The Unity Scoop – March 7

Dear Unity Families,

I hope the first week of March has been good to you and your loved ones.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we’re excited to share a variety of recent Unity highlights!  We proudly spotlight our: Students of the Month and their accomplishments, Honor Roll students from Unity High, and celebrate those with stellar attendance from February.  Additionally, we share athletic highlights, a recap of an exciting recent field trip, and a special tribute to one of our talented and dedicated educators at Unity.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to welcome our middle school families for conferences on Thursday and Friday—see details below!

Enjoy the weekend, and don’t forget to set your clocks forward for daylight savings!

Best,
Josh

Josh Beauregard
Head of School / Co-founder
Updates as of March 7, 2025:

1. New – Congrats to Unity High’s Students of the Month!:  Kudos to our Students of the Month from January!  We celebrate these students for showing exemplary scholarship and citizenship!  Students of the Month for the month for February will be highlighted in two weeks.

2. New – Unity High College & Career Readiness Team Launches our First-Ever Career Workshop Series: We kicked off our Career Speaker Series this past week with a social worker from Brooklyn Defenders, who provided valuable insight into careers in psychology and social work.  This series is a fantastic opportunity for students in our College & Career courses to connect with professionals and explore potential career paths. Next up, students will hear from a poet/writer and an entrepreneur in photography l/social media marketing—we can’t wait for these exciting conversations!

3. New – Congratulations to Our High School Honor Roll Students for Semester 1!: A huge shoutout to our 9th-12th grade students who achieved Honor Roll status in the first semester! Your dedication, perseverance, and commitment to learning and growth are truly commendable. Your hard work is paying off—take pride in your accomplishments and keep striving for excellence!

4. New – Unity 8th Graders Visit the Museum of the City of New York: Last Friday, our 8th graders explored the Museum of the City of New York’s new Activist New York exhibit. In the photo below, students engage with one of the museum’s curators while creating protest buttons for a cause of their choice.

5. New – Stellar Attendance in February  – 95% and Above!: The following lengthy list of students demonstrated a strong and consistent dedication to their education by showing stellar attendance in February.  Kudos to these students – we love seeing you each and every day!  And, of course, we look forward to celebrating additional students at the end of this month!

6. New – Unity Educator Spotlight of the Month – Ms. Olivier, Assistant Principal of Climate & Culture, Grades 9-12: We are excited to bring a new segment to the Scoop to you – our Monthly Unity Educator Spotlight.  In this inaugural segment, we spotlight Ms. Olivier, our High School Assistant Principal of Climate & Culture.  Thank you, Ms. Olivier, for all that you continue to bring to our community!  We look forward to spotlighting other Unity educators in coming editions.

• Name and Title: Ms. Olivier, Assistant Principal of Climate & Culture, grades 9-12
• Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
• College:
  • BA in Journalism and Sociology, Temple University
  • MA in Education, Relay Graduate School
  • MA in Business Administration, Hofstra University
• Years at Unity: 9 years
• Recent Achievements & Contributions:
  • Founder of the Unity Queen Steppers
  • Founding Advanced Placement Language Teacher
  • Principal Fellow
  • Ms. Olivier was promoted to Assistant Principal in 2023.
• What do you appreciate most about being an educator at Unity?
  • What I most appreciate about being an educator at Unity is the strong sense of community. No matter which site you’re at, there’s a real connection among everyone. Unlike my own high school experience, our alumni stay incredibly engaged. They often return to speak with the senior class, ensuring they’re well-prepared for the next chapter in their lives.
• What is one highlight that you and your students have recently experienced in class?
  • A recent highlight was our student government-led Black History Month community meeting. It was incredible to watch students from all four grade levels confidently take charge, engaging the entire school in a spirited sing-along to end it off. This was the first time our student leaders had addressed the entire student body, and despite their nerves, they did an outstanding job. It was truly a moment of pride, and I’m excited to see them lead again at the next event.
• What is one thing that you are now learning to do for the first time?
  • One thing I am always learning each year is balance.

7. Updated – Middle School Spring Family Conferences, March 13th-14th: We are excited to hold our middle school spring family conferences on Thursday, March 13th (in-person evening hours, 5pm-8pm) and Friday, March 14th (daytime virtual hours on Zoom, 8:30am-3pm).  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. All students whose families participate in conferences will be awarded 10 Pride Points.  If you have any questions or need additional support, call Unity’s main office at 718-455-5046.

8. Recap – March 2025 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a school-wide calendar of events for the month of March – 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.

9. Recap – Congratulations to our Middle School Honor Roll Students for Semester 1!  Congrats to our students in grades 6-8 who earned Honor Roll status in the first semester 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!

10. Recap – Unity Middle’s Step Team Plays Hosts to a Magnificent  Step Competition!: Congrats to Coach Martino and her team for hosting last weekend’s step competition in front of a full auditorium at 432 Monroe Street.  Click on the image below to see Unity’s Rising Royals perform to conclude the competition!

11. 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.  On behalf of our entire community, thank you to all students and staff for your contributions to our festivities!

12. Recap – Unity’s Athletic Teams In Action this Week!: Congratulations to our middle school basketball teams on their strong seasons.  And congratulations to our high school basketball teams on recent wins and best wishes to them as they close out their seasons and look ahead to the playoffs.  Finally, congratulations to our middle school student-athletes for trying out for our spring athletic teams this past week.  To have over 50 student-athletes try out for our track team is incredible!  Go Panthers!

13. Recap – Thank you, Families, for Taking Part in our Recent Family Ambassadors Meeting!: We are grateful to our families who participated in our Family Ambassadors meeting.  As always, the meeting was productive, energizing, and, of course, fun!  The agenda from the meeting is below.  Here are the slides from the meeting.  And see the meeting below.  We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on March 20th!

14. Recap – Join our New Unity Prep Instagram (IG) Account Today!: We recently launched our new grades 6-12 IG account to bring our entire community together – @unityprepcharterschool.  Don’t miss out – follow us now!

15. 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