A PreK-12 Progressive Education
Our Community
Alumni
Reunion
REUNION 2020
Reunion has been postponed this year. We will combine this year’s Reunion with next year’s Centennial Reunion on Friday, June 4, 2021 - Saturday, June 5, 2021. This means that classes ending in ‘0 and ‘5 and classes ending in ‘1 and ‘6 will all celebrate together!
This year, we invite you to join us for the following online activities:
Virtual Reunion Schedule:
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LREI State of the School with Director Phil Kassen and Alumni Council President Tamar Gargle Krakowiak '88 (Tuesday, May 5 at 7 pm) Click here to register
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A Virtual Happy Hour hosted by Alumni Council Vice President Analisa Cipriano '05 (Friday, May 29 at 5 pm) Click here to register here
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Online Photo Archiving Session with LREI Archivist and Parent Yukie Ohta (Saturday, May 30 at 12 pm) Click here to register
Other Activities:
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Help us complete the LREI Centennial Timeline
- Participate in our LREI@home Quarantine Time Capsule Click here for more information
- Click here to update your contact information or submit a class note to be shared in our annual magazine, the LREI News
Past Reunion News
34th Annual Reunion Schedule
FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019
FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019
Lunch with Current LREI Students
12 p.m - 1 p.m. | 40 Charlton
Learn about life at LREI from current students!
Alumni Basketball Game
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. | Game starts at 6:00 p.m.
Thompson Street Gym (145 Thompson Street between Prince & Houston)
All LREI alumni are invited to the Annual Alumni Basketball Game.
Come ready to play, cheer, or both! LREI families (past and present) are encouraged to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.
Alumni aged 21+ are invited to gather for drinks at a nearby bar following the game.
SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2019
Alumni Archive Session with LREI Archivist Yukie Ohta
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | 40 Charlton
Explore the LREI archives, identify photos from your time at LREI
and reconnect with your classmates.
Trivia Game with Mark Bledstein and Bill Bailey
2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | 40 Charlton
Test your history skills and join your classmates
for a fun-filled trivia game hosted by your former teachers.
A Discussion with Distinguished Alumnus Jeffrey Friedman '69
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. | Performance Arts Center at 40 Charlton
Join Academy Award winning documentary filmmaker Jeffrey Friedman '69
for a discussion including clips from his films.
Tour of 15 Vandam
4:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Meet in the lobby at 40 Charlton
Visit LREI's newest building on Vandam Street.
34th Annual All Alumni Reception Honoring Classes Ending in 4's and 9's
5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. | Courtyard at 40 Charlton
Distinguished Alumnus, Jeffrey Friedman '69
Honorary Alumnus, Steve Neiman
A light lunch will be provided from 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.
StoryLab, LREI’s ongoing oral history project,
will be open from 1 p.m. - 6 p.m. for alumni to record memories
from their time at LREI.
The photo booth will be open from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Questions? Contact Elisabeth Mendez or Violeta Picayo ‘09 at alumni@lrei.org or 212-477-5316 ex. 269
The 33rd Annual Alumni Reunion took place on June 1st -2nd, celebrating classes ending in “3” and “8.” This year, the class of 1968 celebrated their 50th Reunion. Over 200 alumni across sixty years, from the classes of 1956 to 2016, joined us for the weekend.
We kicked off Reunion weekend with a celebration to honor the retirements of Mark Bledstein and Larry Kaplan, two beloved LREI teachers. Their decades of extraordinary contributions have impacted generations of students. Their awards were presented by Jeffrey Nurenberg ‘94 and Violeta Picayo ‘09.
On Saturday, we had a full day of exciting events starting with a walking tour of historic Greenwich Village led by former LREI history teacher, principal, and historian, Nick O’Han. Alumni visited locations frequented by Elisabeth Irwin and her contemporaries and learned about LREI’s connection to this iconic neighborhood.
The Class of 1988 reunited for a special lunch at the Sixth Avenue Campus. After lunch, they toured the building, revisiting classrooms and sharing stories from elementary school.
LREI parent and archivist, Yukie Ohta, and Honorary Alumni Kasey and José Picayo led the Archive Session. Alumni sifted through decades of photos identifying teachers, classmates and events while recalling memories from their days at LREI.
