Newsletter #04

Dear parents,

"Nothing replaces being in the same room, face-to-face, breathing the same air and reading and feeling each other's micro-expressions." Last Tuesday, for our first JS assembly of the year, and the first face-to-face assembly after 2 and a half years of social distancing and virtual gatherings, reading the expressions on our students' faces, while Ms. Camilo read a story or when Ms. Boekholt and Ms. Andrews sang and played piano with our students, was a warm and joyful experience. Dancing with Sanky, a new JA student was priceless! You will find below the video we shared with our students to welcome them to the Cafeteria for their assembly and the presentation we shared with all of them, from PreK through J4.

In this week's Faculty Newsletter, we looked back to Sunday, September 27, 2020, when we wrote:

Back-to-school night for Homerooms and Specialists was postponed a week. This year we will work on a different format of event, adjusting it to be fully digital: partially recorded and partially live. Teams will record a video to introduce themselves and briefly share information on the grade-level curriculum, instruction, and routine. Please share the link of your team video with Pascal and Danae by Thursday, Oct. 1st.

Paul Graham is a computer scientist, essayist, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist, best known for his work on the programming language Lisp, co-founder of Hacker News, a social news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship. Some of you might bet that if Graham had been a parent at UNIS in Junior School in 2020, he would have been very supportive of this high-tech fully remote Back-to-School Night. Or maybe not:

Let's join with Paul Graham and celebrate being able to welcome you, finally, to the campus for Junior School Back to School Night 2022-23 ! You will find below the most updated information concerning this important event when you will be able to connect with your children's teachers.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal 

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

• • Monday, September 26 | 1st Day Yellow Bus Service for JA students without a sibling who rides the bus (update SDM if your child will take the bus this week)

  • Wednesday, September 28 | JS Back to School Night - Homeroom & Specialist Teachers from 5:10 - 7:30 (more information in this newsletter)

See the PA's section of this newsletter for PA-sponsored events  & information.

• • Week of October 3 - 7 | Drop off PE Uniforms & Halloween Costumes (details in this newsletter)

  • Monday, October 3 | After School Classes Begin (SDM must be updated for each Activity)

  • Tuesday, October 4 |1st  JS Parent Coffee 8:30-9:25 am in Cafe (rescheduled from October 5)

  • Thursday & Friday, October 6 & 7  |  JS Photo Days (details from Stomping Ground are here: School Photo Page )

  • Saturday, October 8 | Cardboard Challenge: Register + Save Cardboard (details in this newsletter)

  • Saturday, October 8 | Halloween Costume Swap (details in this newsletter)

  • Monday, October 10 | No Yellow School Bus from the DOE - arrange alternate transportation for your child + update SDM

  • Saturday, October 15  |  UNIS Celebrates 75 Years! (see invitation below)

  • Friday, October 21  |  UN Day Celebrated at UNIS

  • October 24 - October 28 |  No Classes for Students / October Break

  • Thursday, November 17  |  Photo Retake Day (details from Stomping Ground are here: School Photo Page )

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES & YELLOW SCHOOL BUS INSTRUCTIONS MUST BE ADDED TO SDM 

To facilitate a smooth dismissal for all of our teachers and students, all JS families are expected to have an SDM account set up for each JS child and have entered both their "Default Dismissal" plan and any "Exceptions" for the week ahead by Monday morning each week.

If you have not updated your SDM account for the weeks of September 26 and October 3, especially now that After School Activities will begin, 

please take the time to do it now.

No student will be permitted to ride a yellow bus at dismissal, or attend an After School Activity, if their SDM account does not authorize it on that date.  

Students will be placed in the Care Program instead and parents are expected to pick them up at school.

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. On days when your child will not attend school, we encourage parents to use SDM to mark your child "Absent".

SDM is the only way of informing the dismissing teachers where your child should go at dismissal each day. 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.

At UNIS, our curriculum is driven by the UNIS mission, our definition of learning, and our common approaches to teaching and learning. We define learning as follows: Learning is a process that leads to a sustained and demonstrable consolidating or extension of conceptual understanding, competencies, or character. On September 28, our Back to School Nights will be held in the Junior School, an opportunity to bring teachers and parents together and to introduce our curriculum and the routines which will guide your children's journey throughout this school year.

