Newsletter #33
Dear parents,
"We Are the World", the famous charity single originally recorded by the supergroup USA for Africa, was written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie one night before the song's first recording session, on January 21, 1985. It brought together some of the most well-known artists in the music industry at the time. The song was then released on March 7th as the first single from the album. A worldwide commercial success, it became the first ever single to be certified multi-platinum, and raised over $63 million (equivalent to $147 million today) for humanitarian aid in Africa and the US.
In March 2020, Lionel Richie was considering releasing a new version of 'We Are the World' in a bid to raise money to fight coronavirus. Thinking about writing a new song to express his support for the people suffering from the virus and fighting against it, he realized that "every time [he] try and write another message, [he] write those same words."
In May 2020, Lionel Richie may decide to not go any further as our generous and talented UNIS students have released their own interpretation of "We are the World". The 1985 version may have sold 20,000,000 copies, but our UNIS students already have 3129 views on Vimeo after just few days, which is an all-time record for UNIS!
Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal
Susan Scullin, Junior School Assistant Principal
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.
Arden (Pre-K) transferring what she learned in a lesson about using 3D shapes to stamp 2D shapes to a new inquiry into patterns.
IMPORTANT DATES
EVENTS THIS WEEK
Wednesday, May 20 - Special JS Webinar: Out of Bounds Circus at 1:30 (details in this newsletter) Click here to join in the fun!!!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, May 25 and Tuesday, May 26 - Memorial Day Weekend - School Closed
Wednesday, May 27 - Tuesday Teaching Schedule followed (no Wellness Wednesday activities)
Friday, May 29 - TH Celebration 1:30 (No classes on Friday afternoon. The entire UNIS community is invited to support our graduating seniors in their end of year celebration. More information to come.)
June 1 - June 7 - Virtual Book Fair with Books of Wonder (details in this newsletter)
Friday, June 5 - J4 Graduation 9:00
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: SPECIAL OUT OF BOUNDS CIRCUS ASSEMBLY - WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 AT 1:30
Join Out Of Bounds: Circus this Wednesday, May 20 at 1:30 p.m. for a Spectacular Show.
Bring your own peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jacks!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: WELLNESS WEDNESDAY
Within your child's schedule (check the Google Doc), you will find this week's May 20 Wellness Wednesday activities, including the Zoom links. The team in charge of Wellness Wednesday is aware of glitches with some links that kept students from joining a few activities last week. They have worked on the issue to fix it for this coming Wednesday.
Note: All links will be fully updated by end of day Monday.
IF A LINK IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY, PLEASE INFORM BY EMAIL:
Burcu Polatbora: bpolatbora@unis.org
Dr. Lidana Jalilvand: ljalilvand@unis.org
TECH SUPPORT: 11:00-12:00 EVERY DAY FOR FAMILIES (PARENTS AND STUDENTS!)
As a reminder, our Tech Integrators, Francesca Zammarano and Javier Alvez, are available live every weekday from 11:00 - 12:00 to support all JS students (and their parents too) in the use of technology.
We strongly encourage your child to connect with these teachers for advice and training with their Distance Learning devices and applications. The link for the daily sessions can always be found at the top of your child’s schedule.
Live Tech Support Daily from 11-12 Zoom Link
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT: SURVEY
INFORMATION: UNIS JS ONLINE BOOK FAIR JUNE 1ST - JUNE 7th, 2020
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” - Dr. Seuss
UNIS, in partnership with Books of Wonder, proudly announces that the 2020 Junior School Book Fair is going virtual! Please support our Junior School and a beloved local bookstore. Books of Wonder is known for its highly curated selection of children’s books. More details to follow.
Questions? Please send/reply to all Book Fair co-chairs: Vicki Tse: vtse@me.com, Giulia Celli: gbcelli@me.com, Fadya Tannous-Lurie: fspeero@earthlink.net
INFORMATION: SEE OUR MASTER CLASS SERIES
On Tuesday, May 12th, we had the opportunity to engage in a conversation with Carol Bellamy. Ms. Bellamy headed 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
TUT HOUSE MUSICAL TWELFTH NIGHT - MAY 19 & MAY 20
"Did you hear the word on the street?!" The Tut House Musical TWELFTH NIGHT is coming soon to a screen near you! Be sure to join us for this two-night event at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19th and Wednesday, May 20th, featuring performances, interviews, and more-- all curated into two special episodes. We can't wait to see you there!
To join us for Twelfth Night: Part 1 at 6 p.m. on May 19th, please click here
To join us for Twelfth Night: Part 2 at 6 p.m. on May 20th, please click here
ENGLISH FOR KIDS CLUB - RAMONA THE PEST
Hello! The English For Kids Club is back here this week again to bring you another book. The book that we will be sharing with you guys today is Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. This children's book chronicles the adventures of the main character Ramona's first few months at kindergarten. It fits the grade range of 2-5, and has a Lexile level of 850L. Hope you enjoy this!
Dave Sun T3
REMINDER: BEFORE YOUR MORNING MEETING STARTS EACH DAY!
Charge or plug in your computer or tablet
Wear headphones
Sit in a quiet place, without distractions
Have your books and materials next to you
Don't have a light or a window behind you when you have a face-to-face meeting with your teacher
Do not eat or drink during class time, but have a bottle of water nearby at all times
Do not use other electronic devices or a cell phone unless your teacher asks you to
Be kind, be respectful, be patient: this is new for everyone!
Try your best, but if you feel frustrated ask an adult for help.
Build time into your schedule each day for small breaks during your learning to have a snack and to move your body around.
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:
Going to Veracross
Clicking on Household Information
Updating Household Profile -> Contacts.
If you need support in order to make your updates, please email veracross@unis.org