The Unity Scoop – February 16

Dear Families of Unity,

I wish to extend a hearty thank you to the families that attended our Black History celebration on Wednesday afternoon and our dance recital last night.  Both events showcased the talents and voices of our students, staff, and community members.  A special thank you to our families who facilitated workshops on Wednesday – we appreciate your active partnership!  And, of course, kudos to our incredible team of educators for organizing these rich and festive experiences for our students and community!

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we celebrate our high school honor roll students from Quarter 2, offer highlights from our dance recital and BHM festivities, and honor our PRIDE leaders for the month of January.  We also spotlight one of our alumni and his accomplishments at Unity and in college.  Finally, we provide updates on the recent accomplishments of our student athletes – go Panthers!

I wish you a healthy and restful February break!  We look forward to welcoming students back to school on Monday, February 26th.

Warmest mid-winter wishes to you,

Josh

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of February 16, 2024:

New – Congratulations to our High School Honor Roll Students for Quarter 2!  Congrats to the honorees – continue to make us proud!  We look forward to celebrating your achievements again at the conclusion of Quarter 3!

• Honor Roll : Quarter GPA of 3.0-3.49
• High Honor Roll : Quarter GPA of 3.5-3.99
• Principal’s List : Quarter GPA of 4.0+

New – Unity’s Dance Students Perform in Winter Recital!: Unity’s dance students across grades 6-8 performed in front of a full audience of students, families, and staff last night.  Congratulations to our many students who performed and showed off all that they have learned in their class thus far this year.  Thank you to the many families and staff who came out to take in the performance and support the cause.  And, finally, congratulations to Ms. McRae for continuing to take our dance program to new heights!

New – Kudos to our P.R.I.D.E. Leaders for the Full Month of January!: 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 were leaders for the month of January 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.

New – Unity Celebrates Black History this Month through a Host of Festivities!: Our school community continued in our celebration of Black History this past week.  The photos below feature a number of the impressive performances by our students and guest presenters.  On behalf of our entire community, thank you to all students and staff for your contributions to our festivities!  The celebration will continue during the last week of February, including our High School Step Team, The Unity Queen Steppers, performing at our middle school auditorium on February 29th – see the flier below for details!

New – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Sanjae Chin, Unity’s Class of 2020: 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 Sanjae Chin, who is now in his fourth year at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and preparing to graduate this May!

Accomplishments: Sanjae Chin graduated from Unity in 2020. He is currently a full-time student at Vassar College, majoring in Computer Science.  Sanjae was introduced to computer science at Unity when he took AP Computer Science as a 10th grader.  Sanjae was the Valedictorian of his graduating class at Unity.

Fun Facts: Sanjae has recently taken up weight training and fitness while at Vassar.  Sanjae can now be found in the gym 6-7 days a week when he is not in the computer science lab preparing his work portfolio for job interviews this spring!

Updated – Full February 2024 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a complete school-wide calendar of events for the month of February – 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.

Updated – Unity’s Student-Athletes Continue to Shine in the Winter Season!: There have been a number of recent highlights worth sharing with Unity’s athletic teams this winter season.  Here are a few!

For the third year in a row, Unity Middle’s Girls Basketball Team won the PINK Classic Basketball Tournament.  Kylee Alexander was named the Tournament’s MVP.

Middle School Scholar-Athlete of the Month for January: Kamau Hutchinson

Team: Junior Varsity Boys Basketball

Current GPA: 3.5

Description: Kamau has been a core piece to Junior Varsity’s success. He is averaging a double-double with over 10 points and rebounds per game. He has maintained great grades throughout the season, and never misses practice. He is one of the leaders of the team, and an exemplary scholar athlete.  In response to earning Scholar-Athlete of the Month, Kamau offered a very honest response: It feels good!  I have been working my butt off for the last three months!”

Representatives from the New York Rugby Club visited Unity PE classes in January.  They taught our students how to play Rugby and donated equipment to the school.

