Arrival and Dismissal from school shall be supervised by school staff in accordance with the procedures outlined below.  Parents/guardians shall be responsible for complying with these procedures, resuming custody of their children at the end of the school day and ensuring that the school is provided with accurate daily information using the SCHOOL DISMISSAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (SDM), the required method of communicating dismissal plans to UNIS Junior School.

II.1.i IF YOU DROP OFF YOUR CHILD AT ARRIVAL TIME FOR THEIR GRADE

II.1.ii 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 with their teachers in the covered playground area 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.

• PK and JA are welcomed by their teachers at 8:20 in the playground covered area behind the school in order to line up and proceed to their classrooms.

• J1 students are welcomed by their teachers at 8:20 in the playground covered area behind the school in order to line up and proceed to their classrooms.

• PK, JA, and J1 students who are in the cafeteria being supervised by their legal guardians will hear an announcement at 8:20 to meet their teachers to proceed to their classroom.

• J2, J3 and J4 students are welcomed at 8:15. They walk independently to their classroom using Staircase D.

• PK, JA, and J1 are welcomed by their teachers at 8:20 in the playground covered area, accessible from the pathway on the south side of the building.

• Pre-K to J1:

  • Parents and caregivers may enter the school building beginning at 7:30 am and remain in the cafeteria area. JS students must be accompanied and supervised by their legal guardians at all times in the cafeteria until the announcement for line up at 8:20 am.

  • At 8:20 am, Homeroom Teachers and Teaching Assistants will be waiting in their dedicated spaces in the playground covered area behind the building where signs to welcome their students and identify their homerooms will be displayed.

  • Security and/or Principal and/or Assistant Principal will announce to those students waiting in the cafeteria with their guardians when it is time to proceed to the playground covered area to meet their teachers and line up.

  • Teachers and Teaching Assistants wait 5 minutes in the playground covered area after the indicated arrival time and then escort their students to the classroom.

  • Principal and/or Assistant Principal direct the Teachers or Teaching Assistants to depart the playground covered area and proceed to their respective classrooms.

  • JA students walk to their classrooms through the JA Playground Access Door.

  • PK students walk to their classrooms through the Main Lobby.

  • J1 students walk to their classrooms on the 2nd floor using Staircase C.

  • J2, J3, and J4 Students walk to their classrooms using Staircase D.

  • Late students will assemble at the designated location in the playground covered area where Teaching Assistants and Buddy Teachers will be waiting to escort them to their respective classrooms.

  • Principal or Assistant Principal directs Teaching Assistants and Buddy teachers to escort the late students to their respective classrooms.

  • J2 to J4:

• Students enter the premises through the front gate, and walk towards the school building. Students join their homeroom class on the 2nd floor using Staircase D.

• Teachers wait for their students in their homeroom classroom beginning at 8:15am.

• Teachers on duty in Staircase D remain on duty until 8:45 to support the students’ transitioning.

• New students or students arriving at campus for the first time will wait in the Cafeteria to be escorted to their homeroom by an adult supervisor at the end of the arrival process, using Staircase D.

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 2:55 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).

Tuesday, September 6

• First Day of School - Full Day for J1 - J4 only

• PK Orientation 9:15 - 11:30

• JA Orientation 9:30 - 11:30

• Care Program is available for J1 - J4

Wednesday, September 7

• PK and JA ½ Day 8:25/8:30 - 12:00

Thursday, September 8

• PK ½ Day 8:25 - 12:00

• JA First Full Day  8:20 - 2:45pm

• Care Program is available for JA

Friday, September 9

• PK First Full Day  8:20-2:45 pm

Requesting Early Dismissal for Your Child:  UNIS JS utilizes SDM’s Leaving Early option so that parents can let the school know when their child is being picked up early.  Select the day on the calendar that your child will be picked-up early, then select Add Exception, and choose Leaving Early, NOT Coming Back.  You will immediately be asked if your child is coming back to school.  Select Yes or No and then fill out the remaining information.  Depending on whether you answered yes or no, SDM will create the appropriate dismissal exception or notification to the office once you click Submit. Once you have updated the dismissal on SDM, confirm the early pick-up time directly to your homeroom teacher and copy jsattendance@unis.org

An early dismissal for students is strongly discouraged. Parents are encouraged to make their child’s appointments and travel plans outside of school hours. Early Dismissal should be reserved for urgent circumstances only.

Parents/guardians are required to use School Dismissal Manager (SDM) to inform the school of the dismissal procedure to be followed for each student on a daily basis.  Options will include and are not limited to:

• Absent

• After School Activity

• Athletic Activity

• Athletic Activity followed by Care Program

• Bus

• Care Program

• Early Pick-Up

• French Mother Tongue Program

• French MT followed by Care Program

• Music Lesson

• Pick-Up by NON UNIS ID Holder

• Pick-Up by UNIS ID Holder

• Private Bus

If a student is registered in the Care Program or an After School or Athletic Activity but the parents have indicated in SDM that the student is supposed to take the bus, the student will be placed on the bus. The School will strictly follow the information provided by parents in SDM.

