Newsletter #24

Dear parents,

Last week was an opportunity to begin new initiatives with our students in order to get to know them better. This is a critical component towards supporting their success and their well-being. As you may also experience in your own line of work, urgency, reactivity, and priorities sometimes distract us from the simple moments when we could take the time to learn from one another. In fact it is in these simple moments, when we pause and take time together, that we may positively address the issues that distract us and take up our time. 

Starting last week, Dr. Brenner began his initiative to meet a few students from each grade, from J4 to T4, for a special lunch each Thursday.

Ms. Scullin and I began a weekly meeting with a group J4 students, with the intention to meet all of them before the end of the school year, for a "Hot Chocolate with The Principals".

Also, once a week, I will select a JS student and spend playtime with that child and their friends on the playground.

And, last Friday, I had a welcome surprise from some J4AJ students who elected to write, on their own, letters to express their gratitude for their experience. Mr. Jaouad proudly shared their texts and we cannot resist sharing them with you in this newsletter. 

It's an honor each day to be surrounded by our wonderful UNIS students. They are a reminder to us how important it is to periodically reinvent ourselves and how critical it is to grow together as a unified community. Not only does Harry Potter remind us of this, our students do too, every single day.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Susan Scullin, Junior School Assistant Principal

My Birthday lunch with Dr. Brenner, by Alex (J4AJ)

When I heard the news that I’d be having lunch on my birthday with Dr. Brenner, I felt nervous but also very excited! I was able to invite 5 friends: Eva,Fabi,Tijax,Toro, and Javi all joined me for Turkey sandwiches, chips and M&M cookies. We were all grateful for the delicious food and the awesome conversation. So we talked about countries that we've lived in, how to make the school better, and what we liked about unis. Mrs. Scullin arrived and everybody sang to me “ Happy Birthday!”. It was a fantastic birthday lunch with Dr. Brenner and my friends!

Alex

Breakfast with the junior school Principals by Dovydas and Nathan (J4AJ)

I arrived with the bus into the  junior school playground. I rushed upstairs to the classroom nervous that I was late. Finally, Mr.Jaouad opened the door and told me that I’m not late. I was so relieved 

That I almost did not hear that I needed  to write a thank you letter. After about five minutes  Nathan arrived, we both started working on the letter. Then, when we were almost done, I quickly made an envelope.  when we were done it looked like this.

Dear mr Vallet and ms Scullin

Thank you for inviting me to have breakfast with you. We really appreciate it.

Thank  You

From Nate and Dovydas

After we were done with the letter we went to the principal’s breakfast. When we arrived there were only 7 students.  Javi had to leave because he went to eat cookies with Dr .Brenner yesterday and two events in one week was too much for him. When  everyone arrived we shared ideas on how to make the Junior School a better place like getting rid of tik tok and adding walls to the library. Then we shared ideas of what we like about unis like responsibilities and freedom when we were done I really hoped that some of these ideas would make it to the school . Then while we were talking we were allowed to eat muffins and hot chocolate It was amazing.

Dovydas

This breakfast was not just to eat, it was also a conversation with the principal and the assistant principal. All the students that were there had ideas for the playground. Some ideas were different like being kind❤️ and some were about The app Tik Tok  Being a distraction because it had bad language and a disturbance to the classes. We were able to have orange juice and muffins. There were 8 people at the breakfast.I felt great having breakfast with all those kids or students that were there with the principal and vice principal. The people that were there had  good comments that made me feel great.

I said that we should put more time for short play and that we should have the blocks for that time.The ideas that they had were great options.only two of my friends were there because they were picked by the principal and the vice principal. We also talked about being kind to each other because in some other things in the playground people aren't kind.💔 Like in gaga or soccer and other things in the playground. And the principal was typing these ideas on her phone.Everyone had a plan for things at UNIS. 


Nathan

IMPORTANT DATES

EVENTS THIS WEEK

UPCOMING EVENTS

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

HIGH PRIORITY: MESSAGE FROM DR. BRENNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (Sent Friday 28, February 2020)

As we face the impending questions about the Coronavirus and our school’s response I wanted to outline the actions we are taking and the protocols we have put in place to ensure the safety of all of our school community members.

