Newsletter #19

Dear Parents,

Semester 1 Report Cards for Junior School students will be published on Friday, January 24 at 5:00pm on the Veracross Parent Portal. We encourage you to review this report card with your child to celebrate his/her achievements during this past semester and engage in conversation on their potential growth.

Friday, January 31 is the deadline for questions about a specific JS teacher’s grading. Please contact the teacher directly by email no later than the 31st.

Please note that recently enrolled students who have attended UNIS for less than 8 weeks, will not receive a report card this semester.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal

Susan Scullin, Junior School Principal Assistant

FREQUENT ASK QUESTIONS

What is changing on our report cards?

Your child’s academic achievement for each individual subject continues to be reported separately from his/her learning skills. The descriptors for academic achievement levels have been reviewed to ensure a greater JA-T4 alignment and to provide clarity in the transition between the word-based scale used in JA to M2 and the numeric scale used from M3 to T4. The previous Learning to Learn Skills have been replaced by the IB Approaches to Learning Skills.

The skills selected for a K-12 progression (Social Skills, Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills, Thinking Skills) are developmentally defined and will be assessed from a frequency of observable behavior.

What is the purpose of the report cards?

The purpose of the report card is to communicate your student’s achievement and learning goals. It is designed to provide you with clear and specific information about your child’s academic progress and the development of behaviors that support lifelong learning. This information includes identifying your child’s level of progress; areas of strength; areas needing additional time, effort and/or support; and opportunities for growth, based on assessments that demonstrate evidence of learning and teachers’ evaluation.

What grade descriptors are used (JA-M2 Descriptors)

How do I access my child’s report cards?

The Report Cards are published on the Parent Portal of Veracross. To view them, access the Parent Portal of Veracross (link found on the Parent Portal from the UNIS Website). After logging in to Veracross, simply click on "Classes & Reports", and then on "Report Card" (see screenshot). If you do not yet have access to the Veracross portal and need instructions on how to do so, please contact veracross@unis.org to get information. 

1. From UNIS website, select “Parent Portal”

2. Click on "Veracross Parent Portal"

3. Select “Classes & Reports”

4. Under PROGRESS REPORT, select the required report card

IMPORTANT DATES

EVENTS THIS WEEK

On Friday 24, January, J1LS will set up an  "Australian Animal Information Station". The purpose of this station is not to raise money, but instead to be a space for the J1 students to teach other children about Australian animals and a little about the current bushfires too. The J1s are very keen to educate others, and are excited to share their knowledge with the commuinty.

UPCOMING EVENTS

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

TO DO: WINTER CONCERTS, SAVE THE DATES !

INFORMATION: UNIS FUNDRAISER GALA ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Don't miss the Party of the year!!!!

The UNIS  Fundraiser Gala on Friday, February 28, 2020 

at the Prince George Ballroom 

We look forward to welcoming you to this celebration.  

Tickets are selling fast!!!

It is your commitment to UNIS that will make this an event full of fun, energy, and excitement. 

Don't delay! Buy your tickets today!  

INFORMATION: TOYS SALE THIS WEEK!

Toy Sale is this week! Toy Collection in the UNIS lobby starts this Tuesday, January 21and will go on till Thursday, January 23. Only 3 days! 

We will gladly accept all toys and games with small pieces intact and well secured. Regrettably we CAN NOT accept any plush, stuffed toys.  

The JS students will visit the Toy Sale with their homeroom teachers on Friday, January 24th. Please send your child to school with a reusable shopping bag (Greening the Blue) and $5 to spend.

It’s not too late to sign up as a volunteer for this lovely event! Please click below.

REMINDER: ADVERTISE IN THE MATILDA PLAYBILL

Interested in sending a shout out to a cast member in the Matilda playbill? Want your business to be seen by the 2,400 people that will be seeing Matilda? Advertising in the playbill not only gets your message seen by thousands, but supports the Theatre Program at UNIS. 

REMINDER: A FESTIVAL OF ORCHESTRAS CONCERT AT CARNEGIE HALL - SUNDAY, JANUARY 26

A Festival of Orchestras concert at Carnegie Hall on January 26 at 2:00pm will feature our Wind Ensemble and Tut House Strings/Jazz Band. Tickets can be purchased at Carnegie Hall's website, and UNIS families can purchase tickets for $25 with the special promo code UNI32854

REMINDER: LOST AND FOUND UPDATED POLICY

UNIS has implemented new lost and found procedures. Lost and found items will be collected weekly and displayed on racks just outside the front door of the school every Monday, and any unretrieved items will be donated on Friday. Items that are collected after Monday will remain in the lost and found crate by the playground doors until the following week. Any items that are not retrieved from the racks by the front doors after a week of display, will be deposited in our RefashionNYC Bin. RefashionNYC is NYC's official clothing reuse program in partnership with NYC Department of Sanitation and Housing Works to make textile donations to those in need. Once items are deposited into the RefashionNYC bin, we cannot retrieve them.

We ask that you please label all clothing, lunch boxes and water bottles. Labeled items will be delivered to the appropriate school office to be reunited with their owners. Please note that unlabeled lunch boxes and unlabeled water bottles will be discarded at the end of each week. We will no longer set out lost and found during parent teacher conferences. Please stop by the racks on your way in and out of school to retrieve items and ask your children to check for any lost items. 

REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

Please take the time now to review your family profile and contact information to ensure that your cell phone numbers, email addresses and home address are correct. You may update your information at any point throughout the year, but if you have not reviewed your information since the school year began, we encourage you to do it today. 

All departments at UNIS, including the Nurse, rely on the information that you provide in the Veracross Parent Portal to contact you. The only way you can be reached in an emergency is through the information that you have entered in the Portal. After logging in to the Portal at myunis.vc , you may review and update all of your family contact information by:

If you need support in order to make your updates, please email veracross@unis.org

REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR CHILD’S DISMISSAL PLANS

Our homeroom teachers follow the instructions entered by parents in School Dismissal Manager each day. Please update your SDM account to indicate what the plans are for your child for each day of the week.

SDM is the only way of letting your homeroom teacher know where your child should go at 2:55 dismissal. In addition to indicating that there is an Athletic or After School Activity, you must enter a description of the activity in the box below. If the activity name is not entered in SDM your child may be placed in the Care Program instead.