Newsletter #34


Dear parents,

Our school's closure due to the Covid-19 Pandemic has disrupted routines that the Junior School is usually proud to organize. While the current situation has forced upon us some challenges to overcome, there are still key moments in your child's journey at UNIS we do not want to miss. Some are more easily replicated in our Distance Learning Environment, and some need to be adapted to our "new normal".

Communicating with families regarding our students' learning journey is essential. It is with this in mind that the Junior School is organizing Parent Teacher Conversations between now and the end of the school year. These conversations will allow each parent to have a face-to-face interaction with the Homerooms Teachers, as well as the French Mother Tongue Teachers who teach literacy and mathematics in French. And, at the end of this term, on June 12th, 2nd Semester Report Cards adapted to the current situation will also be available for download by families.

Typically, a Junior School report card offers a narrative reflection on your child’s demonstrated use of the IB Approaches to Learning (ATLs). Given the complex interrelationship during distance learning between students, families, and teachers, these approaches to learning have become a shared endeavor more than ever before as everyone adapts to the new context. For this reason, UNIS Junior School homeroom and language teachers will engage with families in conversation to discuss and honor the observations from both sides of the family/school partnership in regards to the student’s evolving ATLs. 

PARENT TEACHER CONVERSATION: DETAILS

PARENT TEACHER CONVERSATION: GOALS

PARENT TEACHER CONVERSATION: NOTE FOR J4 PARENTS - STUDENTS ARE ASKED TO JOIN THE CONVERSATION

As we are seeing our J4 students leaving for Middle School, the J4 Parent Teacher Conversations will also include our J4 students. 

2nd SEMESTER REPORT CARDS:

The June 2020 UNIS Junior School report card reflects the opportunities for assessment during this term, which included our first exploration of distance learning. The report does not assign achievement levels in deference to the variability of students’ access to instruction, materials and appropriate supports, and the impact of this variability on student performance. For the core areas of math, reading, writing, and languages, you’ll find a brief course description followed by bulleted statements that capture your child’s performance across the term as evidenced by their live and asynchronous participation in coursework. These reflect the strengths your child has demonstrated this term, as well as the areas that would benefit from more attention in the future. For the specialist subjects of science, music and theater, art, and physical education, you’ll find the course description that gives the context for your child’s learning in these areas this term. 

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.

Chineo (J3CM) having an awesome time with Nayesha, TH student, during our Wellness Wednesday.

IMPORTANT DATES

EVENTS THIS WEEK

UPCOMING EVENTS

Oliver in J1Payne looked his very best during his Virtual Author Reading!

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: JS PARENT Q&A - THURSDAY, MAY 28 AT 7:15pm

On Thursday, May 28, 2020 at 7:15PM, you are invited to join us for a Junior School Webinar Q&A, an opportunity to receive parent feedback regarding the Distance Learning program and to have your questions answered by the Junior School team.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: SPECIAL WEBINAR - ROBERT JENKINS OF UNICEF - WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3 AT 1:00

Please join the J3/J4 UNIS PeaceKeepers for a discussion with Robert Jenkins, Chief, Education and Associate Director, Programme Division of UNICEF on Wednesday, June 3rd from 1:00pm

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: TH GRADUATING CELEBRATION - FRIDAY, MAY 29

So that the whole UNIS community can join together in celebration, live JS classes will be suspended at 12:00 noon on Friday, May 29.

 Our community is invited to support our graduating TH students for their end of year celebration. 

 The Senior Committee has put together a Celebration of the Class of 2020. We are delighted to confirm that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has kindly agreed to deliver a live address to the graduates during that event, which will be followed by a Q&A with Mr Guterres hosted by a panel of senior students.

Please find below the timeline of the event on May 29:

Connecting links will be provided as we get closer to the event and will be accessible on the studnts' schedu

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: NO WELLNESS WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIES - MAY 27

This coming Wednesday, May 27, no Wellness Wednesday activities will be offered.  Instead, Wednesday will run as a normal Tuesday of distance learning instruction. Students' schedules have been updated accordingly.

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 (REMINDER): SURVEY

INFORMATION: JS LIBRARY: ADDITIONAL RESOURCE

The Junior School Library has acquired an additional digital resource to support our students’ reading and learning.  Capstone Interactive Library features over 5,000 unlimited user ebook titles, supported by recorded audio.  Students may search by subject, level, and genre among other filters.  The direct link may be found on the Junior School Library Home Page under READ AND LISTEN ONLINE.

INFORMATION: SAVE THE DATES: UPCOMING MASTER CLASSES

On Wednesday, June 3 at 6 p.m, we invite you to listen to Ms. Prem Premsrirut who will share her knowledge of COVID-19. A scientist, President and CEO of Mirimus Inc., Ms. Premsrirut has been working on the second line of the COVID 19 response designing protocols to test and validate new diagnostics. Details will follow in a future email.

And, on Tuesday, June 9 at 5:30 p.m., award winning photographer Peter Turnley will offer a Master Class titled “Visual Diaries of the Lifetime of a Documentary Photographer.” Mr. Turnley is renowned for his photographs of the realities of the human condition. He has worked in over 90 countries and has witnessed most major stories of international geopolitical and historic significance during the last forty years. Mr. Turnley has both American and French nationality.

