Newsletter #10

Okrilenіsty, freedom hope  by Oleg ­­Shuplyak

Dear JS parents, faculty and staff,

It was in grade 9 that I understood and embraced the concept of freedom. What fascinated me at that age was not how limitless freedom could and should be for me personally (as a teenager already dreaming about flying independently with my own wings) but more that freedom can only exist based on the limits that define it. The idea that resistance and obedience were the two virtues to demonstrate in order to become an adult was fascinating: with obedience we ensure the societal order necessary to be accountable to one another; through resistance, we ensure that freedom will not be taken from us. Freedom cannot be without limits. 

The question of "freedom" seems to be central today as we face the pandemic and the restrictions on some of our liberties.

Recently, the school superintendent in my small town near the Jersey Shore used Twitter to ask parents in our community to be "responsible and to not host students parties" in their home.

This simple tweet from a desperate superintendent trying to keep his schools open in order to guarantee as much normalcy as possible in the education of the students in his district was greeted with emotion, anger and stupefaction by a horde of parents concerned about the loss of their freedom. They feel that only they should be able to decide what is best for their families, regardless of the fact that most were agreeing that hosting students' parties indoor or outdoors is not a great idea. Their anger stemmed from the idea that the superintendent, by asking "obedience" from parents to abide by basic safety rules, was challenging their concept of freedom. 

I watched this sudden manifestation of strong emotions online without taking part of it, as much as possible remaining an anonymous French citizen living on the Jersey Shore. Witnessing the illusion that freedom is unlimited, and cannot be defined by its limits, brought me back to 9th grade. My view remains that, as soon as one forms a society with others, the rights of each individual form a balanced system. In my view, we should all have the same rights, but everyone cannot use all possible rights. And it is this equality of rights that undoubtedly defines justice.

So while I am heading back for a short school week, and a week of celebration, a week of friendship and family as its cornerstone, I will be mindful that the freedom of my students, my teachers, my colleagues, is limited by the false idea that I am free to make any choice I want regardless of others. I will obey the holiday and small gathering guidelines from the CDC. And if we all do, we may be able to continue to be together. The weeks ahead are going to be challenging. We all know that. We can succeed together, and only together.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

• Wednesday, November 25 - Friday, November 27 - School Closed – Thanksgiving Break 

• Stomping Ground photos are available for purchase Click here or see details in this newsletter

• November 23 - December 4 - Remote & Make Up Photos (coordinated by families directly with Stomping Ground click here or see details in this newsletter)

• Wednesday, December 2 - JS Parent Coffee (Webinar) 7:00pm 

• Thursday, December 3 -  PA Meeting  (Webinar) 7:00pm 

• Monday, December 21 to Friday, January 1 – Winter Break

• Monday, January 4 – Classes Resume 

• Monday, January 4 - Friday, January 8 - Remote Learning Only

• INFORMATION: UNIS COMMUNICATION WITH FAMILIES

• PARENT ASSOCIATION CORNER: UPCOMING MEETINGS

•  BIT OF NEWS: LANDS' END PROMOTION - PE UNIFORMS

• REMINDER: STOMPING GROUND SCHOOL PHOTOS AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE / REMOTE LEARNER & RETAKE PHOTOS

• REMINDERS: HEALTH AND SAFETY

• REMINDERS: REMOTE LEARNERS

• REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR CHILD’S DISMISSAL PLANS in SDM

• REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

It's come to our attention that families using Apple email addresses (@icloud.com, @me.com, @mac.com) may not be receiving all emails from UNIS. Our IT team is working on rectifying this, but we want to bring this to your attention.

If you use an Apple email, to ensure that you receive all communications from the school you may want to create a @gmail.com account for school-related messages and enter that email address in your child's contact information in the UNIS Parent 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 have any concerns about missed information, our JS Newsletters are published every Sunday and are archived here JS Newsletter Archive

Important information about our Distance Learning Program, and student schedules, can be found here JS Distance Learning

Save the dates:

• Wednesday, December 2 - JS Parent Coffee (Webinar) 7:00pm 

• Thursday, December 3 -  PA Meeting  (Webinar) 7:00pm 

Reminder:

• Last Call: Take this quick survey today to let us know your preferred start time for our Parent Coffee webinars.

JS Parent Coffees - Preferred Meeting Time

 November 20 - December 4

40% Off Lands' End School Uniforms 

School Number: 900077660 

Code: SMART

PIN:  1126

landsend.com/myschool         1-800-469-2222

Order by 30 November 2020 

TO ORDER

VISIT

shop.stompinggroundphoto.com

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.

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

• jsoffice@unis.org

• 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.

• • 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 

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.