Newsletter #34

Dear parents,

For today's Newsletter I step back with humility to offer this space to Adam Jaouad, J4 teacher and coordinator of our Mural Project, and Anne Francey, Artist, who guided us through the entire process. The Mural Project seals a unique, challenging, exciting and sometimes overwhelming school year that required all of us, students, teachers, staff, parents to demonstrate the characteristics at the root of our UNIS curriculum: Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Communicators, Principled, Open-minded, Caring, Risk Takers, Balanced and Reflective. 

We will connect with you one last time, this coming Friday, June 18, for our final Newsletter of the 2020-2021 school year. 

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

This year has showcased how resilient, independent and adaptable our UNIS students can be. Through no fault of their own they have had to sacrifice normalcy and many of the things that make UNIS and the school year special. Memorable moments like: field trips, playing, adventure day, graduation, sports day and simply being all together has changed and had to be replaced by activities that can be done in a pandemic. They adapted magnificently and we are proud. This mural project doesn’t replace these lost moments and memories, but rather acts as a monument to their resilience and to the strength they have demonstrated again and again throughout the year. Through art, the creation of this mural has done something that has been impossible all year: bring us together in one space. Our exploration of what we look like on zoom through self portraiture and a brief statement on a certain topic that has contextualized our lives for the past year transcends each individual tile and represents themes the entire Junior School and UNIS can relate to and appreciate. This unique project creates a visually striking testimonial of the unique year that we have all endured.   

Adam Jaouad

“The Year That Zoomed By” commemorates a special school year spent in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. This community mural was created in the Spring of 2021 by five J4 classes and over 75 members of the faculty and staff at UNIS. 

The 8 ½ ft x 8 ½ ft  mural, installed on the wall of the landing in the stairwell across from the Junior School library, is made of 256 unique ceramic tiles.  Under the artistic direction of Anne Francey, students and their teachers created a painted portrait of themselves on zoom, some appearing to be holding hands from one tile to the other, while staff and faculty wrote hashtags expressing the resilience, memories and hardships of a memorable year. The tiles were created within a short three day span, relying on careful planning and truly inspired community effort.

The final design of the mural evokes a close-up view of a QR code, alluding to the virtual communication mode that defined much of the school year, when teaching and learning were taking place remotely through a computer screen. The color glow of the painted tiles sections, contrasted with the written tiles whose white lettering on a dark background alludes to the traditional blackboard, imbues the mural with a soft light.

With a shift in scale and creating a strong visual rhythm throughout the mural, the ten IB learner profile values are inserted in the design. “Open-minded”, “risk-takers”, “communicators”, ”caring”  are just a few of these attributes that were displayed time and time again by UNIS in its efforts to focus on community and quality education during the 2020-2021 school year.  

 The QR code embedded in the mural is active and linked to a UNIS website page. It  chronicles the actual making of the Mural through photos, videos and spoken comments from the participants. This unusual year is now commemorated in three different modes: visual and written expressions on the ceramic tiles, as well as documentation of the way collaborative art-making can inspire a community to rally around a shared common goal. 

Anne Francey

• • June 17 and June 18 - Return Your Child's School-Issued iPads and Chromebooks to Campus (details in this newsletter)

  • Friday, June 18 - JS Last of Classes (Full Day)

  • Friday, June 18 - Semester 2 Report Cards Available to Families 5:00pm (details in this newsletter)

  • Tuesday, June 22 - Deadline to request Report Card corrections (details in this newsletter)

• • Wednesday, September 8 - 1st Day of Classes for 2021-22

• TO DO: RETURN CHROMEBOOK & iPAD TO TEACHER

• TO DO: SEMESTER 2 REPORT CARDS - JUNE 18

• IMPORTANT INFORMATION: GRADEWIDE PLAY FOR JS STUDENTS / PLAYGROUND SPRINKLER

• INFORMATION: J4 GRADUATION

• INFORMATION: THANK YOU PARENTS!

• INFORMATION: GETTING READY

• INFORMATION: READING LIST

• INFORMATION: STEAM CHALLENGES

•  BIT OF NEWS: J4OD PEACEFUL PROTEST

•  BIT OF NEWS: WHY I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION BOARD BY ZUELA J3CM

• REMINDERS: WHEN YOUR CHILD IS SICK / LEARNING MODEL CONSISTENCY

• REMINDER: TRANSITIONING BETWEEN MODELS OF LEARNING

• REMINDERS: HEALTH AND SAFETY

• REMINDERS: REMOTE LEARNERS

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

• REMINDER: UPDATE YOUR PARENT CONTACT INFORMATION

Student Chromebooks & iPads Must be Returned no Later than June 18

All iPads and Chromebooks assigned to students by the school will be collected at the end of this week on Thursday and Friday, June 17 and June 18.

