Newsletter #09
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16 IS A YELLOW DAY FOR OUR J2, J3 AND J4
Dear parents,
November 1985. Mimizan. A small town near the Atlantic Ocean. Maitre Cali, my fifth grade teacher, is seated at his desk facing 25 students, his eyes scrutinizing his surroundings like a hawk the moment before diving at his prey. Suddenly his eyes freeze. He is looking at me:
"Pascal au tableau"
I stand and walk to the front of the room. It's time to recite the poem of the week: "To Paint a Bird's Portrait" by Jacques Prévert. With sweaty hands, tight throat, I step forward. Poetry, I know it by heart. Standing in front of this audience with whom I share my recitations hardly scares me! But Maître Cali is certainly a teacher with very high and specific expectations about how this needs to be done.
With the slightest squint I consider the Platini's Paninin picture that he promised to the student who does not fail, and it's exactly the one I need to finish my album. I need to be ... Perfect!
Maître Cali invites me to begin and I comply without hesitation. Without emotion, with a tone and rhythm that probably put half the class to sleep, I am congratulated by my teacher for not missing any words. I walk back to my desk with my new Paninin image to stick in my album. Maître Cali stood and asked the class to draw an image illustrating our understanding of the poem. He is expecting to see everyone draw a bird in a cage.
And everybody did.
12 years later, I decided to go back to some of the poems I learned as a child. And I came across what was probably Jacques Prévert's most read poem in the elementary schools of France.
And I read it, one, two, three times. Livid, I suddenly understood that Maitre Cali may never have understood Jacques Prévert's intention. Too attached to the flat significance of each word, he did not allow me to dive into what I thought about it. Now at 22 years old, I saw the true meaning of Jacques Prévert's poetry: this poem is about love! It is not about a painter and a bird, it is simply about love. For this poet, love is not about taking the freedom of the one you love, but instead allowing him/her to fly away, hoping that he/she will stay by his/her own will, free to go but happy to stay. I also quickly understood that this was my own very personal interpretation at a time in my life when I was challenging the significance of love. But, who knows, maybe it was what Jacques Prévert intended me to capture. Maître Cali had failed me when he did not allow me to create my own understanding.
I was troubled, upset that my teacher had not encouraged me to THINK about what could be the meaning of the poem he was asking me to READ.
"Le temps de lire, comme le temps d'aimer, dilate le temps de vivre." - Daniel Pennac
"The time to read, like the time to love, expands the time to live."
23 years later I am now walking the hallways of the United Nations International School as a Principal. I stop at Olivia Decicco's door. I watch her, preparing for parent teacher conferences.
Like all of our teachers, Ms. Decicco is not going to tell you how accomplished your child is because they were able to memorize and recite a poem. She is not going to tell you that she is pleased that your child sees the world as she sees it. She is not going to tell you that the bird in the cage is just a bird in the cage and nothing more. She is going to celebrate your child's taking the RISK to THINK and to create his/her own understanding of the bird, of the world, and she will share how impressed she is to find as many interpretations of the poem as she has students in her classroom.
Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal
Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal
See all the Junior School Photos 2020-21
IMPORTANT DATES
THIS WEEK
November 16 - November 20 - City Harvest Food & Toiletries Collections
Tuesday, November 17 - Class Parent Meeting (Webinar) 12:00 - 12:45
Stomping Ground photos are available for purchase Click here or see details in this newsletter
THE HYBRID CALENDAR
See the hybrid calendar for the full year here
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday, November 25 - Friday, November 27 - School Closed – Thanksgiving Break
November 23 - December 4 - Remote & Make Up Photos (coordinated by families directly with Stomping Ground click here or see details in this newsletter)
Monday, December 21 to Friday, January 1 – Winter Break
Monday, January 4 – Classes Resume
Monday, January 4 - Friday, January 8 - Remote Learning Only
IN THIS NEWSLETTER
A QUICK SUMMARY
In this Newsletter you will find important information regarding the health screening app.
The EIB students (Equity & Inclusion Board) share the goals for their project with our Junior School Students, and we can't wait to welcome them !
You are also to complete a survey about our next parent coffees. We want to know the best time for your family to held these webinars.
Have a wonderful week!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TO DO: DAILY HEALTH SCREENING APP / RUVNA
If you accidentally indicate that your child has symptoms of COVID-19 when you fill out the morning RUVNA screening, please send a quick email to elentini@unis.org, schoolnurse@unis.org and jsattendance@unis.org to let the school know that your child is in fact well and will be attending school that day.
Family responses to the health screening are reviewed each morning and your email alerting the school to the error will avoid having staff following up with teachers and families when they find that an apparently symptomatic student is in attendance. Thank you for your support.
INFORMATION: EQUITY & INCLUSION BOARD PROGRAM IN JS
Tut House students from the UNIS EIB share their plans for a mentoring program for JS students:
The Equity and Inclusion Board, a Tut House student-led organization, will be running a JS mentorship program consisting of Tut House students and JS faculty mentoring JS students on topics of social justice, activism, and advocacy. We aim for these sessions to take place monthly in homerooms JA-J4 in order to simplify complex topics and begin conversations at an early stage. Some concepts we plan to introduce include: the Golden Rule, also known as “Do unto others as you would have them unto you”; consent and its application and importance in everyday life; cultural appreciation as opposed to appropriation; and more.