Parents are required to inform the school about any JS student absence in School Dismissal Manager (SDM). A note field is available to provide details on the absence. Families are also expected to contact their homeroom teacher by email, with a copy to jsattendance@unis.org.

Selecting Care Program, After School or Athletics as a dismissal option in SDM is not considered a registration in those programs:

• Care Program: Pre-registration with careprogram@unis.org is required

• After School: Pre-registration with afterschoolprogram@unis.org or ljalilvand@unis.org is required

• Athletics: Pre-registration with doconnor@unis.org is required

• A student directed to After School or Athletics but not registered by his/her parent/legal guardian for that class will be sent to the Care Program instead. Parents are aware that Non‐Registered Care Program drop off cost $25 per hour, $18 for a “Part‐time” registered student  (hourly basis), no extra charge for a full time registered student (fees as of November 2018; see After Care protocol for most updated fees).

• Parents are required to indicate in the note field in SDM the full name of the person who will pick up their child from an after school activity (cf. Pick-up)

Only J2, J3 and J4 students enrolled in the French Mother Tongue Program during school hours are registered in the French Mother Tongue After School program. They are picked up in the lobby/cafeteria at the end of their class by their teacher. Any student scheduled to be picked up at school by the parent/caregiver, and that parent/caregiver fails to collect the child after the French class, 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).

• Information about the bus services:

  • New York City Department of Education (DOE) grants free transportation to eligible, registered students according to their grade and/or distance from home/stop to school. Kindly refer to the eligibility information at opt.nyc.gov.

  • The transportation options that the DOE provides are the yellow bus service for students from kindergarten to 6th grade or MetroCards for those whose parents choose not to ride the yellow bus, and for all 7th to 12th grade students.

  • These transportation options are a FREE SERVICE fully managed by New York City Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT).

  • Parents are aware that the Office of Pupil Transportation reviews all the stops and routes every year. Accordingly, there might be some changes in the stops shown in the current schedule. UNIS Transportation will notify you of any changes as soon as it occurs and is available to work with parents and the OPT on a case by case basis for the best interest of our students (transportation@unis.org).

  • For students living outside the five 5 boroughs of New York, Metro North Railroad and Long Island Railroad offer students discounted monthly tickets. UNIS Transportation can provide more information regarding these programs and assist families living in these areas. 

  • Some private transportation services (vans, mini-buses, cars…) are used by some UNIS families. The arrangements for these services are the responsibility of parents organizing the transport. The UNIS Transportation office does not coordinate these services

• Parents are informed that for any student to be permitted to ride a school bus, they must first be formally registered with the NYC Office of Pupil Transportation for a certain bus route (coordinated by the family and UNIS Transportation) and UNIS Transportation must confirm that registration.

• After registration is confirmed by UNIS Transportation, that bus route must be selected by the parents in SDM in order for the student to take that bus on any day.

• Parents cannot change the student’s bus route without coordinating with the UNIS Transportation office (transportation@unis.org)

• Parents are responsible for organizing the student’s pick up at the correct bus stop. Failing to do so can lead to the student being brought to the bus terminal where the student will be instructed to wait until his parent/legal guardian picks him up.

• School Dismissal Manager (SDM) is the required method of communicating dismissal plans to UNIS JS.

• Parents are asked to use School Dismissal Manager (SDM) to keep the dismissal process safe and orderly for all of our JS students. Emails, notes or verbal instructions to inform the homeroom teacher and/or the JS Office (except after 2:00 pm, see below) of dismissal plans are not accepted.

•  Add the SDM App to a smartphone, tablet, or web browser using the link at the start of this sentence.  

• IMPORTANT: Returning families must update last year's app

• The app is compatible with Android and Apple devices. 

• Android: Open a Chrome browser window, go to www.schooldismissalmanager.com, and login.  Then click the three stacked dots at the top right corner, scroll down and click on Add to Home Screen, and follow the onscreen instructions to install the app.

• iPhone: Open a Safari browser, go to www.schooldismissalmanager.com, and login.  Then click on the box with the arrow pointing up, scroll down, and click Add to Home Screen.  Type in (or click on if auto-filled) SDM and then tap Add to install the app.

• Parents are issued a username and temporary password by email. Please use these for your initial log in to SDM.

• Parents are first required to set their “Default Dismissal” for the remainder of the school year.

• Parents are required to set “Recurring Exceptions” as needed.

• Parents are required to set any “Exception” to the default dismissal as needed.

• Parents are required to check every week to confirm that the information provided on SDM is accurate for the week ahead.

• The cut-off to add a one-time “Exception” to any day’s dismissal is 2:00 pm. If a change in your plans occurs after 2:00 pm on any day, you may phone the JS Office up until 2:30 pm. But the expectation is that all changes will be made by parents directly in SDM before 2:00 pm.

• After 2:30 pm the School cannot guarantee that dismissal changes will be relayed to all relevant departments in time for dismissal. 

The SDM web app is compatible with Android and Apple devices. 

• Android – Open a Chrome browser window, go to www.schooldismissalmanager.com, and login.  Then click the three stacked dots at the top right corner, scroll down and click on Add to Home Screen, and follow the onscreen instructions to install the app.

