The Unity Scoop – November 22

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the full week was good to you and your loved ones.  Thank you to our families who participated in last night’s Family Ambassadors meeting – the agenda and slides from the meeting are provided below.

We look forward to meeting with all of our families during fall conferences on Monday and Tuesday – see the details below!

Have a terrific weekend!

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard

Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of November 22, 2024:

1. New – Highlights of Students and their Teachers in Action This Week!: Enjoy the wonderful photos below from this past week.  Mr. Coleman, our Founding Physical Education Teacher and Middle School Athletics Director, transformed our middle school gymnasium into a bowling alley in which students actively learned about rules of the game and the techniques of a master bowler!

2. New – Thank you Families for Taking Part in Last Night’s Family Ambassadors Meeting!: We are grateful to our families who participated in our Family Ambassadors meeting.  As always, the meeting was productive, energizing, and, of course, fun!  The agenda from the meeting is below.  Here are the slides from the meeting.  And see the slide below featuring some upcoming local events of interest.  We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on December 19th!

3. Updated – Fall Family Conferences to Take Place this Coming Week, November 25-26th: We are excited to hold our first round of family conferences on:

• Monday, 11/25 (in-person evening hours, 5pm-8pm)
• Tuesday, 11/26 (daytime virtual hours on Zoom, 9am-2pm)

School staff and advisors have begun making outreach to families to schedule appointments. Our goal is that 100% of our students have an adult family representative at conferences. If you have any questions, please reach out to info@unityprep.org.

4. Updated – The Fall Athletic Season Comes to a Close!: Congratulations to the many accomplishments our student-athletes achieved this season. Kudos to our student-athletes who achieved All-Star Status in their respective leagues and congratulations to our Student-Athletes of the Month.  Go Panthers!

Congratulations to Unity 7th grader, Dylan Pilco-Duchimaza, who represented our school and his team in this year’s NYC Soccer All-Star Game.

Congratulations to Unity 8th grader, Alikhai Ramirez, who represented our school and his team in this year’s NYC Flag Football All-Star Game.

Komar Perry, 8th grade

– Quote from Komar on learning of his accomplishment: “I am proud of myself because I am being recognized for doing my work inside of the classroom and outside of school when I am running Cross Country.”

– Quote from Komar’s coach, Coach Nana: “Komar Perry has shown to be a prime example of what a Unity Scholar-Athlete is. He has a 3.8 GPA and takes full advantage of tutoring.  He comes to practice every day and always looks for ways to improve his abilities and puts in the extra work without anyone telling him. Shout out to Komar for being a role model for his peers!”

5. Recap – Perfect Attendance in October – 100%!: The following lengthy list of students demonstrated a strong and consistent dedication to their education by showing stellar attendance in October.  Kudos to these students – we love seeing you each and every day!  And, of course, we look forward to celebrating additional students at the end of this month!

6. Recap – Members of Unity High’s National Honor Society (NHS) Volunteer at this Year’s New York City Marathon!: Kudos to Unity High’s Academic Counselor and NHS Co-Coordinator, Mr. Peters, and members of NHS for their service in support in this year’s New York City Marathon!

7. New – Unity High Partners with the Health Information Project (HIP) to Train Student Leaders in Health Education: Unity High is excited to partner with HIP to train Unity High 11th and 12th grade students to teach health education to 9th grade students. The program covers topics like depression, anxiety, drugs, and obesity. HIP also connects students to health resources at their school and in their communities.  Our trained student leaders recently assisted Mr. Clotter in his health classes. Congratulations to these students on the skills they are developing!

8. Recap – November 2024 Schoolwide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of November – print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! It is possible that events could change and new events could be added.  An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website.

9. Recap – Unity Continues in its Community Service with a Canned Food Drive this Month!: Coming off our schoolwide Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk and fundraiser with the American Cancer Society, we are now engaged in a Can Drive in partnership with City Harvest.  Between now and November 22nd, we encourage all Unity families to donate non-perishable food items.  All donations will go directly toward providing nourishment to community members in greatest need. Unity students who participate in the drive will earn Panther Pride Points for demonstrating our Pride Value of Empathy.

10. Recap – Attention Unity Students in Grades 8-11 – Apply Now for a Paid Internship with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden: The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is now recruiting students in grades 8–11 for the 2024 Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. GAP is a great way for teens to get paid to learn about urban agriculture, science, and the environment while working in one of the most exciting public gardens in the world!

More information is available online at bbg.org/gap.  Additional details include:

BBG Garden Apprentices:

            •           Earn a monetary award after apprenticeship (Tier 1: $600, Tier 2: $700, Tier 3: $800).

•           Work their way up the program to become paid staff as a Tier 4.

•           Learn about botany and environmentalism through hands-on lessons.

•           Grow and harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the Children’s Garden.

•           Facilitate lessons to teach children about plants.

•           Explore Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s amazing plant collections.

•           Develop job skills, including teamwork, communication, and leadership.

Apprentices make a nine-month commitment to GAP, from March to November, which includes spring training, summer programming, and a weekly commitment after school or on weekends throughout the academic year.

Visit bbg.org/gap for applications, photos, a detailed program calendar, and answers to frequently asked questions. Applications are due December 8th.

11. Recap – Urban Advantage Family Science Days – Free Admission to some of the City’s Premiere Museums and Institutions for Unity Students in Grades 6-8!: Through Unity’s partnership with Urban Advantage (UA), middle school families may visit the following museums for free!  See the instructions below for how to obtain a family voucher.  Visit here for additional information.  Contact your child’s science teacher with questions.

Visit any of these Institutions with your family free of charge!

12. Recap – Refer a New Student to Unity Today!: Unity has a few seats available in grades 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11 for the 2024-25 school year. If you know of any interested families, please reach out to Mr. Beckford via email or cell (862-294-0219). For any families that refer a new family, both referring and enrolling families will be given a $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies.

13. Recap – Guidance on Supporting your Child with School at Home: As communicated last week, there are four things that you are encouraged to engage in at home and over the course of this month in getting off to a strong start to the school year.  Congratulations on completing #4 below this week.

1. Ask your child about their school day and, more generally, how things are going.  If our team can be helpful to your child in ensuring that they are enjoying their school experience, please reach out to help.ms@unityprep.org or help.hs@unityprep.org or your child’s advisor.
2. Take a moment to check Jupiter for the latest information regarding your child’s progress.  If you are unfamiliar with how to log into Jupiter, here is a brief video tutorial.  And if you have questions about your child’s specific information in Jupiter, email your child’s advisor for support.
3. Establish a designated space and routine at home for your child to complete any homework or practice the skills they are learning in school.  Establishing routines early will reap dividends over the school year and cultivate sound study habits that will benefit your child at Unity and beyond.
4. ☑ Attend your child’s Back-to-School Night Session.  These in-person events are an extremely valuable part of our collaboration, as families learn about curricula, academic programming, and what your child will be learning this year.  Details on dates and times are featured below; you should have also received details  of the event via email and text.  The expectation is that 100% of families participate.

14. Recap – 2024-25 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families: Calendars for the 2024-25 school year can be accessed using the links below.  Note that we have two versions this year – one version for our middle school (grades 6-8) and another version for our high school (grades 9-12).

• Grades 6-8 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
• Grades 9-12 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families