Newsletter #32


The Enigma of My Desire or My Mother, My Mother, My Mother - Salvador Dalí 

Dear parents,

Today is a very special day, Mother's Day. 

Felipa Domenech Ferrés was a mother. Like most children, her son, Salvador, owed her a lot. She supported his artistic interests, tolerated his anger, his dreams and his lies.

Yesterday my daughter approached me as she was working on a video project to celebrate her "Mama", my wife. She asked me, recording my answer: "why do you love Mama?" There are a multitude of reasons why I love my wife, one of them identical to the reason that I love my own mum...because she is an admirable mother. But I'll spare you a description of my mum and my daughters' mama. Not because they don't deserve a chapter in our weekly Newsletter (as all the mothers in the world do), but because as Maya Angelou said, "to describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power." And I believe that today we have quite enough cataclysm!

So, before calling my own mother and before expressing my gratitude to my wife, I would like to celebrate you, mothers, all of you UNIS parents, teachers, staff, administrators, who are reading this Newsletter. More than ever, in this difficult time, your dedication to family is what will make a difference in the life of your children, our students.

And to the dads who suddenly realize that it is Mother's Day after reading these few words, it is not too late to do something about it! 

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Susan Scullin, Junior School Assistant Principal

Take a moment to listen as Victoria, one of our J2 students, joins other children in the World Singing Day video “Good Night Mom, Good Night Dad”  The musical montage celebrates Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Parent’s Day. 

REMINDER

The learning environment we have designed for the UNIS Junior School aims to offer a quality of instruction, challenged by the extraordinary constraints of our time. It aims to offer our students the ecosystem to learn, to teachers to teach, while taking into consideration the well-being of our community. However, we understand how challenging this can be, how these challenges can be perceived in entirely different ways, and with a broad range of intensity.

And so, while we encourage everyone in our community to do their best to be resilient, and to accept new challenges, we want to reinforce here that the Junior School will measure our students within their own boundaries during this very unique situation. And we respect and expect that you, the parents, will exercise your indisputable parental rights to assess your family's boundaries and decide what your child can or cannot do at this time.

Therefore, if you believe that your child is able to join only part of our Distance Learning Program, but not all, be reassured that you have this right. Be reassured that the school has adopted a compassionate approach and that in no way will the school penalize a student because of circumstances that are beyond their control. The UNIS Junior School will meet the students where they are.

Today, if it causes tension for your JS child to join the full Distance Learning program and all it has to offer, if you assess that your family is at its limit in this very unique situation, if you feel that your family well-being requires the pressure to be lowered, you can make this choice. Inform your teachers about it. And at any time, you have the right to revisit this decision.

 PARENTS ARE NO LONGER REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A DAILY ATTENDANCE FORM. INSTEAD, WE WILL REACH OUT TO FAMILIES TO OFFER SUPPORT WHEN WE NOTE THAT A STUDENT IS NOT ENGAGING IN LESSONS AND ACTIVITIES. 

Mia from JAW showing the beautiful spider web she built with creativity and resilience. Well done, Mia!

Our inspiring Pre-K students will surely add more smiles to your day! 

IMPORTANT DATES

EVENTS THIS WEEK

UPCOMING EVENTS

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

SEE IT (AGAIN): GRAND TETON ADVENTURE ASSEMBLY

For those who were not able to join us last Wednesday, May 6, when Jack J4AC, his parents, and some of his friends spoke about overcoming adversity and shared the inspiring story of their mountain climbing adventure, you can watch it by clicking on the link below. Two thumbs up for Jack and his friends, Luca, Charlie, Niko, Josie and Theo for an outstanding assembly!

SEE IT (AGAIN): J4 TO M1 TRANSITION - PARENT PRESENTATION

For those J4 parents who were not able to join the presentation last Thursday evening, May 7th, or would like to see it again, the content can be found below.

May 7, 2020 Transition to M1 parent presentation

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

You will find, within your child's schedule (check the Google Doc), this week's May 13 Wellness Wednesday activities, including the Zoom link. We would like to express our gratitude to the TH students who have joined us and for all the Junior School students who participated in these activities!

Note: All links will be fully updated by end of day Monday.

IF A LINK IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY, PLEASE EMAIL:

JS.Wednesdays Wellness Activities 4.24.2020.pdf

TECH SUPPORT (REMINDER): 11:00-12:00 EVERY DAY FOR FAMILIES

As a reminder, every week, Monday through Friday between 11:00-12:00, LIVE tech support is available for you and your child. Please use this link to connect with us with your questions: Live Tech Support for Families. 

You can also find this link at the very top of your child's homeroom schedule.

Francesca Zammarano and Javier Alvez  | JS Academic Technology Integrators


EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: RESOURCES & INFORMATION

This week in our Student Support Parent Newsletter, we thought to respond to the many situations, issues, and challenges you and your child(ren) are struggling with. In our many conversations and emails with parents, we have found that most of your concerns fall into four categories: children needing connection/feeling lonely, children disengaged/feeling bored, children resisting/initiating/sustaining their online work, and high frustration/frequent arguments. This time is hard on everyone. So, we have put together a menu of supports that can offer a targeted approach that gets at the heart of these difficult and sometimes intense times.  We hope it helps ease some of the tensions, and allows for more connected and joyful engagements with the whole family.  Wishing a cheerful day to all the mothers who celebrate Mother’s Day.

IF... THEN...

