Dear parents,

Semester 1 Report Cards for Junior School students will be published on Friday, February 3 at 5:00pm on the Veracross Parent Portal. We encourage you to review this report card with your child to celebrate his/her achievements during this past semester and engage in conversation about their potential growth.

Your child’s academic achievement for each individual subject is reported separately from his/her learning skills. The descriptors for academic achievement levels ensure a greater JA to T4 alignment and provide clarity in the transition between the word-based scale used in JA to M2 and the numeric scale used from M3 to T4. Previous used Learning to Learn Skills have been replaced by the IB Approaches to Learning Skills.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 will be published on the Parent Portal of Veracross on February 3. 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".

Friday, February 10 will be the deadline for questions about a specific JS teacher’s grading. Please contact the teacher directly by email no later than the 10th of February with a copy to jsoffice@unis.org.

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

Detailed instructions for accessing your child's report card will be shared closer to the February publication date.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

• • Tuesday, January 10 | JS Parent Coffee: School Lunch  8:30-9:20 in Cafe (details in this newsletter)  Livestream Link

  • Monday, January 16 | School Closed / Martin Luther King Jr. Day

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

• • Monday, January 16 | School Closed / Martin Luther King Jr. Day

  • Friday, February 3 | Semester 1 Report Cards Published 5:00pm (details in this newsletter)

  • Saturday, February 4 | Lunar New Year Celebration (details in this newsletter)

  • Monday, February 6 | Semester 2 After School & Athletics Activities Begin - Registration links in this newsletter (update School Dismissal Manager "SDM" with your child's new Semester 2 after school activity schedule)

  • Thursday, February 16 & Friday, February 17 & Monday, February 20 | No Classes for Students / President's Day Break

  • Tuesday, February 21 | Classes Resume

  • Thursday, February 23 & Friday, February 24 | No Yellow Bus Service (update SDM)

Athletics & After School Activities: Final Meeting Dates for Semester 1 

Update your child's SDM account now to reflect the end date of their Semester 1 Athletics and After School classes:

• Mondays: last class is January 23  

• Tuesdays: last class is January 10

• Wednesdays: last class is January 25  

• Thursdays: last class is January 26

• Fridays: last class is February 3

After you have registered your child for new Semester 2 Athletics and After School classes, remember to update SDM so that your child will be dismissed to the correct location for their new activities.

You will find the links to register for Semester 2 in this newsletter.

CELEBRATIONS OF LEARNING 

Each JS grade is looking forward to sharing their learning with parents during the 2nd half of the school year. Exact dates will be shared by homeroom teachers, but in the meantime our students are preparing for these special projects: 

• PK - Friendship Celebrations during week of February 13

• JA -  Friendship Celebrations during week of February 13

• J1 - Author's Reading in May

• J2 - Wax Museum in May 

• J3 - Biomes in April

• J4 - Nature's Fury on February 1

Dear Parents,

We are thrilled to be teaching six Health Education lessons in J4 this Spring. As a part of our ongoing JA-T4 Health Curriculum Review, the Health teachers, along with the Curriculum Department, have developed six lessons in order to be proactive and informative regarding personal physical, mental and social Health issues and to be an integral part of our Comprehensive Health Education program. The lessons have been carefully created utilizing the National Health Education Standards, are age-appropriate, lead into our Middle School and Tut House Health program, and, most importantly, are adapted to our international and varied-learning community. Units will be delivered by Amy Iamundo, Junior School Counselor, in discussion-based lessons aimed at making students feel comfortable. We encourage students and parents to continue conversations at home and to provide feedback so that we can adapt accordingly. Feel free to contact me or any of my collaborators in the interim.

Sue Steinberg, Health Team Leader | ssteinberg@unis.org

Links to registration for the 2nd Semester After School Program are listed below. If interested, we invite you to register as soon as possible.

Semester 2 begins on February 6. All activities are subject to enrollment, and confirmations and cancellations will be sent by mid-January.

• AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM   LINK to Registration  - JS Schedule

• CARE PROGRAM   LINK to Registration  - CARE PROGRAM Protocols   (JA-J4 from 3-6PM - Monday through Friday - Limited space - Registration on Flat Fees)

Questions: Dr. Lidana Jalilvand  | Director of Special Programs | afterschoolprogram@unis.org

After School and Weekend Sports Registration

Registration is now open for the Semester 2 After School and Weekend Sports Program. The information can be found on the UNIS Athletics Website.

The Schedule is the same as Semester 1 with a few new activity additions:

Monday to Friday JS Sports from 4:00 - 5:00 pm

Tuesday MS Pickleball

Tuesday and Wednesday M4-T4 Strength & Conditioning 

Thursday PK-J1 Climbing

Friday Parent Zumba 

Saturday Gymnastics

Questions: Daniel O'Connor | Director of Athletics and Physical Education | doconnor@unis.org

Sports Camps Registration

Registration is also open for the upcoming Sports Camps. The information can be found on the UNIS Athletics Website.