The organization we will follow during the Back to School Night is attached here, indicating the different spaces we will use. A map of the school is shared as well. 

5:10 to 5:25 - EVERYONE

• Welcome and Refreshments - Cafeteria

PreK, JA, J2

• 5:30 to 6:20 pm - PreK, JA, and J2

  • Meet the J2 Homeroom Teachers - 3rd Floor Library + Homeroom

  • Meet the PreK/JA Homeroom Teachers - Cafeteria + Homeroom

• 6:30 to 7:30 pm - PreK, JA, and J2

• Meet the Language Teachers (see below for room)

• Meet the Specialist Teachers (2nd Floor Theater)

J1, J3, J4

• 5:30 to 6:30 pm - J1, J3, J4

  • Meet the Language Teachers (see below for room)

  • Meet the Specialist Teachers (2nd Floor Theater)

• 6:40 to 7:30 pm - J1, J3, J4

• Meet the J1 Homeroom Teachers - Room 419/420 + Homeroom

• Meet the J3 Homeroom Teachers - Cafeteria + Homeroom

• Meet the J4 Homeroom Teachers - 3rd Floor Library + Homeroom

SPECIALISTS: ROOM

• DE/Science - 2nd Floor Theater

• Art - 2nd Floor Theater

• Music/Theater - 2nd Floor Theater

• PE - 2nd Floor Theater

Language B Teachers

• Noemi Montero - Room 236

• Conchi Valduvieco - Room 235

• Irene Lozano - Room 234

• Lucia Romero - Room 233

• Tanya Le Bec - Room 230C

• Nehad Soliman - Room 205

• Nadine Sebag - CoLab 2nd Floor

• Maria Alcaraz - Room 315

Language A Teachers

• Maria Alcaraz - Room 315

• Idoya Tapia -  Room 318

• Isabelle Chu - Room 321

• Molida Khuon - Room 322

• Sebastien Raphaelian - Room 323

ELL & Learning Support

• Tracey Turner & Janine Pelegano - Room 237

• Karen Ager & Stephanie Clapes & Carmen Escober - Room 217

Stay Home When Sick:

• Please do not send your child to school if he or she is not feeling well. If your child shows signs of COVID, cold, fever, flu, vomiting, or any rash, however well he or she may seem otherwise, do not send him or her to school

• Certain symptoms in children may suggest the presence of a communicable disease.

• People who have symptoms of respiratory or gastrointestinal infections, such as cough, fever, sore throat, vomiting, or diarrhea, should stay home

• Testing for COVID19 is required for people with these symptoms

• May return with a negative COVID19 test and 24 hours symptom free

Please be reminded that if your child has any symptoms that could be consistent with COVID, they need to take a home test. If the test is negative, your child is afebrile for at least 24 hours, and symptoms have resolved or are greatly improving, they may return to school.

If your child's test is positive please email a picture of the test to covid@unis.org.

If your child tests positive and is symptomatic:  

• Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when you tested positive

• Day 1 is the first full day after the day your symptoms started

Isolation may end after day 5 if:

• Your child is fever-free for 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medication)

• Your child's symptoms are improving

• If your child still has fever or other symptoms have not improved, continue to isolate until they improve.

• You are not required to test before returning to campus,
  but your child must wear a mask on days 6-10 while on campus. 

• For future reference and more information please review the protocols on our website https://www.unis.org/covid-protocols

Save the Date: Junior School Picture Days:

Thursday, October 6 and Friday, October 7

Additional details from Stomping Ground can be found on their School Photo Page. 

A retake day will be held on November 17 for students who cannot make their scheduled photo day.

Junior School Parent Coffee Topic Survey 

The UNIS Parents' Association (PA) organizes Junior School parent coffees on a monthly basis, in collaboration with the Junior School team and the parent community. The parent coffees offer an open forum to discuss a wide range of topics of common interest, with the participation of parent speakers, UNIS faculty and staff, as well as special guests from outside the school. 

