January 6, 2022 Covid Update for Families

Good afternoon, Unity families,

I am writing today to provide an update on school programming at Unity.  As you know, we had to make the difficult decision to shift to remote instruction in
late December due to a significant increase in the number of Covid cases in our school community, including among our vaccinated staff members.  As we have continued to evaluate the situation, we have been weighing a number of factors, including a desire to return to the in-person learning that we know best serves our students, the recent and sharp increase in positive cases across the city and at Unity, as well as the revised safety guidance provided by New York State.

In considering these factors, we have decided to continue with remote instruction during the week of January 10th, and to return to full in-person programming on Tuesday, January 18 for all students.  We believe that these additional days of remote instruction will allow us to smoothly roll out our revised protocols designed to mitigate spread of the more contagious Omicron variant.  The calendar below shows our schedule over the next two weeks as we return to in-person programming.

In mitigating the spread of the virus in our school community as well as the city at large, we urge families to ensure that all eligible members of your family are vaccinated and boosted.  New York City has many free and walk-up vaccination options available at https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/, including a Herbert Von King Park- Pop Up that has walk-up Pfizer vaccinations with a $100 incentive available for eligible New Yorkers ages 12 and older.

We are currently updating our COVID safety protocols in response to the Omicron variant and current guidance from New York State, the New York City Department of Education, and the Centers for Disease Control.  We are asking that  all families take part in a mandatory webinar to review our revised safety protocols and policies on Wednesday, January 12th at 6pm.  Here is a link to the webinar.  These protocols will be in place beginning on January 18th with our return to in-person learning.

On behalf of our staff and faculty, we thank you for your continued support and collaboration as we navigate these challenging times and provide the best possible education for your children in the safest possible manner.

In unity,

JB

Joshua M. Beauregard

Head of School & Co-founder

Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn