The Unity Scoop – March 1

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the February break was good to you and your loved ones, and that you’ve had a terrific week since.  It felt great to be back in action as a learning community.  One highlight of the week was last night’s Dare to be Bold Step Performance at our middle school.  Thank you to Coach Alley and Unity High’s Queen Steppers for their strong and impressive performance as we conclude Black History Month in 2024!

This coming week, we are holding spring conferences with families at our middle school.  We look forward to convening with all of our families to discuss student progress and how to make the most of the coming months.  See the first update below for additional details.

Lastly, we honor Unity’s social workers as a part of School Social Workers Appreciation Week.  On behalf of our community, I would like to thank Ms. Del Purgatorio, Ms. Brookins, Ms. Saunders, and Ms. Hidalgo for your dedication, advocacy, and support of our students, families, and community.  We are especially blessed to have your talents and expertise supporting our community.  Thank you for being such a tremendous support for all of us.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I share our March calendar as well as a host of updates, highlights, and recaps on recent school events.

Best weekend wishes,

Josh

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of March 1, 2024:

New – Middle School Trimester-2 Conferences, March 7th-8th: We have our second round of family conferences upcoming on Thursday, 3/7 (in-person evening hours, 5pm-8pm) and Friday, 3/8 (daytime virtual hours on Zoom, 9am-2pm).  Advisors are in the process of reaching out to families to schedule appointments.  A Jupiter message with a link to appointment options has also been disseminated.  Our goal is that all students have at least one adult family representative attending conferences. If you have any questions or need additional support, call Unity’s main office at 718-455-5046.

New – March 2024 Schoolwide 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.

New – Help Shape Your Child’s Experience in School by Taking Part in our Next Middle School Family Ambassadors Meeting, Thursday, March 21st, 6pm!: The next Family Ambassadors of Unity meeting is scheduled for this Thursday, March 21st, at 6pm on Zoom.  Contact Mr. Beckford with questions – all families or middle school students are encouraged to attend!

Updated – 2024 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Lottery – APPLICATIONS ARE DUE TODAY!:  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.

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!

Our middle school basketball teams and faculty had together this past week during our Annual Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game.

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).

Recap – 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+

Recap – 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!

Recap – 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!

Recap – 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.

Recap – 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!

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