If your child is learning remotely, or your family is leaving New York and your child will not be attending school in person on June 17 or June 18, please contact your homeroom teacher, with a copy to fzammarano@unis.org, to coordinate the return of your child's school issued device to the campus on a date no later than this Friday, June 18.

Semester 2 Report Cards for Junior School students will be published at 5:00pm on Friday, June 18 on the Veracross Parent Portal. 

We encourage you to save and review this report card with your child over the weekend to celebrate his/her achievements during this past semester, and engage in conversation about their growth.

The deadline for requesting a correction for a typographical error will be Tuesday, June 22. Please contact jsoffice@unis.org by email no later than June 22 to request a correction.

If you do not have access to the Veracross portal and need instructions on how to do so, please contact veracross@unis.org to get information.

Your child’s academic achievement for each individual subject is reported separately from his/her learning skills. The descriptors for academic achievement levels have been reviewed starting last year to ensure a greater JA-T4 alignment and to provide clarity in the transition between the word-based scale used in JA to M2 and the numeric scale used from M3 to T4. The previous Learning to Learn Skills have been replaced by the IB Approaches to Learning Skills. The skills selected for a K-12 progression (Social Skills, Communication Skills, Self-Management Skills, Thinking Skills) are developmentally defined and will be assessed from a frequency of observable behavior.

What is the purpose of the report cards?

The purpose of the report card is to communicate your student’s achievement and learning goals. It is designed to provide you with clear and specific information about your child’s academic progress and the development of behaviors that support lifelong learning. This information includes identifying your child’s level of progress; areas of strength; areas needing additional time, effort, and/or support; and opportunities for growth, based on assessments that demonstrate evidence of learning and teachers’ evaluation.

What grade descriptors are used (JA-M2 Descriptors)

• MASTERING: The student is mastering the required grade level concepts, knowledge and skills by applying and extending these in a wide range of complex situations independently.

• PROFICIENT: The student is proficient in demonstrating understanding of the required grade level concepts, knowledge and skills with minimal or no teacher support needed to transfer learning to new situations.

• PROGRESSING: The student is progressing in demonstrating, with some gaps, understanding of the required grade level concepts, knowledge and skills by applying them in familiar situations with occasional teacher support.

• EMERGING: The student demonstrates emerging understanding of the required grade level concepts. The student is beginning to apply related knowledge and skills but needs a high level of teacher support.

How do I access my child’s report cards?

The Report Cards are published on the Parent Portal of Veracross. To view them, access the Parent Portal of Veracross (link found on the Parent Portal from the UNIS Website). After logging in to Veracross, simply click on "Classes & Reports", and then on "Report Card" (see screenshot). 

If you do not yet have access to the Veracross portal and need instructions on how to do so, please contact veracross@unis.org to get information. 

1. From UNIS website, select “Parent Portal”

2. Click on "Veracross Parent Portal"

We are pleased to let you know that, after consulting with our Student Safety Team, Junior School play will be reconfigured so that beginning on Monday, June 14 full grades will once again play together outside, as opposed to being separated into homeroom groups as they have been this past year.

This is in response to student advocacy for the change, and because we believe this is an opportunity to encourage new connections between students as they move to their new homerooms in September and the anticipated grade wide mingling of students again in the fall.

To keep JS students cool on the playground on very hot days during the last week of school, we have installed devices to create a fine spray of water. Although we don't expect that students will get too wet, if you think your child will be especially drawn to playing in the mist, please pack an extra t-shirt and a small towel just in case. Again, this will only be set up on very hot days.

While we were hopeful and firmly motivated to make this year a success, it was hard to imagine we could accomplish so much under all the constraints we faced this school year. Thanks to the students' resilience, and the fierce dedication of our teachers, not only were we able to learn and teach, but we were able to share emotions and experiences, and we have grown as a community, together.

The J4 graduation is a wonderful illustration of how, by being creative problem solvers, we found ourselves to be better and stronger, when it could have easily been the opposite.

The graduation was in our eyes, and we hope in yours, OUTSTANDING. What an accomplishment for our students and teachers. Bravo to our class of 2029!

Thank you to all of the parents who supported us throughout this extraordinary school year! We want to especially acknowledge the dedication of the Class Parents who connected with the Principals regularly to share parent feedback and offer their support. 

And, the extraordinary dedication, collaboration and strong leadership of our JS PA Reps, Jen Fiorese, Melissa Hernandez and Erin Russell should be celebrated by all! They have worked tirelessly this year for the good of everyone in Junior School. 

Please join us in showing them your gratitude!

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 now. 