If your child is feeling lonely

If  your child is feeling bored

If your child is resisting his/her schoolwork

If your child is being argumentative 

Alyssa Frost (J2/J4), Amy Iamundo (J1/J3) and Dr. Dana Marnin

INFORMATION: JS LIBRARY - UPDATED LINKS TO ACTIVITIES 

Please visit the JS Library Homepage -  Junior School Library - where you can find these and other continuously updated links to activities and information for you and your children during this time of distance learning.

“Many have chosen “Here Comes the Sun” ….it is not only a tribute to the resilience of the patient, but also an anthem of affirmation for the medical professionals: Through long shifts, with few positive moments and supplies stretched thin, they have saved another life.”

“This unprecedented one-hour, pre-recorded presentation will mark ABT’s 80 years through film, music and new choreography representing the Company’s tradition of celebrating the diversity and dynamism of America through the power of world-class dance. “

Under Parent Resources you will find:

Love from the librarians, Ms. Barrer and Ms. Iwasykiw

INFORMATION: SEE OUR MASTER CLASS SERIES

MASTER CLASS: CAROL BELLAMY ON MAY 12 AT 6:00 

Join us on Tuesday, May 12th at 6:00 pm EST for a Conversation with Carol Bellamy

 Ms. Bellamy has worked as a lawyer, a banker, a New York Politician.  She headed up the Peace Corps and ran UNICEF. She has been a leader in education, Board Chair of the IBO, and CEO of World Learning. 

On Wednesday, April 28th at 6pm, Mr. Shapiro spoke about his career, including overseeing the production of the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine tragedy, the war in Kosovo, and the Clinton Impeachments. He also spoke about “why media is important” and the role media plays in the time of COVID-19. 

If you were not able to attend the Getting to Zero Waste in Your Daily Life webinar on Tuesday, April 21, with Guest Speaker Sandra Noonan, Founder of the Zero Waste NYC Meetup, Chief Sustainability Officer of Just Salad, and Co-Founder of the Zero Waste NYC Workshop, click on the link below!

Smiling Mask Concert

UNIS Event

Michael Mayer

UNIS Speakers Series  3


Max Hollein

UNIS Speakers Series 2

Justice Breyer

UNIS Speakers Series 1

TO READ: FROM OUR TUTORIAL HOUSE STUDENTS

ENGLISH FOR KIDS CLUB

This is the English For Kids club from the Tut House! Our club aims to use the resources at UNIS to help underprivileged Chinese students to learn English! 

Today we are going to bring you the book "The Days of the Dragon King" by Mary Pope Osborne. In this book, the main character Jack and Annie are going on an adventure in Ancient China. The book fits the age range of 6-9 years, hope you enjoy it! 

Dave Sun T3 UNIS

FUNDING BRIGHT FUTURES

My name is Luca Riva and I am currently a T3 at UNIS. For the last few years, I've been working with Funding Bright Futures. Funding Bright Futures is a nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by, and is currently run by, UNIS high school students. 

The goal of the organization is to fund the education of underprivileged children around the globe. They raise money by hosting online classes including art, Minecraft®, LEGO®, Debate, programming, cooking, music, and tutoring in all subjects. This allows kids to stay active and better their learning skills whilst being kept at home, during the COVID pandemic. Their group classes are $10 and private classes are $20, but they also offer package deals making classes $15.

BIT OF NEWS: YOGA OFFER

Need to relax?

Interested in doing Yoga yourself or with your family? 

J2 UNIS Parent Tiffany Dehejia has negotiated a 30% discount for UNIS Faculty, Staff, Parents and Students at Yoga Selection.  Click on the link below to enjoy a free two week trial period and if you like it, sign up using the code UNISNY to receive your discount!  Namaste.

REMINDER: UPDATE ZOOM

If you haven't already, please ensure as soon as possible that the device used by your JS child for schoolwork has the most up-to-date version of Zoom.

Zoom has updated the hyperlinks in chat, allowing for them to now be live! This is a game-changer for student use (especially the little ones) as they will now be able to go to a link with one click!

We recommend that you periodically check for updates as Zoom is continually fixing and updating itself.

Here is a quick video for you on how to do this (on ma cos x)

Thank you for your support and please use the Tech Support for Families link in your child's schedule to connect with us between 11:00-12:00 each weekday if you have any questions. 

REMINDER: BEFORE YOUR MORNING MEETING STARTS EACH DAY!

REMINDER: ACCESSING STUDENTS' SCHEDULES FROM THEIR DEVICE? TRY THIS!

In response to requests from parents asking that students have access to their schedules directly from their own devices, and thanks to the creativity of Javier Alvez, our Tech Integrator, we have been able to add all of our JS students' schedules to their CLEVER accounts:

From a school Chromebook:

From iOs or Android:

From personal Chromebook, Mac os x or PC:

REMINDER: VIRTUAL INTERNATIONAL FOOD AND FUN FAIR 2020

The UNIS PA presents the inaugural "International Food and Fun Fair 2020"! Lee Bruner, MS teacher, had this wonderful idea of bringing IFFF to online to bring the community together. We couldn't agree more. 

Idea is simple. You can go online and add your own recipe(s) from your country (from the heart or physical location) along with pictures or videos to share. The origin of the recipe will be pinned on the world map. It would be wonderful to see our student chefs there, too.  

There will be no line to sample these delicious recipes from all over the world, the Padlet is live as of Saturday and will stay open so please post your recipes when you can and keep checking back for new ones! 

We do hope to see many of you there. 

Stay healthy and keep cooking,

UNIS PA Cultural Event Committee

REMINDER: VIRTUAL AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

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: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

Periodically, please take the time 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 into 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