday and the calendar of opportunities offered by LREI for the rest of the school year.

2. From our librarians:

Exciting news! The library will be migrating to a new computer catalog during June. Our current catalog and circulation software has become outdated, and is no longer accessible from most of our computers. The new software allows for catalog access from any computer via the internet, so our students will be able to check holdings from anywhere in the building or elsewhere-- including home! The new system has numerous additional advantages, and once it is running we will let you know so that you can explore the options.

There is only one complication--to ensure the smoothest possible transition, we need to close circulation of all library materials for several weeks. All library materials must be returned by Friday, June 1st. Your students have been and will continue to receive overdue notices and reminders, but it would be a great help if you could look around your homes and urge your student(s) to bring in those piles of books left from a research project during Trimester I!

3. Glass Menagerie, LREI's resident adult chorus, conducted by former LREI music teacher and current LREI parent Susan Glass, will perform its annual Spring Concert UPTOWN:

Friday May 11th, 8:00PM
Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew
86th Street and West End Avenue

For more information: www.glassmenagerie.org

4. Summer is coming, and so is the LREI Spring into Summer Book Fair!

5. To all families who have children participating in the LREI extracurricular sports program: In order to make sure that you receive timely notifications about changes to the practice or game schedules, we have created an email list that we will be using to provide these updates. If you child participates on an LREI sports team, we ask that you go to LREI SPORTS where you will be able to subscribe to the list. The instructions are posted on this page. After you subscribe, you will receive a confirmation email and instructions for how to reply. This email will be followed by a welcome email that will give you additional information about the list. Please note that subscribers to the list will not be able to post to the list. The list is for information distribution from the school. If you need to respond to an update, please respond directly to Marcus (mchang@lrei.org) or Larry (lkaplan@lrei.org). These updates will also go to coaches who will include this revised information in subsequent emails to their team lists. When you receive an email from this list , the subject line will indicate the group for which it is intended (e.g., [LREI-Sports] HS Baseball). If your child is not a member of the indicated team, you can delete the email without reading it. We do not expect the volume of this list to be that high so this should not be a problem. As we pilot this list, please send Marcus and Larry any feedback that you think would help us to refine this process. Thank you!

6. Is your teen looking for a summer opportunity? See below:

Department of Youth & Community Development (DYCD) has an online application for 2007 NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). Access the site here. Applications are due May 18, 2007.

The program runs for 7 weeks from July 2-August 18. Students ( age 14-21) work 25 hours per week while earning $7.15/hour. Jobs assignments are at government agencies, law firms, nonprofits, small businesses, sports and retail organizations.

7. The 14th annual LREI camping trip will be held on the weekend of June 1-3. All LREI families and their children -- pre-K through high school -- are invited to participate. As in past years, we expect that a good time will be had by all: hiking, swimming, sports, fishing, camping, cooking, eating, singing around the campfire, etc.

The site, as in past years, will be near the Delaware Water Gap (somewhat north of where I-80 crosses the Delaware River). The cost will be $30 per adult, $20 per child. Also, we need volunteers to help with hauling food and supplies and equipment out to the camp site (and back) and providing extra space in their vehicles for those who need a ride out and back.

Click here for more information. We will have a sign-up table for a few mornings at LREI in May, when we get closer to the camping trip weekend.

Please save the date and let us know if you are interested in receiving more information -- and especially if you are interested in volunteering: Send an e-mail to Larry White (Lwhite@stern.nyu.edu).

Organizers:
Neil Capobianco (CapobiancoN@gtlaw.com)
Seth Tapper (sethtapper@yahoo.com)
Dave Trumbull (dave.trouble@gmail.com)
Larry White (Lwhite@stern.nyu.edu)

8. Click here for the calendar for the 2007-2008 school year.

9. 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.

10. 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.