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

To help you get organized for the 2021-2022 school year, you will find valuable information and a supply list for your child's next grade. We encourage you to spend time reviewing this information now.  We are also working on our parent portal for the upcoming school year where this information, and more, will be organized for you. We will inform you when the entire portal has been updated. Thanks for your patience!

We hope that this digital padlet will be fun and engaging. It was created for UNIS students to remember what they’ve learned and to help them prepare for the next school year! 

The J4OD students have peacefully protested in order to improve their experience during playtime. Thanks to their engagement, convincing arguments, and sense of responsibility, the School Leadership reviewed the limits that had been placed on some specific games and authorized more flexibility and creativity.

This protest also led the School Leadership, in collaboration with the Nursing Office and the Security Team, to review our protocol for recess. We therefore decided to authorize that students from a same grade may utilize the entire Playground space rather than limiting the use to one section per class.

In 2002, I flew back to France from San Francisco. We had to wait a couple of hours on the tarmac in Aéroport Charles de Gaulle in Paris: there was a strike organized by the staff in charge of bringing the "Passenger Boarding Bridge" to the plane to allow the passenger to disembark. In front of me, an American child probably around 9 years old asked his father: "Daddy, what is happening" and the dad answered: "This is France my son".

Should we see a connection here with the fact that J4OD is... our Mother Tongue French homeroom? Probably not because it was in fact a diverse group of students who came to my office to petition for change, and there were definitely a wide range of negotiating styles - some that we could no doubt find at the negotiating table at the United Nations Security Room!

Another reason is that the high school students at UNIS come to our class and teach and inspire kids in the Junior School. For example they came and taught us about the Golden Rule and Consent. Kids need to know what’s going on in the world so they can understand and can grow up and change things. 

Lastly, the DEI explains things in a kid-friendly way. For example, the importance of being kind and to let everyone in their life have their own opinion. I like this because I can wear what I want and people will not just assume my gender by what I wear.

It is for these reasons that I think every school should have something like the DEI board because it is important for kids to learn these things. Learning from other students and grown ups at school is different from learning from your parents.

Zuela - J3CM

When Your Child is Sick

When your child is sick with stomach ache, fever, headache, etc. there is no expectation from the school that they should attempt to learn remotely. If your child has symptoms that would normally have kept them at home prior to COVID-19, please do not have your child log in to classes. We hope that time will be taken for them to rest and recover. It is difficult for teachers to engage students who are not feeling well, they distract their classmates, and the school believes that children recover more quickly when they are permitted to disconnect and rest.

Learning Model Consistency

And, the expectation is that Junior School students attend school consistently, through the end of this school year, in accordance with the learning model the family has opted for at this a (either hybrid, fully in person or fully remote). Inconsistent in person attendance is disruptive for the class as a whole and for the individual student. It is extremely challenging for your child's teachers who need to plan lessons and have materials ready in advance. The school believes that a consistent schedule reinforces learning and appropriate classroom behavior, and reduces anxiety.

Dismissal for Parents and Guardians

At dismissal please stay in motion, circling through the tents as you wait to pick up your children, or wait outside the main gate between pick ups. Despite the warmer weather, the school has not relaxed it's policies regarding gatherings. Please do not linger or sit down in the tents to wait for a second child, or gather within the school gates to speak with other parents or teachers. At dismissal our goal is to have as few people on campus for the shortest time possible, and always in motion. Thank you for understanding and support as we work to keep our community safe. 

Following recent changes with CDC guidelines and NYDOH rules, UNIS is welcoming many of our students on campus every day.

Three Models of Learning are now offered to UNIS families:

• • Option 1: on campus every day

  • Option 2: hybrid schedule (continuing the yellow & blue group rotation)

  • Option 3: fully remote learning

UNIS will continue offering the hybrid model through June, as a transition path for remote families, and to help reduce the logistical challenges associated with the return of a large number of students on site.

If you would like to request a learning model change for your JS child, please send an email to both jsoffice@unis.org and your homeroom teacher with a minimum of 2 school days notice.

Note that fully remote students requesting a transition to on campus learning (either hybrid or full time) require health clearance from the Nurse as the first step. Please follow these directions to initiate the process:

• If you decide to opt for in person learning, either hybrid or 100% in person, please inform these departments at a minimum of 2 full school days in advance of the date that you would like to have your child return (for example, no later than Wednesday afternoon of the week prior to a Monday return):

  1. 1. 1. • jsoffice@unis.org

           • mrivera@unis.org

           • schoolnurse@unis.org

           • your homeroom teacher

• The first step will be for the nurse to confirm that all of your child's health forms are in order and that they are cleared to return to campus.