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

TH STUDENTS SHARING THEIR EXPERIENCES WITH JS STUDENTS DURING WELLNESS WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIES

Many thanks to our TH students, JS faculty, and the coordination of Zac Baha, Burcu Polatbura and Dr. Lidana Jalilvand, for the Wellness Wednesday activities for our JS students. It’s a fun and engaging time for everyone involved.

1. Allison and Nathan (T3) Let's Draw

Here is our brief reflection about how our "Let's Draw!" classes went: 

2. Akari and Natalie: (T1)  Arts and Crafts Class

Although we only had one face-to-face session with the JS students, we had an amazing time and hope that we provided some fun craft ideas. We enjoyed helping out in Ms. Mattson's classes as well, and we were delighted to see the motivation and enthusiasm coming from the students! Those who would like to see our first video session can access it here! Thank you to everyone who organized the Wednesday Wellness sessions - it was a wonderful idea, and we hope that we can interact more with JS students in the future!

3. Aurica (T1): How to Form an Argument

The online Wellness program went really well for me. My class was called "How to Form an Argument", and it was just a low-stakes class where students could learn the basics of arguing properly, and when to argue. Though only 3-5 joined, it was still a fun class and I believe that they all learned something. They all participated well, and I believe the mini debates at the end of each class were a huge success where I could see the students used what they learned to form proper arguments and rebuttals. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot and was glad to have this opportunity! 

4. Sarah (T2) Painting Class

My name is Sarah and I'm a T2 student who hosted a class for the JS called Painting. It was really a space for students to make art any way they liked and to express themselves even outside of painting. Even though my class was small, all the students were so excited to draw or color at home. At first they were shy, but as I started asking them questions about their favorite books, movies, and places to visit, we all had a lively conversation while creating at the same time. Throughout the class the students would show their art to each other and discuss their favorite materials. It felt like a much needed break from the daily routine, and listening to all the kids stories and interests, as well as letting them have a space to do so, was really fulfilling. Overall, all the students were amazing and I would definitely do this again. 

5. Sofia  (T2) : Scratch Jr (coding) lessons (hosted by 3 students listed below)

I greatly enjoyed my time teaching Junior School students during the Scratch (coding) workshop every Wednesday! It is incredibly inspiring to see the perseverance and talent that they have, and I look forward to seeing what they create with Scratch in the future! 

 and Madeleine (T3)

Although the Scratch Jr classes had a couple Zoom difficulties, I think the kids had a great time learning how to code or expanding their experience with coding! I genuinely had so much fun seeing the creativity and intelligence flowing from the kids when designing their own code:)

and Zeran (T2)

The students were really bright, and were fun to work with! Some students who already knew about Scratch beforehand even showed us their previous works, and they were really amazing!

6. Khadija Taheraly (T2) Arts and Crafts

I had a great experience helping these Junior school kids be creative and use their imagination to make origami paper dresses and it was great to see them have some fun in these difficult times. 

7. Bridget Quinn (T4)

My class was called Singing with Bridget. I feel, overall, that this was a successful class. I had 2 students named Pranay and Brooklyn return for the second session, showing that they enjoyed the first session. They also were thoughtful enough to bring some of their friends and classmates to the second session, and these students, named Jack, Bernard and Nao, seemed to enjoy the class as well. I appreciated getting a chance to share my love of music and theater with this younger group of students.

ENGLISH FOR KIDS CLUB - PINOCCHIO

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 this week is the well-known book Pinocchio by Johanna Spyri. This children's book brings the story of an old wood-carver Geppetto who decides to make a wonderful puppet which can dance and turn somersaults, but by chance he chooses an unusual piece of wood, and the finished puppet can talk and misbehave like the liveliest child... The book fits the age range of 6-9, and has a Lexile level of 840L. Hope you enjoy this! 

 Dave Sun T3

 BIT OF NEWS: JA SPRING SING ON TUESDAY, JUNE 2 AT 1:00 

You are invited to our JA Spring Sing 2020  Tuesday, June 2nd at 1:00 (10-15 minutes) Live in your home!

 BIT OF NEWS: UNIS ALUM NEWS


Alumnus Aaron Mindel, '95, EMT here in NYC (who will be interviewed by UNISverse in a special covid-19 edition) will appear in a documentary on NBC for Memorial Day at 7pm called Side By Side 20: A Celebration of Service - typically its a concert Northwell Health puts on at Radio City Music Hall to honor veteran employees but this year they made it a TV special due to COVID19 and included EMS and other frontline employees. 

A television special to honor the healthcare and military heroes who are serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in to WNBC/Ch. 4 on Monday, May 25, at 7pm ET.

Here is a project from Holly Jenvey, '18, a budding journalist at DePaul University, who interviewed UNIS for her piece entitled A peek of how NYC is dealing with online learning and college decision making

 REMINDER: 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

REMINDER: BEFORE YOUR MORNING MEETING STARTS EACH DAY!

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