Our decision making process for this situation is based on information we are receiving from the Center of Disease Control, alerts from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and from the Association for the Advance of International Education. Currently, the CDC has categorized two countries, China and South Korea, with a level 3 warning-travel advisory (their most serious level), and three countries, Italy, Iran and Japan, with a level 2 warning.

As we know, we are a unique school community with frequent overseas travel by parents, staff, and our visitors seeking admission. As such, we have to be particularly careful in putting policies and procedures in place to be protective of the whole school community when facing a virus that is impacting the world. In that spirit:

Beginning today we have imposed a new procedure that mandates that a visitor in the admissions process or new entrant, who is coming from a level 2 or level 3 country as identified by CDC, must demonstrate that they have been in the US for three weeks prior to coming on campus. New entrants must also have a doctor’s clearance prior to their first day of school.

We do this with the utmost respect for those affected by this change in policy. We also know that our first responsibility is to the community members we currently serve and continue to serve as we assimilate new students.

We are also aware as we head into the two-week March Break that many of our families and staff will be traveling overseas. With that in mind:


We are scheduled to send small groups of students to Nepal and Spain during the March Break. We have our M4 trips scheduled for late April. At this point these trips remain in place. However, if new information becomes available that suggests increased risk, we reserve the right to cancel the trip(s).

Finally, attached is the letter from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene that was distributed to the NYC public schools. It provides up-to-date information about the virus and preventative measures to combat the flu.

I hope this information is helpful. We will continue to monitor the situation closely over the coming days and weeks. Please be assured that we will make the necessary adjustments to our plan as new information becomes available.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Dan Brenner

HIGH PRIORITY: STUDENT LED CONFERENCES

JS Student Led Conferences will be held on March 18 - March 20 and we encourage you to mark your calendar for March 9 when online registration opens for parents at 7pm.

Sign-Up Process - Detailed Instructions

To help you make the most of the time you spend with your child at conferences, review the information below about the conferences and how to best support your child's success.

WHEN?

WHO?

Parents book an appointment with:

Parents will meet other specialists without an appointment for 15 minutes

STUDENT BENEFITS

PARENT BENEFITS

TEACHER BENEFITS

THE PORTFOLIO

Student Portfolios are a purposefully selected subset of student assessment. Purposefully selecting student work and sharing this process with them, as well as giving students’ agency and the opportunity to make their own choices, reflects their learning journey.

What will I see in the portfolios?

HOW DOES THE SLC WORK?

Homeroom / Mother Tongue / Language Teachers

PARENT

The role of the parent in the SLC is critical.  As students share openly about their learning process and develop the skills to become reflective, they will be vulnerable and will need encouragement and support from you, their parents. It is an opportunity for parents to participate in their child’s education, to understand more about how their child is doing in school so that they may support at home. The SLC’s are most effective when parents are calm, encouraging and supportive of their child as they uncover their own learning capabilities.

STUDENT

The process of the SLC allows students to take the lead when talking about their learning. They will have the opportunity to talk about specific work samples with you, their parents, and it encourages them to be self-reflective and evaluate what they have been doing. It helps students to develop their critical thinking around their work and think about the areas they feel they need to improve upon and share these with you. By understanding their own achievements, strengths and weaknesses more clearly, they will be able to internalise and act upon areas of development with greater motivation and purpose.

TEACHER

The teacher’s role is also to support the child. Throughout the school year and in the time leading up to the SLC, teachers will work with students to help them ‘uncover’ areas of strength and challenge. This may take the form of written reflections on their writing for example, or from a piece of maths work that the child has completed. The teacher works with the children to help hone the skills of self-evaluation and reflection which will help facilitate the SLC as the child identifies and talks about their learning journey. Teachers will help to support the conference by facilitating conversations with parents as needed so that key information is shared.

If the teacher is concerned in anyway about the progress of a child, they will make an appointment to see you before the conferences.

Art, Music, Science, Library, Technology: Free flow

Physical Education

The Student Led Conference is...

And it is not...

JS COUNSELORS AND PSYCHOLOGIST MEETINGS DURING CONFERENCES

During Student Led Conferences Dr. Dana Marnin, Amy Iamundo and Alyssa Frost will post a sign up sheet outside their office doors for parents to sign up for an appointment on the evening of Wednesday 3/18, and during the days of Thursday 3/19 and Friday 3/20.

During open times, parents are more than welcome to drop in for a time slot if they wish.

