Newsletter #27


Dear students and parents,

You may wonder why Antoine de Saint Exupery was chosen to begin this Newsletter and to welcome everyone back from a two-week break that was like no other. You might consider that the author of "The Little Prince", by inspiring dreams and inviting us to escape our reality, may be very welcome in this time of challenges and uncertainty. Some might see a fragile attempt to invite us to take to the air and travel, to our distant families, to our dream places, far away from a virus that unfortunately keeps us very close to home. But it is his view of perfection that brings him to us today.

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

When we anticipated an eventual school closure, we designed a model of virtual online instruction aimed at specific goals:

The current learning ecosystem has been developed by researching, by confronting different solutions, by debating. But in all the conversations, one idea was recurrent: "simplicity". This idea of simplicity did not mean that the Distance Learning Plan came without challenges, questions and frustrations for students, parents and teachers.

The idea of simplicity was important first from a technical point of view: introducing a brand new distance learning platform to our students, teachers and parents forced a reflection on how to use the tool, rather than how to design, within a well-known ecosystem, a learning experience that could move instructional goals from a physical space to a virtual synchronous and asynchronous space. It was also important to echo Antoine de Saint-Exupery's vision of perfection: perfection will be when everything left in our model is everything, and only what makes the most sense to our students and what best serves our initial goals.

While our community is currently experiencing the model with different perspectives, either as a parent, student or teacher, we can still all agree that the model can and should evolve, in order to aim towards a "perfection" that, while it may not be attained, should always guide our efforts.

During the two weeks prior to the break the model was confronted with reality. We received feedback from parents covering many different areas, expressing many different feelings, demonstrating that we are all experiencing the situation differently. Each day we met with our teachers and worked closely with our Team Leaders to reflect on the model, with the common goals in mind as stated in the Distance Learning Plan. We have brainstormed, applied adjustments and imagined what the Distance Learning Plan 2.0 could look like. We have listened closely to our students, who shared their feelings and their aspirations with their teachers at any opportunity to do so.

During the break we had also the opportunity to collaborate with the New York Independent School Elementary Principals and with the Principals from the Network of French American schools in North America. Participating in discussions with these two groups of leaders was very helpful to extract ourselves from isolation, to understand that our challenges are everyone's challenges, but more importantly to see that while we share many common ideas, we have all developed different models, while still all making the theoretical assumption that "our ideas" would be... perfect.  But, everyone agreed that none of our models are perfect. And could it be different? It probably would be presumptuous to think so!

"The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This effort to reflect on the limits of our model, and its imperfections, is also the foundation of the necessary growth that we see taking place as it becomes more evident that the reality of our social isolation, and the necessity to keep the UNIS campus closed, may extend beyond what we initially expected and hoped for.

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi

Our goal will therefore be not to pretend to have developed a perfect model but, with humility, to chase it with rigor, a sense of innovation and creativity, taking into consideration the diversity of our school, to keep inspiring our students, while being guided by our School Mission and the United Nations' ideals.

The week before the break, the Junior School Leadership began the process of collecting evidence and ideas from the different teams and stakeholders. During the break we formalized the evolution of our model, chasing perfection with the goal of catching excellence. 

Much of the feedback collected from teachers, students and parents centers around initiating periods of live instruction allowing direct interactions between teachers and their students. Therefore this is an important element of the ongoing development of our Distance Learning Plan. This coming week will be an opportunity for training and carefully exploring issues of security and confidentiality in order to avoid the complications that other schools have encountered recently by going live.

So what is next for this coming week?

But as Saint-Exupery, Ghandi, Goethe or Lombardi have clearly identified, the model will not be perfect. And this process of revision will be an ongoing one in order to ensure that we are reaching, if not perfection, the excellence that defines our school, in its academic, inclusivity and social emotional dimensions.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Susan Scullin, Junior School Assistant Principal

DON'T FORGET TO SUBMIT YOUR CHILD'S DAILY ATTENDANCE

The JS Spanish teachers worked together on a video to welcome everyone back from Spring Break! They put a lot of excitement and love into it. Click on the link below to enjoy!

IMPORTANT DATES

EVENTS THIS WEEK

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

TO DO TODAY: 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 and are entered in the correct fields. You may update your information at any point throughout the year, but if you have not reviewed your information recently, we encourage you to do it today. 

All departments at UNIS, 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, or when there are school wide announcements, 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

TO DO: BEFORE YOUR MORNING MEETING STARTS EACH DAY!

VIRTUAL EVENT: ALL SCHOOL PA MEETING - TUESDAY, APRIL 7TH AT 7:00PM

I hope everyone is safe and healthy as we all navigate these challenging times. Dr. Brenner has graciously agreed to hold a virtual All School PA Meeting on Tuesday, April 7th at 7pm. He will give a general update on where things stand and then take questions. The format of the meeting will be the same as the Webinars that were organized this week, Dr. Brenner will be the featured speaker and four members of the PA will ask the questions submitted. The webinar technology only allows for a certain number of viewers and we hope that everyone who wants to will be able to join, we will be recording the meeting and a link to that recording will be available 24 hours after the meeting. 

We also tried to pick a time that would be most convenient for parents knowing that all of our schedules are in a great deal of flux at the moment. If that time is not convenient, you are unable to tune in and/or want to submit a question in advance, please email me directly at Amanda.Dubois@pa.unis.org. 

