As indicated in Dr. Brenner's email sent on Saturday, December 12, Junior School students are expected to attend all their classes remotely, learning at home from Monday, December 14 through Friday, December 18, and from Monday, January 4 through Thursday, January 7.

All classes will be cancelled on Friday, January 8 so that the full community can be pool tested on campus.

The Hybrid Learning Model will resume on Monday, January 11, 2021 when the campus re-opens.

You will find below important information to support your child's distance learning experience.

Pascal Vallet, Junior School Principal

Alessandra Camilo, Junior School Assistant Principal

The school day will start at 9am and end at 2pm. Remote Schedules have been condensed in order to take into consideration the challenges that students at home can face while learning virtually as a whole class. The schedules have therefore been modified, following what the Middle and High Schools did a few weeks ago when they closed for a reason similar to why the Junior School did today.

Students' schedules can be found:

• On the distance learning website directly (for parents)

• On Clever (for students), you can see on the "How to?" page direction your child can follow to access the schedule on their Clever page here.

• On Schoology for the students who are using it already.

Homeroom, specialist, language, learning support and ELL teachers will teach their students live on Zoom. This does not mean that each period will require the students to be on Zoom for the full period . Teachers may ask students to work independently for part of the period, based on the design of the lesson. However, it is expected that students will join all classes throughout the course of the day.

In order to simplify the process for our Junior School Students, we have tried to minimize the number of links:

• Homeroom and Specialist teachers will all use the same link per homeroom: students will use the exact same link for joining both the homeroom and specialists classes.

• Language teachers and Mother Tongue teachers will use their own Zoom link

• ELL teachers and Learning Support teachers will use their own Zoom link

This means that a non-Mother Tongue student will use two links:

• the main link for Homeroom and Specialists

• one link to join their Language teacher, ELL teacher or Learning Support Teacher

A Mother Tongue student will use two to three links:

• the main link for Homeroom and Specialists

• one link to join their Mother Tongue teacher,

• one link eventually to join their ELL teacher or Learning Support teacher

The Zoom links can be found on:

• the schedules (see above to find the schedules)

• on Schoology for the students who normally use Schoology

For J2, J3 and J4 students, these links will be the same links they already use when they are learning from home.

UNIS IT is providing two links to receive support:

• one Google Meet Link for parents/students

• one Google Meet Link for faculty

The Junior School Distance Learning Plan is designed to support several goals:

• Engaging the students in their learning in various activities directly connected to the UNIS curriculum while being away from school.

• The schedule replicates the usual schedule, with minor differences. The distance learning day is shortened as each period is slightly shorter than during the usual schedule.

• Building routines: in Junior School grades it is important for students to follow daily and repetitive routines. The school being closed should not be perceived as a break. Learning happens on a daily basis with a specific pace close to the usual learning pace at school.

• Maintaining relationships: students continue to hear and see their teachers as the instruction from homeroom and specialists is synchronous (face to face on Zoom) at all times.

• Being supported: the plan is designed so that counselors, learning specialists, ELL teachers, and technology integrators can provide support to students, families and teachers during this challenging time in order to support continuity in student learning and well-being.

Maintaining efficient communications during a school closure is necessary to support students' success and well-being, as well as for supporting parents in this challenging time.

• Teachers and students maintain synchronous communications through Zoom.

• Teachers can be reached by email during normal school hours and will respond in a timely manner.

• Teachers, parents and students can interact when necessary through Remind, a Whatsapp-like communication tool designed for school (under implementation).

• The traditional Junior School Newsletter will continue to be sent by email to parents and be accessible on the Junior School Guidelines as usual, every Sunday afternoon.

• Counselors and School Psychologist will contribute to the Newsletter by sharing information and tips for parents related to homeschooling and student well-being during challenging times.

• Principals can be contacted by email addressed to jsoffice@unis.org. Emails will be prioritized based on content.

• Administration and parents and students can interact when necessary through Remind, a Whatsapp-like communication tool designed for school (under implementation)

• Principals can be contacted by email addressed to jsoffice@unis.org. Emails will be prioritized based on content.

• Junior School Leadership works with the PA and Class Parents to organize regular meetings in order to collect feedback, and provide every parent the opportunity to raise concerns and questions.

All students are expected to participate in off-campus school. Any learning activities or assessments are expected to be completed. In exceptional circumstances or illness, parents of students who are unable to participate should notify the school as they would for any school absence, and those students will be given special consideration. To notify the school email jsattendance@unis.org.

Being supportive to our students, families and teachers is a key component of the success of our Distance Learning plan.

The goals of the academic and emotional support provided by the Junior School aims to:

• Support students in order to remain on task

• Build Routine

• Encourage Self-care/Wellness

• Work on some content related to SEL curriculum and how it ties into JS grade level curriculum

• Maintain relationships with teachers

• Maintain relationships with peers

• Maintain relationship with UNIS community

Academic support is provided by:

• Homeroom teachers

• ELL teachers for students in ELL

• Learning Support team for students in Learning Support Literacy and Mathematics

• Specialist teachers for any academic questions related to their subject

The student's online experience may limit the differentiation that teachers can provide to their students compared to the level of differentiation that teachers can accommodate in face-to-face instruction on site.

EMAIL sent during school hours is the preferred way to contact teachers and they will respond in a timely manner (until Remind is fully implemented).

Social Emotional support is provided by:

• Amy Iamundo, School Counselor for J2 and J4 aiamundo@unis.org

• Alyssa Frost, School Counselor for J1 and J3 afrost@unis.org

• Dr. Dana Marnin, School Psychologist for Pre-K and JA dmarnin@unis.org

Clinical Guidance

• Dr. Marnin can also provide a response to JS parents with clinical guidance needs for Pre-K through J4 students.

EMAIL during school hours is the preferred way to contact the support team and they will respond in a timely manner.

In case of emergency call 911.