LIMITED CHILD CARE DURING JS STUDENT LED CONFERENCES - THURSDAY & FRIDAY

The Junior School is pleased to offer limited childcare at no cost during JS Student Led  Conferences on Thursday, March 19 and Friday, March 20 between 8:30 and 3:00

Sign-in Process

Arrival and Departure from Childcare

During Childcare

Bathrooms

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES IN PRE-K

In Pre-K, the children will be sharing their learning during the Thursday and Friday (March 19th and March 20th) Student Led Conferences times, but in a different format. The students have been working hard on our Journey Inquiry and, in celebration, we will be creating an exhibit like a “museum of learning.” The children will plan and create the museum. When you arrive with them they will walk you through the exhibit explaining the many points of interest along the way. The exhibit will be interdisciplinary and incorporate learning from all the Learning Specialists as well.  

Pre-K will still have Student Led Conferences, but they will be towards the end of April, before and after school, and this is when the children will share their individual PK portfolio of work. This is a more appropriate time for the Pre-Ks to be ready to reflect and share their growth. 

Please sign up for a time to view the exhibit with your child on March 19th or 20th using the same Student Led Conference sign up process as the rest of the JS grades.

HIGH PRIORITY: JS PARENT COFFEE ON LITERACY- WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 (REMINDER)

We are inviting you to spend the morning thinking and talking about characters in stories. Throughout their journey at UNIS, your child works to develop critical thinking skills and to apply reading strategies to a variety of texts and to their own lives. Join us to experience Reading Workshop as a Junior School student. Find connections to children's social and emotional development and to a progression of work that stretches to the IB and beyond. We look forward to seeing you all there!

The Parent Coffee to be held next Wednesday, March 4 at 8:30am in the Cafe, will be a discussion about Literacy, hosted by Audra Robb, K-8 Literacy and Humanities Curriculum Specialist.

PA CORNER: MATILDA CONCESSION STAND

The Parent Association is looking for volunteers to help run the Matilda concessions stand. Please consider this a great way to be a part of the show and give back to the community in a big way.

We also need help at the Musical Cast Party on Saturday, March 14th from 4:15pm

Please complete the form below and indicate which you would like to volunteer for.

PA CORNER: STAFF APPRECIATION LUNCH

The Annual Staff Appreciation lunch will take place on Friday, March 6th from 11am-1.30pm in the Staff Lounge on the 3rd floor. Parent help is needed from 8am to 2:30pm. Thank you in advance for your food donation and/or volunteering to help. See the link below. 

Food Donations:

Please drop off your food donations in the Lobby by 10.30am on Friday March 6th. 

Volunteering:

We would love help at the following times:

You can sign up below to volunteer. The faculty and staff are looking forward to this much loved annual event! We thank you in advance for your help.

PA CORNER: PLEASE FILL OUT IFFF REGIONAL FOOD FAIR FORM

Planning for the annual International Food and Fun Fair is now underway and the Food Committee Co-Chairs need your help to ensure we can reach out to as many UNIS families as possible and encourage them to contribute their country's wonderful and unique food specialties to the international buffet. 

For that purpose we kindly ask you to fill out the Food Fair Form below, with the following information at your earliest convenience:

This information should enable us to compile more accurate regional food contact lists that Regional Food Coordinators can then use to reach out to the families from their "food regions."  We would like to emphasize that filling out the online form in a timely manner is essential to ensure efficient communication to parents about this year's International Food and Fun Fair.  

International Food and Fun Fair 2020 Organizing Committee

BIT OF NEWS: MY TRIP TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN BY CAMILLA J4AJ

Last Tuesday I went with my class to the NMAI. The museum was jaw-dropping because I saw many beautiful artifacts of the American Indian people, from their past and present.

My favorite artifact was the wedding dress that we saw on the plains side of the museum. I liked it because it was very rich and full of decorations. I also loved the masks which were colorful and original but also the pots, the sculptures, and the clothing. Each item was very detailed and had its own features.

I would recommend this museum because every kid can find something Interesting in the museum!

Camilla, J4 AJ

BIT OF NEWS: SPRING BREAK CAMP AT UNIS

2020 UNIS Spring Camp options:  

We look forward to welcoming your children to the upcoming UNIS Spring Break Camp. 

