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March-31-2024

The Unity Scoop – March 31

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the weekend has been a festive one for you and your loved ones.

Congratulations to our high school students who completed their third round of interim assessments this week.  On behalf of our high school faculty and staff, we applaud our students for putting forth their best effort on these assessments and showing off all that they have learned this year.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we highlight a number of students who have been leaders in our classrooms and throughout our community.  We also celebrate a number of family members for engaging in our school in a myriad of ways, including family enrichment events, open house events, and general partnership in making Unity the best school possible for their children.  Finally, we provide our full school calendar for the month of April as well as gear up for our admissions lottery, which is scheduled for tomorrow!  Please spread the word if you know of families seeking a terrific middle/high school for their children in the 2024-25 school year and beyond.  Families may apply here!

Best wishes in the week ahead!

In unity,

Josh

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

 

Updates as of March 31, 2024:

New – We Continue in our Celebration of our Weekly Test Prep Heroes!: As we prepare for students to shine on this year’s state exams (and do so in engaging ways), our middle school community is celebrating the efforts of select students each week.  See the slides below for last week’s Test Prep Superheroes.  We look forward to celebrating students again this week for their efforts!

 

New – April 2024 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a complete school-wide calendar of events for the month of April – 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 – Unity’s Admissions Lottery for the 2023-24 School Year will be Held on April 1st at 9am: We are excited to hold our admissions lottery on April 1st, which is tomorrow!  If you know of families with children who are entering middle school or high school for next school year, please encourage them to apply online TODAY at www.unityprep.org in order to have a spot in our lottery. For any questions or to set up a school tour, please call Mr. Beckford at the middle school at 862-294-0219 or Mr. Doscher at the high school at 347-746-1575.  Finally, we would like to thank Ms. Connell, the mother of 6th grader, Trinitee Connell, as well as Trinity for representing Unity during last Tuesday evening’s Open House for prospective families!  In addition, thank you to middle school students, Noah, Liliana, Matthew, London, and Steven for helping to host Brooklyn Charter School’s 5th graders during the visit to Unity last week.  You were terrific hosts and our guests were very impressed by your leadership and graciousness!

New – Unity Families and Students Take Part in Sip & Paint Event: Students and their families had an opportunity to come together, appreciate one another, and “zen-out” as they created masterpieces on rainy Saturday afternoon last weekend.  Thank you to all Unity families and students who came out for the event.  And thank you to Ms. Griffin for organizing and hosting the event!

 

New – Unity Family Ambassador Spotlight of the Month!: We are thrilled to resume an exciting feature to the Unity Scoop, a monthly profile of our amazing Unity Family Ambassadors. The Unity Family Ambassadors are a group of caregivers who meet monthly and serve as thought partners for many of our school’s initiatives. If you are interested in learning more about or joining the Unity Family Ambassadors, please reach out to Mr. Beckford.

Machelle Smith, Proud Mother of Unity 6th Grader, Taylor Smith-Monroe

Profession: Client Relations Director

Favorite Restaurant in Brooklyn: Grand & Peaches

Favorite Self-care Activity: massage, meditation, spa time

Why did you choose to send your child to Unity? I chose Unity Preparatory due to a great community to enrich Taylor in her academic needs, community participation and athletics performance.

What is your favorite aspect of Unity? The leadership at Unity is phenomenal, and they always place the best interest of the children first.

What is the best advice you can provide for current and future Unity family members?  Your support to your scholar and the school during this transition into middle school is so vital. Get involved and be a part of their school community, you will not regret it!

Shout out to Ms. Shebroe for spearheading and facilitating last week’s Pi Day event. Families and scholars had a great time playing math games and building community.

 

 

Recap – Congratulations to our Middle School Honor Roll Students for Trimester 2!  Congrats to our students in grades 6-8 who earned Honor Roll status in the second trimester of the school year!  Your consistent hard work, organization, and eagerness to learn things and develop new skills is paying off.  Be proud of your accomplishments and stay the course!

Recap – 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 on Zoom last week.  The meeting was productive, energizing, and, of course, fun!  Here are the slides from the meeting.  One of the major topics discussed last night was a recap of our preparation for state exams in April and May.  See the slide below for detail.  In addition, here are four ways in which family members may offer support at home:

  • Ensure students are present and arriving at school on time.
  • Provide a protected time and space for homework, reading, and studying.
  • Continue to encourage students to try their best each and every day.
  • Ensure that students are getting adequate sleep each night and eating a healthy breakfast before school.

Contact Mr. Beckford with questions.  Unity’s Family Ambassadors will meet again on Thursday, April 18th, at 6pm – all families are encouraged to attend.

 

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.

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:
  • Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
  • 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
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