Camps take place at UNIS for JS to T4 Students at the following times:

February Break

Spring Break

Summer Break

October Break

Winter Break starting in 2023

On Friday, J4 Green Team and Animals Rights Club students visited Tut House Environmental class to listen to a special guest speaker. UNICEF representative to COP 27, Paloma Escudero, spoke to the students about the role of Youth in the Climate Agenda. She spoke about how 11 years old children are making a difference in their neighborhoods to correct the damage of climate change. I wanted to use this visit to reinforce our J4 students’ passion and determination to make a difference. A big cheer to the J4s!

Rose Fico |  J1 Teaching Assistant | Junior School Sustainability Coordinator 

Junior School Parent Coffee

• Parent Coffee: School Lunch - Tuesday, January 10 at 8:30 - 9:20 am 

Join us on Tuesday, January 10 at 8:30am in the Cafe for the next JS Parent Coffee on the topic of School Lunch. Join Tara Marcelle from FLIK DINING and the Administration Team to learn about lunch and lunch routines in the cafeteria. 

If you are not available to attend in person, you are welcome to connect using this livestream link instead:   Livestream Link

Virtual Fundraising for City Harvest by UNIS Community - Ends January 16 

Here is the link to the virtual Drive:

Thank you for your compassion, generosity, and support for the UNIS City Harvest Drive. For more information, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Social Responsibility Committee Co-Chairs:

• Abhilasha Mahan (Abhilasha.mahan@pa.unis.org)

• Ellen Nidy (Ellen.nidy@pa.unis.org)

• Saima Faruqui (Saima.Faruqui@pa.unis.org)

Lunar New Year - Saturday, February 4

UNISPA Cultural Committee invites you to bring in the Lunar New Year with us to celebrate the arrival of spring and the year of the Rabbit!

It is the time to reunite with the family and we would like to come together with our UNIS Family! Join us at UNIS  on Saturday, February 4, 2023, from 4 - 7pm

Tickets are $25 per person and free for kids 4 and under. Buy your tickets here: https://www.unis.org/cf_forms/view.cfm?formID=901

To usher in a year full of abundance, good luck and fortune, there will be a food feast, Lion dance, Korean dances, student led musical Performances, lantern making, calligraphy and more….

We are excited to see you all in person!

Abhilasha & Sabrina

Cultural Committee Co-Chairs

abhilasha.mahan@pa.unis.org; sabrina.zancan@pa.unis.org

UNIS VIDEO LIBRARY

If you missed a meeting or want to review what you remember from a past meeting, UNIS maintains a library of recordings available at https://vimeo.com/unisny.  Some highlights include a Fireside Chat with the Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and a recent This is Junior School video. 

ARCHIVE

New2UNIS If you’d like to meet other parents - new or current to UNIS- sign up for the New2UNIS listserv at new2unis@unis.org Follow us on Instagram too!  

Publicize your Business or Seek Services - UNIS marketplace. Submit your business description, website and image on this form to publicize. Scroll through services here. 

Never too late to volunteer with the PA. Submit your interest here. 

Buy UNIS merch online. Visit https://store.unis.org/ And if you want to join the UNIS PA swag team, email unis@unispa.org. 

We would like to remind everyone about our health protocols:

• When your child is sick with runny nose, cough, stomach ache, fever, headache, etc. there is no expectation from the Junior School that they should attend class 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.

• If your child had any symptoms that could be consistent with COVID, they need to remain at home and take a rapid test. Students can return to school under the following conditions:

  • • they have tested negative on a rapid antigen

    • are afebrile for at least 24 hours

    • their symptoms have resolved or are greatly improving

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

You may review the full protocols on our website COVID & Health Protocols. 

Thank you for supporting the entire UNIS community by keeping your children at home when they are not well. 

When your child will be absent, please email your homeroom teacher before 8:00am with a copy to jsattendance@unis.org . We also encourage families to update SDM in order to alert all other departments, especially After School activities and Transportation.

Outdoor Activity & Recess Policy During Cold Weather

Throughout the winter season, please be sure your child is dressed for outdoor play every day, with a warm coat, sweatshirt, gloves and hat as needed.

UNIS JS follows the Dept of Health guidelines for outdoor play: "New York City Department of Health Guidelines regarding outdoor play in cold weather policy states “Children benefit from vigorous exercise and should be given the opportunity to play outside whenever possible. Unless it is snowing or there is ice on the playground low temperatures should not be a barrier to outside play, as long as children are appropriately dressed. The City’s Health Department strongly encourages principals to maintain outdoor play periods on the vast majority of winter days.”

Recommendations are as follows: If the wind chill factor is above 20 degrees, it is safe to play outside. If the wind chill factor is 0-20, outside play is advised provided that students are appropriately dressed and under observation to make sure that they are wearing their coats, hats and gloves." 

From:  New York City Department of Education and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

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 were 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.