Following the archive session, alumni remembered former music teacher Bob De Cormier through a sing-along of LREI classics with current music teacher Susan Glass and associate teacher Jay Saper. Songs included “Dark as a Dungeon” and “This Land is Your Land.”
Caleen Sinnette Jennings ‘68, this year’s Distinguished Alumna, performed excerpts from her memoirs “Queens Girl” and “Queens Girl in Africa.” Her performance included her experiences as an LREI student in the 1960’s. Caleen is an actor, director, playwright and highly esteemed Professor of Theatre at American University.
Prior to the main reception and presentation of awards, Director Phil Kassen took alumni on a tour of the expanded high school to show alumni familiar spaces and newly renovated facilities.
Reunion weekend concluded with a reception and awards ceremony for all alumni. Alumni Council President Tamar Gargle Krakowiak ‘88 welcomed everyone in attendance and shared heartfelt memories about the reunion classes. The Distinguished Alumna Award was presented to Caleen by her classmates Andrew Weiss ‘68 and Nora Heflin ‘68. Tamar awarded LREI parents and trustees Kasey and José Picayo, as Honorary Alumni. Alumni of all ages enjoyed catching up with old friends and teachers and taking fun pictures in our photo booth!
This year, we honored Sara Fishko ‘67 as the distinguished alumna and LREI teacher Adele de Biasi Pelz as the honorary alumna. Sara presented audio and video excerpts from her work on “The Jazz Loft” story. She discussed the process of developing the story from research to radio to film. Adele led an archive session with LREI parent and archivist Yukie Ohta where alumni identified photos from their time at the school.
Former LREI history teacher and school historian, Nick O’Han, led a walking tour of Greenwich Village highlighting locations frequented by Elisabeth Irwin and LREI’s connection to this vibrant neighborhood.
Photos Album Links
Photobooth Photos - Click here to view the album on LREI's Flickr page.
Speeches - Click to read remarks by Alumni Council President Tamar Gargle Krakowiak ‘88
Click here to explore our StoryLab oral history archive.
Reunion 2016 honored Ambassador James I. Gadsden ‘66 as the distinguished alumnus and former LREI school historian and teacher Nick O’Han as the honorary alumnus. Nick lead a tour of Greenwich Village, with the help of his former student Celi Khanyile-Lynch ‘09. Ambassador Gadsden led a discussion titled Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, and How to Effect Change, moderated by his mentee Ana De La Cruz ‘10. We were happy to welcome alumni families, current, and former faculty, and current families to join in this weekend of celebration.
Reunion Event Photos - Click here to view the album on LREI's Flickr page.
Photobooth Photos - Click here to view the album on LREI's Flickr page.
Speeches - Click to read remarks by Alumni Council President Tamar Gargle Krakowiak '88, Distinguished Alumnus Ambassador James I. Gadsden '66, and Alum Celi Khanyile-Lynch ‘09.
Reunion 2015 honored cinematographer Tom Hurwitz '65 as a distinguished alumnus and former Associate Director of LREI, Michel de Konkoly Thege, as an honorary alumnus. Reunion festivities included a screening of Tom Hurtwitz's documentary Tiger Tiger, followed by a talkback. We also introduced StoryLab (our ongoing oral history project), and welcomed current and former faculty and staff to celebrate Reunion with LREI alumni.
- Reunion Event Photos - Click here to view the album on LREI's Flickr page.
- Photobooth Photos - Click here to view the album on LREI's Flickr page.
- Speeches - Click to read remarks by Alumni Council President Tamar Gargle Krakowiak '88, Distinguished Alumnus Tom Hurwitz '65, and Trustee Robert Rosenthal '80.
List of 1 news stories.
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Caleen Sinnette Jennings ‘68 selected as Distinguished Alumna for Reunion 2018!
CALEEN SINNETTE JENNINGS '68 is an actor, director, playwright, and a founding member of The Welders, a D.C. Playwrights’ Collective, which won the 2016 John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company. Dramatic Publishing Company has published eight of Jennings’ plays, and her work has appeared in seven play anthologies.Read More
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