• iPhone – Open a Safari browser, go to www.schooldismissalmanager.com, and login.  Then click on the box with the arrow pointing up, scroll down, and click Add to Home Screen.  Type in (or click on if auto-filled) SDM and then tap Add to install the app.

IMPORTANT:

Returning families must update last year’s App. 

You can add the SDM App to a smartphone, tablet, or web browser using the link above.

HOW CAN I FIND THE INFORMATION TO LOG IN TO SCHOOL DISMISSAL MANAGER(SDM)?

New to UNIS families will receive an email sent from the address: info@schooldismissalmanager.com. This email contains your temporary password and important information to allow you to login to School Dismissal Manager. The system can use one, and only one, email for each parent. 

• Open your inbox and search an email sent from info@schooldismissalmanager.com.

• Identify your password

• Follow the direction contained in the email

AFTER RUNNING THE SEARCH, I STILL CANNOT FIND AN EMAIL WITH THE DIRECTIONS TO LOG IN TO THE DISMISSAL SYSTEM. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

If you cannot find the message emailed to you, you can still access the system by resetting your temporary password:

• Go to the Password Reset page: https://www.schooldismissalmanager.com/forgotpassword.asp

• Fill the empty field with your email

• Open your email inbox

• Find the email you should have received from schooldismissalmanager.com with a link to reset your password

• Follow the instruction

You can also access the password reset page by clicking on "Forgot password" on the SchoolDismissal Management landing page.

I CAN LOG IN TO SCHOOL DISMISSAL MANAGER. NOW, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

• When you log in the system, click on Parent Preferences and Student Default

• Choose the DEFAULT dismissal in the drop down menu.

• If your child take the school bus, you need to choose the afternoon bus as the default dismissal.

• Set up the exception by following the online instructions

MY SPOUSE HAS RECEIVED THE SAME EMAIL TODAY. DO WE NEED BOTH TO FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS?

No, if one parent sets up the default dismissal for your child(ren), the second parent does not need to do it. But we strongly recommend that both parents log into the system right away to ensure that both have the correct login information and are able to update the system with last minute dismissal exceptions.

WHEN IS THE CUT-OFF TIME TO ADD AN EXCEPTION?

When creating an exception in the dismissal plan in SDM during a current day, please note that the cut-off time is 2:00pm on regular days and 11:00am on early release days. After the 2:00 cut-off time, you must call the school office at 212-584-3113 no later than 2:30 to make any changes for the current day.

HOW DO I CREATE A PROFILE FOR MYSELF AND/OR MY CHILD?

Parents do not create profiles for their children or themselves. The school is responsible for creating and maintaining all student and parent profiles. If you find that you need to have a profile created or that you need to make a profile change, please contact the JS office directly for further assistance.

WHY ARE MY USERNAME AND PASSWORD FROM LAST YEAR NOT WORKING?

School Dismissal Manager retains parent login credentials from year-to-year. If your password isn’t working your school may not be set up yet for the new school year. If it has, then use the “Forgot Password” function to reset your password.

IT’S PAST THE SCHOOL’S CUT-OFF TIME, HOW DO I MAKE SURE MY CHILD’S EXCEPTION IS LOGGED FOR TODAY?

If you find that you are past the school’s cut-off time, you will not be able to create an exception for that day. Instead, you will need to call the school office and talk to them directly about the exception you were trying to create.

WHAT IS AN EXCEPTION?

An exception is a change to your child’s daily dismissal routine or “default”.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “DEFAULT” AND A “RECURRING EXCEPTION”?

A “default” is your child’s normal dismissal routine that occurs two or more days in a typical week.  A “recurring dismissal” is an exception that reoccurs weekly for a specific period of time. NOTE: Parents should not try to use the “recurring dismissal” feature to set student defaults for the entire school year. If you need support please reach out to the JS office.

HOW CAN I CHANGE MY CHILD’S DEFAULT? 

You will find this setting at the bottom of the Change Password and Preferences screen. 

HOW DO I CREATE MORE THAN ONE EXCEPTION AT A TIME?

You may create more than one exception at time for a defined period of time. This can be done via the Recurring Dismissal Instructions screen.

I CAN ONLY SEE ONE OF MY CHILDREN, HOW CAN I FIX THAT?

You can fix this by calling the school. They will be able to make the necessary adjustments to your profile and/or your children’s profiles, so that they are all visible when you login. 

THE FORGOT PASSWORD LINK ISN’T WORKING, WHAT DO I DO NOW?

In the event that the Forgot Password link doesn’t work, please call the school office directly and they will be able to assist you further by re-setting your password for you. Note that parents cannot login until the school has finished setting up SDM. You will receive an email notification when the JS is ready for you to start.

CAN I CREATE AN EXCEPTION FOR A DAY THAT IS MORE THAN TWO WEEKS OUT?

Yes, above the calendar you will find a Pick a Future Date option. Here you can select any school day during the entire school year to create an exception.

I STILL NEED HELP, WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Send us an email at jsoffice@unis.org with your full name and your child's full name and homeroom. We will do our best to assist you.