With the mentorship program, we hope to share knowledge and perspectives that we wish we had received at a younger age and help foster a diverse and inclusive community beginning in the Junior School.
More information on the EIB can be found at unis.org/eib or our Instagram, @eib_unis. The EIB can also be contacted through eib@unis.org or 23atomita@unis.org (EIB JS Liaison).
PARENT ASSOCIATION CORNER: JS PARENT COFFEE SURVEY
BIT OF NEWS: NO CHANGE IN DISMISSAL TIME
We communicated two weeks ago the possibility for dismissal times to change. However, after reviewing our options, we are not yet ready to update those times as this could impact instructional time in some grades. We are continuing the review of scheduling possibilities and will let parents know.
REMINDER: CITY HARVEST FOOD AND TOILETRIES DRIVE - NOVEMBER 16-20
What: Physical Food & Toiletry Drive at UNIS
When: November 16-20, 2020
What to donate for Physical Food Drive: Canned veggies and fruit, canned meat, fish & beans, boxed pasta items, hot and cold cereal, rice, grains, pasta sauce, and peanut butter in plastic jars (no expired food or glass jars)
What to donate for the Toiletries Collection for a Homeless Outreach program in NYC: Shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Small sizes from your last hotel stay are perfect.
How many: Between 10-15 food items per student
Where: Please drop them in the donation bins, which will be located right outside the UNIS Manhattan Campus' main gate beginning Monday, November 16
For other ways to help New Yorkers, click below.
REMINDER: STOMPING GROUND SCHOOL PHOTOS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE / REMOTE LEARNER & RETAKE PHOTOS
Order by 30 November 2020
TO ORDER
VISIT
ENTER ONLINE CODE
Look for an email with your random password from Stomping Ground Photo
NEED HELP?
Visit Your Picture Day Page
https://iloveschoolpictures.com/UNIS
If you have not received a confirmation email from Stomping Ground,
please reach out to help@stompinggroundphoto.com with the name of your student/s for direct assistance.
PHOTOS FOR REMOTE LEARNERS & MAKEUPS/RETAKES
The Remote Photo Makeup/Retake time frame has been extended and is now from November 23 - December 4, 2020.
Makeup/Retake school pictures will be taken over remote technology this year. The remote sessions are 5 minutes and $5 to reserve. UNIS has distributed a coupon code to distanced-learners or those who were absent on picture day to cover the $5 fee. To learn more about how remote pictures will take place, please refer to the Stomping Ground website.
To book a remote session please refer to the announcement email you received from Stomping Ground. Check your inbox for an email from no-reply@imagequix.com with subject line Announce: {{ firstname }}'s {{ UNIS }} pictures are here! Scroll to the section "Missed Picture Day?" to view your booking details.
If you have any questions or need direction, kindly reach out to help@stompinggroundphoto.com.
REMINDER: MY CHILD IS IN THE WAITING ROOM WHEN LEARNING FROM HOME!
If your child is in the waiting room for an extended period when trying to connect with their class from home:
Call the Junior School Office 212-584-3113
Provide your child's full name, homeroom and the current class he/she is trying to attend
The Junior School Office can remotely access the Zoom meeting to admit the student in his/her class.
Avoid sending emails to the teacher or the Academic Technology Coordinator as we cannot guarantee that your email will be seen in time.
REMINDERS: HEALTH AND SAFETY
1. Arrival: To speed arrival for everyone, please have your child take possession of their backpack and lunch before they approach the entry gate in the morning and check to see that their mask is on, fits well, and is covering their nose.
2. Late Arrival: The late arrival of students in the morning delay our faculty and staff moving back to their positions. The JS gates should be closing no later than 8:40. Please ensure that you arrive at the time assigned for your child's grade.
3. Masks: Be sure you have packed spare masks in a clean bag in your child's backpack, as well as an extra bag to hold used ones. For the safety and peace of mind of all, do not send your child to school in a vented mask. We understand that many of you do use vented masks with filters inserted. But our teachers cannot be certain that every vented mask has the filter necessary to keep them safe. Please respect our community and do not send your child to school in a vented mask.
4. Remote Learning on Days with Appointments: We ask that you opt to have your child learn remotely on the days that they have appointments outside of school. Parents and caregivers will not be permitted inside the gate and late arrivals and early dismissals pull vital personnel from their assigned posts in order to escort your child. Just enter Remote Learning as an Exception in SDM to alert your teacher that your child will connect remotely instead of joining in person.
5. Switching from Remote to Hybrid: When requesting a switch from full time Remote Learning to Hybrid attending in-person classes, at least 48 hours (2 full school days) in advance, please email:
your homeroom teacher
schoolnurse@unis.org (to request health clearance to attend in person if your child has not been on campus yet)
The last step is to update SDM with your dismissal plans for each day your child is on campus.
