The Unity Scoop – December 15

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that this past week was good to you and your loved ones.  I want to begin this brief introductory note by congratulating our middle school students and community on their completion of the second round of iReady assessments on Wednesday.  We look forward to celebrating our students’ growth from the start of the year and their efforts over the past three months!

As we approach the final school week of the 2024 calendar year, I highlight for you our students and teachers in action both at school and beyond.  It continues to be an exciting month of educational field trips and community service as students explore the many resources of New York City, and contribute to fellow community members in need of support.

Please take a moment to take in the many photos and updates below and learn about the ways in which you, as caregiver, may partner with us.  Specifically, we have two community drives happening this week in addition to our Love Your Neighbor Day this Friday.  We also have our monthly Family Ambassadors meeting on Thursday – we welcome your participation!

Warmest weekend wishes to you and your loved ones.

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard

Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of December 15, 2024:

1. New – Highlights of Students and Their Teachers in Action This Week!: Enjoy the wonderful photos below of our students and staff in action this past week in their health class and math tutoring block!

8th grade students in Ms. McRae’s Health class collaborating on social media initiatives in true WeWork fashion.

Mr. Williams works with a number of his 7th grade math students during their daily tutoring block.

2. New – Unity High Honor Roll Students for Quarter I Enjoy Virtual Skydiving at iFly!: Students earning Honor Roll status in Quarter I experienced skydiving and learned about the science of wind tunnels this past week in celebration of their achievements.  Congratulations to these students and their families and enjoy the photos below!

3. New – Unity National Junior Honor Society (NJHS)  Explore the Spyspace Museum!: Members of NJHS (7th & 8th graders) explored one of the city’s most interactive museums on Friday to exercise their mind and test their skills across the world of intelligence, special operations, AI, and STEM.  Enjoy the photos below!

4. New – Unity’s Winter Spirit Week is Here!  We are excited to embark on our Winter Spirit Week on both campuses this coming week, December 16-20.  Spirit Week is about bringing our best selves to school, as well as showing off our collective school spirit.  We have a number of fun initiatives planned for the week, including themed dress days, activities centered on our Core Values, and other extracurricular events that bring out the best of our community – see the fliers below for details!

Grades 6-8:

Grades 9-12:

5. New – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Alicia Griffith, Unity’s Class of 2021: We are thrilled to share with our entire community the accomplishments of our alumni whenever we can.  This month, we proudly provide an update on the postsecondary success of Alicia Griffith, proud graduate of SUNY Oneonta!

7. Updated – December 2024 Schoolwide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of December – 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.

8. Updated – Unity High’s Girls Basketball Team Earn Win Over Uncommon Prep Charter in their First Game of the Season!: Congratulations to our many student-athletes who will be representing Unity this winter season.  We are excited for all that you will learn and accomplish alongside your teammates.  See our updated school calendar for the game schedule this week.  Go Panthers!

Congratulations to Unity High’s Varsity Girls Basketball team on their 22-16 victory over Uncommon Charter High School on Thursday afternoon.  Go Panthers!

Kailey Harriott, 8th grade

– Quote from Kailey on learning of his accomplishment: “I love this! I feel really good of it and I think I deserve it.”

– Quote from Kailey’s coach, Coach Sarah: “Kailey Harriott shows incredible dedication to her academics and team. She consistently strives for excellence, pushing herself even when things are unplanned. As a new member of the Rising Royals, Kailey stepped up as a leader, offering help to her teammates and always seeking to improve. She’s not afraid to ask for guidance when needed, and her commitment to learning and growth is evident. Kailey treats herself, her team, and her coach with respect and kindness at all times and definitely deserves to be Student-Athlete of the Month.”

9. Updated – Unity Continues in its Community Service with a Practical Care Drive and Toy Drive this Month!: Coming off our schoolwide Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk and Canned Food Drive, we are now engaging in a Practical Care Drive and Toy Drive.  Between 12/2 and 12/20, we encourage all Unity families to donate practical items (see teh flier below) and packaged toys, which will then be shared with kids in the local community over the holidays.  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 – Unity Middle Students Engage in a Day of Field Trips and Festivities!: Unity Middle students engaged in a number of trips on Friday, including visiting the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Museum of Natural History, and Jewish History Museum.  Enjoy the photos below of students taking in some of NYC’s finest cultural institutions!

11. Recap – Unity’s Middle School Art Students Shine in our Winter Art Exhibition!: Under the guidance of their Art & Design Teacher, Mr. Berkeley, Unity’s young artists proudly exhibited their latest art work this past Thursday evening.  The exhibition was attended by a number of Unity’s faculty, families, and students.  Enjoy the photos of the event below!

11. Recap – Kudos to our P.R.I.D.E. Leaders Through the Full Month of November!: Our P.R.I.D.E. Core Values of Progress, Respect for All, Integrity, Discovery, and Empathy represent qualities that we covet as a school community.  They also represent qualities that we believe empower our students to lead fulfilling lives and, therefore, qualities that we have a responsibility to actively teach and positively reinforce.  The students listed below are our leaders through the month of November in being recognized by their teachers for demonstrating our Core Values.  On behalf of our school community, we are proud of these students, and look forward to continuing to shout out all of our students when they demonstrate P.R.I.D.E. in our community.

12. Recap – Movie Night Has Been Postponed to January: To ensure a stronger promotion and healthy turn-out, we have rescheduled to after the New Year.  A new date will be shared in next week’s edition of the Scoop.

Unity’s Family Ambassadors and basketball teams are joining forces to bring our first Movie Night of the year to Unity.  The event will take place in the auditorium of our middle school campus (432 Monroe Street).  The featured film will be Coach Carter in honor of our basketball team’s upcoming seasons.  Let’s go, Panthers!  There is a modest admission fee of $3 at the door.  Food and beverage concessions will be available for purchase.  All proceeds will go to funding our teams’ success and development this season!  RSVP here to reserve your seat in advance.

13. Recap – Thank You for Your Generosity on Giving Tuesday!: As a public charter school and non-profit organization that serves the Brooklyn community, we thank all families who contributed to making our after-school clubs programming possible through their donations.  Overall, over $5,000 was raised on Giving Tuesday!

14. 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!

15. 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.

16. 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