Your input is highly appreciated to help us plan the Junior School parent coffees for the 2022-23 school year. Please take a few minutes to fill out this brief survey to tell us if there is a topic that you wish to discuss or would like to learn more about in the Junior School. We look forward to hearing from you by Sunday, October 2, 2022. 

Junior School Parent Coffee Topic Survey 

Upcoming PA Events

• Tuesday, 10/4: Junior School Parent Coffee: 8:30am - 9:25am. More details to follow

Junior School Class Parents

If you are interested in volunteering as a class parent, please let your child's home room teacher know by email as soon as possible. We look forward to working with all JS class parents in the new school year!

Halloween Costume Swap at the Cardboard Challenge

Saturday, 8th of October from 10am to 1pm

Green the Blue, while you say Boo!

Bring your outgrown Halloween Costumes and pick up one that fits at the Cardboard Challenge!

Costumes can be dropped off outside the school gates at 

Pickup and Drop-off times from 

Monday, the 3rd of October to Friday, the 7th of October 

Please note that you can pickup a costume on the 8th of October from 10am to 1pm at the Cardboard Challenge!

In case of questions, please contact the SRC Co-Chairs:

Abhilasha Mahan (Abhilasha.mahan@pa.unis.org); Ellen Nidy (ellennidy@gmail.com)

News from the Social Responsibility Committee:

Recycle your outgrown PE Uniforms:

In order to reduce our carbon footprint as a community, the Social Responsibility Committee aims to recycle PE Uniforms.

Please donate your outgrown PE Uniforms at drop-off and pickup times from 

Monday, the 3rd of October to Friday, the 7th of October, outside the school gates.

UNIS invites you to our 8th Annual Cardboard Challenge. This is a family event that takes place on the UNIS campus on Saturday morning, October 8th from 10:00am-1:00pm.

Please talk with your kids and help them to think about ways they might incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals into their cardboard creations as:

• garbage trucks for picking up recycling

• solar panels that power their homes, computers, etc

• electric cars

• garbage eating robots

• recycling stations and signs

• and many more ideas!

Registration for the event is open to all Junior School UNIS Students! This exciting day of building and design using recycled materials yields wonderful creations, brings the imagination to life and spurs collaboration and teamwork.

The event is free. Please note we do require the following:

• One adult per every two children

• If your child has a sibling in Middle or High School, they are welcome to join.

• Please bring at least two cardboard building items with you. There is no limit, so bring as much as you like!

• We will provide scissors, chalk, tape and other tools. If you have a particular design or need for your creation, please bring your special items. Make sure to bring extra to share.

• Talk to your child about the design process, their ideas, who they would like to work with and how to work within a team

• Parents can build too! We will have a parent building section so you can collaborate with fellow parents. Please however, do make sure that your child has an adult supervisor with them while you design and build your creation.

• Wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

• Bring a refillable water bottle and any snacks you or your children may want or need during the event. Please be respectful of others and remember, we are an allergy aware community.

Please join us for loads of fun and start collecting clean, sturdy cardboard at home! You'll be able to bring the cardboard to school on October 7th and 8th.

The event is free but space is limited to 250 people. Please, use the registration form below and be prepared to have 1:2 adult:child ratio. 

To register you'll need the password shared in the Junior School Newsletter #03 Email

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, October 8th!

The late arrival of students in the morning is disruptive for faculty and staff and your child's classmates.

 J2, J3 and J4 students are expected to arrive at 8:15 and proceed directly to their homeroom. 

PK, JA and J1 are expected to arrive at 8:20 and proceed directly to their homeroom.

Please ensure that your child arrives at the time assigned for your child's grade.

IF YOU DROP OFF YOUR CHILD AT ARRIVAL TIME FOR THEIR GRADE

IF YOU GO TO THE CAFETERIA BEFORE DROPPING OFF YOUR CHILD

• Legal guardians may access the school building to wait near the drop-off zone, and remain in the company of their children until the announcement is made for students to line up with their classes at 8:15 (J2/J3/J4) or 8:20 (PreK, JA, J1).

• Legal guardians may access the school building to sit in the cafeteria, beginning at 7:30 am, and remain in the company of their children until the announcement is made for students to walk independently to their classes at 8:15 (J2/J3/J4) or to line up outside Staircase D to meet their teachers and walk to their classrooms at 8:20 (PreK, JA, J1).

• Legal guardians may remain in the cafeteria until 9:00 am.

• Legal guardians who arrive earlier than 8:15/8:20 in order to have breakfast in the cafeteria must supervise their children at all times while on the premises until an announcement is made for students to line up with their teachers or proceed directly to their classrooms (dependent upon grade). 

• At no time is playground access permitted for students being supervised by their guardians. Playground access is reserved solely for students arriving by Yellow Bus who are in the care of school personnel.

• At no time may legal guardians enter the 2nd floor or access any classrooms.

• Legal guardians and students are expected to arrive at the campus no later than the arrival time for their grade as shared by the school's administration. Late arrivals impact the efficiency of our protocols designed for smooth transitions, as well as to detract from our community's safety. Families are strongly encouraged to ensure that their child(ren) arrives at UNIS at the time assigned for their grade, and no earlier or later.

• Students arriving at school by bus will be welcomed and supervised in the playground.

• J2, J3 and J4 students arriving at 8:15 am walk independently to their classrooms. If J2, J3 and J4 students have arrived earlier and are in the cafeteria supervised by their legal guardians, an announcement will be made at 8:15 for those students to proceed to their classrooms independently using Staircase D.

• J1 students arriving at 8:20 walk independently to their classrooms. If J1 students have arrived earlier and are in the cafeteria supervised by their legal guardians, an announcement will be made at 8:20 for those students to line up outside Staircase D with their legal guardians and then proceed to their classrooms independently.

• PK and JA are welcomed by their teachers at 8:20 at Staircase D and proceed directly to their classrooms. 

• PK and JA students who are in the cafeteria being supervised by their legal guardians will hear an announcement at 8:20 to meet their teachers at Staircase D to proceed to their classroom.

There is a strict hand-to-hand policy in the Junior School for dismissal:

JS teachers will only dismiss at the end of the day to a parent, authorized caregiver, after school/after care/athletics teacher/coach, or bus supervisor. JS students are not permitted to leave the front gate of the campus without adult supervision. Only a sibling in M3 or older may be given permission to escort their sibling from campus.

During Dismissal time, legal guardians should not gather inside the school premises to wait for their child. If their child is not at the designated location, they should continue to walk, following the flow, until their child arrives.

PreK through J4 students are not permitted to meet parents or caregivers outside the school’s front gate. Teachers must release students whose dismissal is indicated as being “Pick-up” in SDM, to parents, or another adult authorized by the parents, following the dismissal guidelines as indicated below.

Please note that parents and caregivers are expected to arrive at UNIS no later than the time indicated in this section. If parents or caregivers are not able to arrive on time on a regular basis, please contact our Office of Special Programs to register for the Care Program. If you or your caregiver is running late in unusual circumstances and will arrive later than the time indicated, the school will place your student in the Care Program. Parents are aware that Non‐Registered Care Program drop off has a specific cost (see After Care protocol for most updated fees).

To give permission for a new caregiver to enter UNIS to pick up or drop off your child, please log in to the Veracross Parent Portal at myunis.vc:

• Log in to Veracross

• Click on Household Information

• Update Household Profile by clicking on Contacts for My Children and +Add New

• Enter that caregiver’s details under the Contacts section (add as many additional contacts and caregivers as you need)

• Next, grant the contacts Pickup Authorization as needed by clicking on Pickup Authorization on the right and +Add New.

After you enter that information in Veracross, your caregiver can have a UNIS ID made that will allow him/her access to the school to pick up and drop off. In the interim, until the caregiver information is populated by IT to the Security Access card system, fill in this ID Authorization Form, print and sign it, and have the caregiver carry this form along with a photo ID to present to Security at the front gate until a physical UNIS ID card is printed.

Parents are asked to retrieve and turn in ID cards issued to caregivers who are no longer employed.

