Newsletter #11

Dear parents,

In December 2017 and December 2018, I quoted Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and philosopher whose contribution to the research in Mathematics and Epistemology is outstanding. He wrote in 1656 in The Provincial Letter, Letter XVI : “The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter." It has been in the past one of my favorite quotes to find a way to justify that the Weekly Newsletter would be... short. Which is the case for this Newsletter following a very short week.

As we are heading to the end of the Thanksgiving Break, we are inviting you to join us this week for two special webinars:

• On Wednesday, December 2, we will hold the JS Parent Coffee from 7:30pm to 8:30pm. We will review our Distance Learning schedules & routines and share our perspective on our Math & ELA curriculum with the support of the Curriculum Department who will join us for this occasion.

• On Thursday, December 3, the PA is inviting you to join their Webinar at 7:00pm.

We would also like to remind everyone about the UNIS Protocol regarding Covid-19 as we are returning from a break:

Any student, faculty or staff with any of the following symptoms must remain home:

• fever above 100F

• cough

• congestion/runny nose

• chills, headache

• muscle pain

• sore throat

• loss of taste or smell

• digestive problems (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)

• shortness of breath

• fatigue

For more information about our protocols, please click here. Thanks for making sure to monitor any symptoms listed above and to keep your child home if you are identifying any of them.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

• Wednesday, December 2 - JS Parent Coffee (Webinar) 7:30pm   JS Parent Coffee Dec 2 (Topic: Distance Learning schedules & routines / Math & ELA curriculum)

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

Ending December 4 - Stomping Ground 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 / No Students on Campus

• REMINDER: AVOIDING LATE ARRIVAL & EARLY PICK UP

• REMINDER: PHOTOS FOR REMOTE LEARNERS & RETAKES

• REMINDERS: HEALTH AND SAFETY

• REMINDERS: REMOTE LEARNERS

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

• REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

Choose Remote Learning on Days with Appointments and Travel

We ask that you support us by having your JS child learn remotely on the days that they have appointments outside of school, or need to leave early for travel. Parents and caregivers are not permitted inside the gate and so late arrivals and early dismissals pull school personnel from their work in order to escort your child. 

Please just enter "Remote Learning as an Exception" in SDM to alert your teacher that your child will connect remotely instead of joining in person on days when you have other plans during school hours. Thank you!

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.