• After you have the nurse's health clearance, please coordinate directly with your homeroom teacher the best date for your child's return to learning in person.

• Inform jsoffice@unis.org about the agreed upon in person start date.

• When your child returns to campus, you'll need to complete the daily Ruvna Health Screening that you will begin receiving by text and email each morning at about 5:00am.

• You'll also need to update School Dismissal Manager (SDM) with your dismissal plan for each day that your JS child attends school on campus. The dismissing teachers will rely on the information you provide in SDM to escort your child to the correct location at the end of the school day (for example: pick up / care program / yellow bus).

• Note that your child will not be permitted to take the bus unless the SDM report printed for our Transportation Department each day indicates your choice of that dismissal option. Please contact Charles Umbach at transportation@unis.org as soon as possible if you want to arrange for yellow school bus service.

We look forward to welcoming your child back to campus!

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 students are expected to arrive no later than 8:30 and the 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. Use Remote Learning on Days with Appointments or Travel:

We ask that you opt to have your child learn remotely on days when you have scheduled appointments outside of school or when you need to leave early for travel. 

Because parents and caregivers are not permitted inside the school gate, a request for either late arrival or early dismissal for a JS student requires that school personnel leave their work in order to escort your child. There is no guarantee that we can free staff from their work duties at any point during the day to accommodate late arrival or early dismissal.

Instead of requesting an early pick up or notifying of late arrival, please enter Remote Learning as an Exception in SDM to alert your teacher that your child will connect remotely instead of joining in person.

Of course, if your child falls ill during the school day, the nurse's office will coordinate an early pick plan with families.

5. For those families electing to change their current model during the remainder of this 2020-21 school year:

• Moving from Fully Remote to Hybrid / Fully in Person - Families give at least 2 full school day’s notice to the homeroom teacher, schoolnurse@unis.org and jsoffice@unis.org that they would like their child to attend on campus. Health clearance from the nurse is required before any student can attend in person. The expectation is that the student will then remain learning on campus for the remainder of this school year on a consistent schedule, either in the Hybrid model or Fully In Person.

• Moving to Fully Remote from Hybrid / Fully in Person - Families give at least one day’s notice to the homeroom & jsoffice@unis.org so that teachers have an opportunity to send the student home with necessary materials to learn from home. The expectation is that the student will remain remote for the remainder of this school year.

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 and NYSDOH guidance, students who are sent home or become ill may not return to UNIS until the following:

WITH A COVID TEST: MUST BE  A PCR NOT A RAPID (AS PER NYS)

• A negative COVID test must be emailed to the health office for clearance to return to on campus learning. 

• At least 24 hours symptom free.

WITHOUT COVID TEST: 

• • Must have a physician note. Must explicitly state that the student or employee is cleared to return to school. Physicians must also document an alternative diagnosis if symptoms are due to illness (ie- lab confirmed influenza, strep throat) or preexisting diagnosis and not COVID.

  • 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.

* Note: a signed note by the health care provider documenting unconfirmed acute illness, such as viral upper respiratory illness (URI) or viral gastroenteritis will not be accepted. If this is the physician indicated diagnosis, please know a negative COVID test will also be required to be cleared for on campus learning.

We kindly ask if your child is exhibiting symptoms consistent with COVID to 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.

Mt. Sinai are our consulting physicians and can help find a Mt. Sinai practice that will offer expedited results. You are also free to utilize any testing practitioner you are comfortable with.

For anyone who needs confirmatory testing, please email AccessDowntown@mountsinai.org or call 646-531-1504 and identify yourself as a part of the UNIS community. If there are any issues, please reach out to their team directly at BusinessHealth@mountsinai.org and they will assist.

If you are a parent and you are having your child tested at Mt. Sinai, please know you will need to create a MyChart account to access your minor child's test results. You will also need to ask the practice manager to upload the results to the mychart account, as it doesn't happen automatically for minors.

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.

9. When Your Child Learns From Home For A Medical Reason:  If you elect to keep your child home for a medical reason (allergies, running nose, etc.) but your child feels well enough to engage in learning remotely, please inform your teachers as far in advance as possible, and certainly before 8:00am. It is challenging for your child's teachers because they need to plan lessons and have materials ready in advance. 

Note that when your child is sick there is no expectation that they should log in to class - we hope that time will be taken for them to rest and recover. 

If you do plan to have your child engage remotely at any point during the school day, it is crucial that your teachers are aware before the school day begins for them at 8:00am, and preferable the day before, by emailing your teacher directly and using SDM to alert the office. Informing your teacher in advance allows them to anticipate and prepare to support your child as a remote learner. Appearing on the screen when they are expected in the classroom can be disruptive for the class and divides your teacher's attention.

Thank you for your support.

• • 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.