• PK and JA are dismissed by their teachers at 2:45 pm

• J1 and J2 are dismissed by their teachers at 2:50 pm

• J3 and J4 are dismissed by their teachers at 3:00 pm

To support our Security team and ensure a smooth transition, parents and guardians arriving to pick up their children at dismissal should avoid entering the school building.

• Parents/legal guardians arriving on time at school for dismissal can pick up their child at designated areas indicated in the Dismissal Map.

• After JS dismissal and before 5:45pm: parents may pick up their child in the cafeteria by following the directions given by the security guards.

• Parents are required to indicate in the note field in SDM the identity of the parent/caregiver who will pick up their child, providing both the first and last name as it appears on that person’s identification. This information needs to be accurate on any given day. If the information is not provided correctly by the family, but the parent/caregiver is registered as a parent or an authorized caregiver in Veracross, and UNIS personnel are able to verify that information, the student will be allowed to leave with him/her. This information is required at dismissal as well as when the pick-up is scheduled after an After School, Care Program or Athletic activity.

• Parents are required to list all caregivers/babysitters on the portal in Veracross. Security will not allow entrance to caregivers/babysitters who are undocumented/not listed in Veracross. To avoid delay and complications at pick-up, please make sure to maintain an updated list of all caregivers/babysitters in Veracross on the portal. In case of an emergency, parents are required to call and email the JS Office or After School program (depending on the pick up time) providing the full name of the individual who is picking up their child and confirming that that person will carry a government issued photo ID.

Any student scheduled to be picked up at school by the parent/caregiver, and that parent/caregiver fails to collect the child at dismissal, will be brought to the Care Program and the family will be billed accordingly. Parents are aware that Non‐Registered Care Program drop off has a cost (see After Care protocol for most updated fees).

When Your Child is Sick

When your child is sick with runny nose, cough, stomach ache, fever, headache, etc. there is no expectation from the school that they should attend school in person or attempt to learn from home. 

If your child has symptoms that would normally have kept them at home prior to COVID-19, we ask that families not send their children to school or request for schoolwork to be sent home.

We hope that time will be taken for your child to rest and recover at home as the school believes that children recover more quickly when they are permitted to disconnect and rest, and when care is taken by everyone to avoid spreading communicable illnesses.

Please be mindful as you pack lunches for your Junior School child(ren) as these will remain stored in their backpacks until snack or lunch time. If lunch items require cooling, please be sure to include insulated ice packs in the packaging for your child's lunch. No additional heating or cooling options are available. 

For reasons related to student allergies and health, the policy for JS student birthday celebrations on campus has been updated.

• Birthdays will continue to be acknowledged and celebrated in the JS Homeroom and/or with the Mother Tongue group. 

• Students may bring a special food treat for themself from home on their birthday to enjoy at snack or lunch time.

• Instead of bringing food treats from home to be shared with classmates, the birthday student may choose from a menu of fun activities offered by the Homeroom or MT teacher for the class to participate in together. The activities will be age-appropriate and vary by grade.

• At the discretion of the Homeroom teacher, there may be individual celebrations for each student, or there may be grouped, monthly birthday celebrations. 

• Details about the birthday celebration policy for your child’s homeroom will be discussed in more detail with parents at Back to School Night on September 28.

At this time, mask wearing while on campus is optional and the discretion of your family. Be assured that all JS students whose families choose to have them remain masked at school will be fully supported by our faculty and staff.

If your child will wear a mask at school be sure you have packed at least 2 spare masks in a clean bag in your child's backpack, as well as an extra bag to hold used masks if they aren't disposable. 

This means that students, families, faculty and staff are respectfully asked to refrain from bringing peanuts, nuts, and seeds of any kind or foods processed with these items or their by products, such as oils, into the school. This includes products which state "may contain traces of nuts/peanuts/tree nuts” or "manufactured in a facility which processes" nuts/peanuts/tree nuts.

For example, tree nuts (such as almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, cashews, brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, etc.) and foods associated with them (such as nutella, pesto, granola bars, marzipan, macaroons, hummus (containing sesame), etc.) may present a risk to others.