As always, and especially now, please reach out with any questions or if the PA can be of assistance at unispa@unis.org.

Take good care,

Amanda Dubois 

VIRTUAL EVENT: SMILING MASK UNIS ONLINE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE - APRIL 9 AT 6:30

SAVE THE DATE! Join us for our first virtual concert on Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.

INFORMATION: WHAT’S NEW ON THE JS LIBRARY PAGE

Our Librarians are always adding new resources for students, parents and teachers to the JS Library web page so check in often!

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: JA - J4 TEACHING LESSONS FROM OUR SUPPORT TEAM 

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LESSON FOR JA: Caring and Helping

This Second Step lesson builds on the previous lesson about feelings, especially about  accidents. If you remember, an accident is when you do something you didn’t mean to do. This lesson continues on the idea about caring and helping others. Together we learn that feeling empathy and expressing care and concern are different from each other, and both require practice.  We know that young children may have trouble showing care and concern for others in emotionally overwhelming situations, and that is why practicing these skills makes it easier. Together we also learned that compassion means caring about how someone feels, and you can show you care by saying or doing something kind.

From this lesson, students will be able to identify that listening is one way to show you care, and helping is another way to show you care.  Snail, Biscuit and a very special visitor- my dog, Henry! stopped by to show us how they care and how they helped.

Follow up questions for your child:

Skills you can practice at home with someone else:

*Following CDC and governmental social distance guidance guidelines, of course.

Dr. Marnin

Second Step Lesson: Caring and Helping.webm

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LESSON FOR J1: Lesson 18 Solving Problems, Part 2

In this lesson we learn that many students are more likely to be involved in peer conflicts and aggression, tend to think of only one solution to a situation and act on it without thinking through what might happen. The E: Explore consequences Problem-Solving STep is important because it helps students think through the effects of their choices, thus increasing their ability to pick solutions that will solve the problem while taking people’s feelings into account. If then thinking builds students’ ability to predict consequences. 

Ms Iamundo

J1 Second Step Lesson 18 Solving Problems Pt 2.webm

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LESSON FOR J2: Lesson 13: Handling Making Mistakes 

In this lesson we will learn that everyone makes mistakes but if you're feeling a strong feeling, it is important to calm down. Making mistakes helps you learn because mistakes show you what you need to practice more. In this lesson, you will learn a belly breathing technique which is a strategy to calm down. 

Ms Frost

Lesson 13: Handling Making Mistakes FInal .mp4

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LESSON FOR J3: Lesson 18: Solving Problems, Part 2

In this lesson the second Problem-Solving Step,T: Think of solutions, builds cognitive skills and helps students avoid jumping at the first idea that comes to them. Emphasizing the importance of safe and respectful solutions builds prosocial norms and helps students employ perspective-taking skills to think about the effects of their actions on others. The third step, E: Explore consequences, helps students think through cause and effect and avoid solutions that will cause more problems. 

Ms Iamundo

SS J3 Lesson 18: Solving Problems, Part 2.webm

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LESSON FOR J4: Lesson 13: Managing Anxiety 

In this lesson we will talk about what anxiety means and understand what happens in our bodies. We will also identify situations that cause anxiety and explore the idea of control. Additionally, we will talk about academic challenges that may cause anxiety and different ways to manage those strong feelings. We will continue to practice the “calming down” steps. 

Ms Frost

J4: Lesson 13: Managing Anxiety Final.mp4

REMINDER: MAKING AN APPOINTMENT FOR A MEETING WITH THE SUPPORT TEAM

In order to meet with a member of our Support Team:

You will receive a notification from Calendly.

Once the Support Team receives your request, they will send you an email with:

REMINDER: VIRTUAL AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

We hope that this message will find you, your children and everybody in your family safe and healthy. We look forward to the opening of the “virtual school” on Monday, April 6, 2020.  

For your information and convenience, below we are listing courses that are virtually available from after school providers. If interested, please feel free to register using their links. We will keep sharing with you more and more online resources.  

Please note that UNIS has NOT processed charges for the registration in the Spring After School Activities. 

FROM THE AFTER SCHOOL PROVIDERS: 

Amanda Sawyer is offering all her classes remotely. She has also recently partnered with a few specialists in self-defense & physical fitness, yoga… 

If interested please register using the above link. 

Writopia 

US Chess Academy 

CinemaKidz

Spark Business Academy 

Parker Anderson Enrichment 

MORE ONLINE RESOURCES at your disposal: 

Some more resources for students: 

Additional free learning websites: 

We will share more resources, as we learn about them. I am at your disposal if you need any further information. 

Please stay safe! 

Lidana Jalilvand, Director of Special Programs

REMINDER: 2020 - 2021 CLASSES

Our teachers will soon begin the process of creating class lists for the 2020-2021 school year. Homeroom teachers and specialists collaborate to create balanced classes across each grade. Teachers take into account friendships and social interactions from this and previous years and are careful to ensure that children are placed in a group with familiar friends and where they will also have the opportunity to develop new friendships. Our school psychologist and counselors review all class groupings before they are finalized.

While we cannot honor specific requests for teachers, if you have any concerns about next year’s class placement be sure to contact your child’s counselor before Friday, April 17.