The Unity Scoop – November 26

Dear Families of Unity,

Thank you for participating in conferences last night and today. We deeply value the opportunity to connect with you and discuss your child’s progress and experiences at Unity. Your partnership and support are essential to their growth and success, and we are grateful for your time and engagement.  Thank you for being such an integral part of the Unity community!

On behalf of Unity’s staff and faculty, I wish all of our families a delightful Thanksgiving holiday.  We are immensely grateful to you for supporting your children at home to be their best at school every day.  We look forward to our continued collaboration over the coming months and school year.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we recognize our Students of the Month from October.  We invite you to our Movie Night on December 6th and to contribute to our Giving Tuesday campaign.  Finally, we share with you our calendar for the month of December.

The next edition of The Scoop will be disseminated on December 6th.

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard

Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of November 26, 2024:

1. New – Congrats to Unity’s Students of the Month – Grades 6-12!:  Kudos to our Students of the Month from October!  We celebrate these students for showing exemplary scholarship and citizenship!

2. New – 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.

3. New – Help Us Reach our Goal of Receiving 100 Donations from Unity Families on Giving Tuesday, December 3rd!: As a public charter school and non-profit organization that serves the Brooklyn community, we are excited to participate in Giving Tuesday this holiday season.  Our goal is to receive 100 donations from the families we proudly serve.  Please consider making a modest donation today to help us reach our goal. Donations can be made here.  All Giving Tuesday donations from families will go to funding our after-school clubs programming!

4. New – Unity’s Family Ambassadors and Basketball Teams Bring Movie Night to our Community, Friday, December 6th at 5:30pm: 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.

5. New – Unity Continues in its Community Service with a Toy Drive this Month!: Coming off our schoolwide Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk and Canned Food Drive, we are now engaging in a Toy Drive.  Between 12/2 and 12/19, we encourage all Unity families to donate 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.

6. Recap – Thank you, Families, for Taking Part in Last Week’s 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 slide below featuring some upcoming local events of interest.  We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on December 19th!

7. Recap – The Fall Athletic Season Comes to a Close!: Congratulations to the many accomplishments our student-athletes experienced this fall season. Kudos to our student-athletes who achieved All-Star status in their respective leagues this fall season and congratulations to our Student-Athletes of the Month.  Go Panthers!

Congratulations to Unity 7th grader, Dylan Pilco-Duchimaza, who represented our school and his team in this year’s NYC Soccer All-Star Game.

Congratulations to Unity 8th grader, Alikhai Ramirez, who represented our school and his team in this year’s NYC Flag Football All-Star Game.

Komar Perry, 8th grade

– Quote from Komar on learning of his accomplishment: “I am proud of myself because I am being recognized for doing my work inside of the classroom and outside of school when I am running Cross Country.”

– Quote from Komar’s coach, Coach Nana: “Komar Perry has shown to be a prime example of what a Unity Scholar-Athlete is. He has a 3.8 GPA and takes full advantage of tutoring.  He comes to practice every day and always looks for ways to improve his abilities and puts in the extra work without anyone telling him. Shout out to Komar for being a role model for his peers!”

10. Recap – Attention Unity Students in Grades 8-11 – Apply Now for a Paid Internship with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden: The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is now recruiting students in grades 8–11 for the 2024 Garden Apprentice Program (GAP) at Brooklyn Botanic Garden. GAP is a great way for teens to get paid to learn about urban agriculture, science, and the environment while working in one of the most exciting public gardens in the world!

More information is available online at bbg.org/gap.  Additional details include:

BBG Garden Apprentices:

            •           Earn a monetary award after apprenticeship (Tier 1: $600, Tier 2: $700, Tier 3: $800).

•           Work their way up the program to become paid staff as a Tier 4.

•           Learn about botany and environmentalism through hands-on lessons.

•           Grow and harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs in the Children’s Garden.

•           Facilitate lessons to teach children about plants.

•           Explore Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s amazing plant collections.

•           Develop job skills, including teamwork, communication, and leadership.

Apprentices make a nine-month commitment to GAP, from March to November, which includes spring training, summer programming, and a weekly commitment after school or on weekends throughout the academic year.

Visit bbg.org/gap for applications, photos, a detailed program calendar, and answers to frequently asked questions. Applications are due December 8th.

11. 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!

12. 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.

13. Recap – Guidance on Supporting your Child with School at Home: As communicated last week, there are four things that you are encouraged to engage in at home and over the course of this month in getting off to a strong start to the school year.  Congratulations on completing #4 below this week.

1. Ask your child about their school day and, more generally, how things are going.  If our team can be helpful to your child in ensuring that they are enjoying their school experience, please reach out to help.ms@unityprep.org or help.hs@unityprep.org or your child’s advisor.
2. Take a moment to check Jupiter for the latest information regarding your child’s progress.  If you are unfamiliar with how to log into Jupiter, here is a brief video tutorial.  And if you have questions about your child’s specific information in Jupiter, email your child’s advisor for support.
3. Establish a designated space and routine at home for your child to complete any homework or practice the skills they are learning in school.  Establishing routines early will reap dividends over the school year and cultivate sound study habits that will benefit your child at Unity and beyond.
4. ☑ Attend your child’s Back-to-School Night Session.  These in-person events are an extremely valuable part of our collaboration, as families learn about curricula, academic programming, and what your child will be learning this year.  Details on dates and times are featured below; you should have also received details  of the event via email and text.  The expectation is that 100% of families participate.

14. 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