1-  The Spring Camp Language Immersion in Chinese, French or Spanish is designed to lead the children to the next level of language competency, while having a great time. It creates a supportive environment and engages students in conversations and practices of the target language - It focuses on speaking and listening comprehension - It provides arts and cultural activities such as singing songs in the target language, folk customs, calligraphy, dance…  for JA- M2

 2-  Leadership for J3-J4 & M1-M4 - From 9AM-4PM - $680/Week (If needed, may stay in the Care Program till 5:30PM free of charge)

This series of workshops is structured around fun projects and games that encourage the exploration of inquiry, initiative, adaptability, critical thinking and physical activities and more. It gives the students the skills to succeed in presenting themselves with assurance, asserting and arguing their point effectively, finding solutions, taking initiative, understanding how to negotiate and interact harmoniously.  The instructor of this class is Ms. Amanda Sawyer.

3-  RockStar for J3-J4 & M1-M4 - From 9AM-4PM - $680/Week (If needed, may stay in the Care Program till 5:30PM free of charge)

In "RockStar" the students have the opportunity to work with a professional rocker. They will play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards or vocals to perform classic Rock ‘n’ Roll hits at the end of the week. The instructor is Mr. Derek Swink.

Registration is on a first come first served basis - Please register online as soon as possible - Space is limited.

LINKS:

IMPORTANT REMINDER

If you wish to pick up your child before the end of the program, please let us know. 

For your convenience the contact information in case of emergency: 

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Dr. Lidana Jalilvand 

BIT OF NEWS: UPDATE SDM FOR SPRING AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AND ATHLETICS 

If you registered your child for Spring Session After School Activities or Athletics beginning this week of March 2nd, please take the time now to update School Dismissal Manager (SDM).

Add all your new Spring Session class descriptions, as well as each date that your child will attend each Spring Session class. 

SDM must be updated by your family throughout the school year to reflect all changes in your child’s After School and Athletics enrollment. The school does not make these updates for you. 

Dismissing teachers rely on the information that families enter in SDM each day to direct their students to the correct After School or Athletic activity. If information in SDM is not accurate, your child may be placed in the Care Program instead.

If you are not familiar with making SDM updates yourself, please click on the “Update the Dismissal Manager” link on the bottom of this newsletter, or stop by the JS Office or phone 212-584-3113 to request a quick tutorial.

REMINDER: 2020-2021 RE ENROLLMENT REMINDER - DUE MARCH 12

In order to enroll your child for the 2020-2021 academic year, you are asked to complete an electronic enrollment contract by Thursday, 12 March 2020.

Your child's personalized Enrollment Contract is available by visiting the UNIS Parent Portal:  Online Enrollment. You will need to complete separate enrollment contracts through the online process for each of your children.

If you have any questions about the online enrollment process, please contact the UNIS Enrollment Team at enrollment@unis.org.

REMINDER: MATILDA TICKETS ARE ON SALE

Tickets for the Junior/Middle School production of Matilda are now on sale! Be sure to visit www.unis.org/arts/theatre to buy your tickets today!

REMINDER: PARENT SUSTAINABILITY GROUP - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Please help support sustainability at UNIS!  The Parent Sustainability Group is looking for volunteers to help with upcoming events and future initiatives.  Even if you only have an occasional hour or two to spare, we would love your help! If you are interested in hearing more, please contact Karen Weissman, Magda Torres & Dana Meilands at karen.weissman@pa.unis.org

REMINDER: UNIS BOOK DRIVE MARCH 2nd – MARCH 6th, 2020

Give back to your community, donate your gently used children’s books:

Children of Bellevue (CoB) is a non-profit organization established to improve the health and well-being of children at Bellevue Hospital Center.

Children of Bellevue’s Reach out and Read is part of a national initiative that encourages reading aloud as a regular, joyful home activity that can improve language development, parent-child interactions, and academic success. Pediatricians provide a brand new book to every child at regular well visits starting at birth. To find out more, please visit: childrenofbellevue.org/reach-out-and-read

Parent Volunteers: We are looking for parent volunteers to help assist in book collection, sorting, packing and delivering. To volunteer, please sign up at:

If you have any questions, please e-mail: Abhilasha Mahan: abhilasha.mahan@gmail.com Rachel Barbee: sungirlrmb@aol.com

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.