The Middle School Dance Team recently attended the annual HBCU Night United Game at Barclays Center where the Nets celebrated the rich history and influence of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Our Girls Varsity and Boys Junior Varsity Basketball Teams recently participated in a mentoring event with the basketball team of our neighboring elementary school, PS 44.  During the event, our scholar-athletes worked with PS 44’s team to develop foundational basketball skills, discussed the importance of being excellent students and excellent team players, and, of course, had some fun together!

Unity’s Coach Berkeley is featured here facilitating a co-practice with Unity’s basketball team and PS 44’s basketball team.

Recap – Unity High Students Visit Fordham University!: A number of our upperclassmen at Unity High visited Fordham Unity last week.  During the visits, students had an opportunity to tour the campus, visit with administrators, and learn more about the college.  Thank you to Mr. Warner and Ms. Peters for coordinating the trip!

Recap – Recent Highlights Among Unity High’s Debate Team!: Unity High’s Debate Team continues to reach new heights in its second year.  Recent highlights include:

Two of its team members, Vondell Hankies ‘25 and Tamese Pratt ‘24 qualified for New York State Speech & Debate Championship, which takes place at Hofstra University in April.

Coach Conyer’s book, I Wasn’t Supposed to be Here, was recently published.

The team collected major victors of debaters from prominent high school debate teams, including Achievement First and Brooklyn Latin.  A number of team members are vying for the National Championship, which will be held in Chicago this spring!

Recap – 2024 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Lottery:  All students ages 14–24 are invited to apply to participate in the 2024 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), which is now accepting applications for summer 2024 via the general lottery through March 1. If you have any questions, you may reach out to Ms. Behan or call 800-246-4646.

Recap – Unity Calendar for the 2023-24 School Year: The table below reflects our key events and vacations calendar for the 2023-24 school year.  In addition, here is the updated PDF version of the table for your convenience.

Recap – New Students for 2023-24 school year – Unity middle school has a few seats available for rising sixth graders for the 2023-24 school year. Finding the right middle school can be tough, and our current families (you!) are the best advocates. 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 will be given a free uniform shirt.

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families.  A host of resources are provided below.  Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

• Introducing 988, The New Mental Health Hotline: The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which launched last week, is a new way for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis to quickly reach out for help. Anyone in the US can now call or text 9-8-8 to be connected to a trained mental health professional at one of more than 200 local crisis call centers around the country. Learn more here.
• INCLUDEnyc Presents: How to Talk to Your Children about Sexuality: This webinar will help parents and guardians of children with disabilities become more comfortable discussing sexuality and relationships, and cover some of the most effective ways to talk about this sensitive topic. Learn more and register here.
• Free Summer Meals for Students – begins Tuesday, June 28th: NYC’s Summer Meals program offers free breakfast and lunch throughout NYC for anyone age 18 and under. No registration, documentation, or ID is required.  Visit here for details on time, locations, menus and other helpful information.
• Free Book Giveaway for Kids and Teens: As part of our largest summer program ever, The New York Public Library is giving away 500,000 books for kids and teens to take home and keep. Drop by one of our neighborhood branches to choose yours—plus, explore free events, our summer writing contest for kids, the opportunity for teens to contribute to a new magazine, and more with Summer at the Library.  Visit here for more information.
• DOE’s Beyond Access Series Presents Self-Regulation Techniques: This workshop will provide parents, caregivers and students strategies for reducing stress and improving the ability to self-regulate, with simple routines and activities that reduce anxiety and reactivity and promote calm and happy students and families. Spanish and Mandarin interpretation available. Learn more and register here.
• DOE’s Beyond Access Series Presents How to Access Supports for Students with Behavioral Challenges: This workshop covers the educational rights of students who face behavioral challenges in school, including different kinds of behavioral supports and interventions , along with the opportunity to share advocacy tips. Learn more and register here.
• The Child Mind Institute offers great (free & remote) caregiver workshops on a seasonal basis!  Take a moment to visit their site and appreciate their offerings.
• The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children.  Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
  • Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
  • How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
  • How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
  • How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
• Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
  • Bronx PDF 
  • Manhattan PDF
  • Queens PDF
  • Brooklyn PDF
  • Staten Island PDF
• Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th.  The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar.  Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
  • Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
  • Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
  • Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health