6. Returning to Campus After Illness: Based on CDC guidance, students who are sent home or become ill may not return to UNIS until the following:
WITH A COVID TEST: A negative COVID test and clearance note from MD. Must explicitly state that the student is cleared to return to school.
WITHOUT COVID TEST: Must be fever free (less than 100F) for 3 days with no fever reducing medications and improvement of symptoms
AND must be 10 days post-symptom (No symptoms in last 10 days)
AND report general feelings of wellness.
All students who are returning to campus after an illness, MUST FIRST SEE THE NURSE WHEN COMING BACK ON CAMPUS BEFORE STARTING CLASSES.
If your child is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID please have them tested so we can alert potential contacts within UNIS. This helps us keep everyone safe. If you feel these symptoms are due to a cause other than COVID, please have your physician clearly document this in your return to school clearance letter. For health related questions please email: schoolnurse@unis.org and mrivera@unis.org
7. Social Distancing Outside of UNIS: Exercise caution and, whenever possible, to stay clear of gatherings where social distancing or face masks might not be the norm. We advise students and families to be particularly vigilant on playgrounds and during play dates, keeping in mind the impact they may have on the safety of everyone in our community.
8. COVID Testing: We recommend that students be tested at least ONCE a month, preferably every two weeks. All UNIS Faculty and Staff will be pool-tested every other week on campus.
REMINDERS: REMOTE LEARNERS
Instruction begins at 8:40 each morning. Remote learners are expected to connect with their homeroom no later than 8:40 to participate in Morning Meeting. Students who try to connect after that time disrupt the class and pull the teacher away from the rest who are already engaged in person or remotely. It is tremendously important that students are ready to join at 8:40. Meanwhile, we recognize that due to technical glitches or late arrivals, not all teachers will always be able to start at 8:40. We thank you for your patience. But, once the class begins, students who join between 8:40 and 9:00 are missing important direction and are inevitably disrupting the class. Let's try our best together!
Question related to technology should be addressed by email to tech.support@unis.org only. Tech Support will need your child's full name, teacher name and grade in order to assist you quickly. Please do not disrupt your teacher's instruction time to address tech support issues for your family. We understand it can be frustrating sometimes; we recognize it and are working hard to address the glitches we are facing. But we have noticed teachers trying to troubleshoot a system while teaching, a system that really requires technician intervention. They do it out of caring and concern about their students not being able to connect. Please help them by reaching out to our Tech Department for support instead.
All families should check their internet connection. The audio when your child connects from home should never be distorted - it is disruptive to the class when that happens and is likely the result from a poor connection at home. You should have at least 3mbps up and download. A 5mbps up and download will ensure optimal quality. You can check your bandwidth here: fast.com
If you have technology issues, please send an email to tech.support@unis.org
If you have academic tech questions, please contact Ms. Zammarano at fzammarano@unis.org
All other times: If you are having trouble logging in at any other time, please call 212-584-3100 for technology support.
REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR CHILD’S DISMISSAL PLANS in SDM
Our homeroom teachers follow the instructions entered by parents in School Dismissal Manager (SDM) each day. Please update your SDM account to regularly indicate what the plans are for your child each day of the week. SDM is always mandatory for Dismissal but can easily be used for Attendance as well. If your child will be learning remotely on a day that he/she is normally scheduled to be on campus, please use SDM and select "Remote Learning as an Exception". On days when your child will not engage in classes either remotely or in person, please use SDM to mark your child "Absent".
SDM is the only way of letting the dismissing teacher know where your child should go at dismissal. In addition to indicating that there is an 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.
No student will be placed on a bus at dismissal if their SDM account does not authorize their ridership on that date. They will be placed in the Care Program instead.
School Dismissal Manager (SDM) is the sole method of communicating dismissal plans to UNIS JS
Parents are asked to use School Dismissal Manager (SDM) to keep the dismissal process safe and orderly for all of our JS students. Emails, notes or verbal instructions to inform the homeroom teacher and the JS Office (except after 1 pm, see below) of dismissal plans are not accepted.
Parents have been issued a username and temporary password by email. Please use these to log in to SDM at www.schooldismissalmanager.com from a desktop or laptop for the initial set up. You cannot use a phone to set up your account.
The Parent Login area is found at the top right of the SDM homepage.
Parents are first required to set their “Default Dismissal” for the remainder of the school year. Note that the default dismissal option is only available on a smartphone if you are using the app.
Parents can set “Recurring Exceptions” if needed.
Parents can set any “Exception” to the default dismissal if needed.
Parents are required to check every week to confirm that the information provided on SDM is accurate for the week ahead.
The cut-off to add a one-time “Exception” to any day’s dismissal is 1:00 pm. If a change in your plans occurs after 1:00 pm on any day, you may phone the JS Office up until 2:30 pm. But the expectation is that all changes will be made by parents directly in SDM before 1:00 pm.
After 2:30 pm the School cannot guarantee that dismissal changes will be relayed to all relevant departments in time for dismissal.
Parents are encouraged to download the SDM Apps for Apple and Android and update their child's dismissal instructions with a click or two from their phone.
REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION
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