The Unity Scoop – October 18

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that this past week was good to you and your loved ones.  I’ll begin this edition of the Unity Scoop with two brief but important shout-outs.

First, congratulations to our middle school students for showcasing all that they have learned thus far this year with the completion of their first round of interim assessments.  Kudos to our students for putting forth their best efforts!

Secondly, thank you to all of the families who attended last night’s Family Ambassadors’ meeting on Zoom!  See the agenda and slides from the meeting below.

In this edition of the Scoop, we spotlight a number of our community members, including the Students of the Month for September and our students with stellar attendance during the first month of the school year.  We also honor two of our 11th graders for their participation in a prestigious fellowship.  Finally, we highlight a number of exciting upcoming school events for you and your family.

Have an excellent weekend!

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard

Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of October 18, 2024:

1. New – Congrats to Unity’s Middle School Students of the Month!:  Kudos to our Students of the Month from September!  We celebrate these students for showing exemplary scholarship, citizenship!  Look out Unity High’s Students of the Month next week!

2. New- Your Feedback Empowers Us – Please Take a Moment to Share Your Experiences With Us By Completing our Fall Family Perception Survey: Our purpose as a school is to best serve you and your child’s educational aspirations.  And we are best positioned to fulfill this purpose when we have honest and direct feedback from you.  With this interest, we request your feedback on how we are doing as we kick off the school year by completing one of the surveys below.  The survey includes questions about family communication, engagement, fit, support, school climate, and safety, among other things.  Your answers are anonymous; we will use your collective feedback over the coming months to drive our decision-making and best position us to best serve you.  As a small gesture of appreciation for your time, the first 300 families to complete the survey by Friday, 10/25, at 4pm will be eligible for a raffle of $100 to Amazon. Simply text the survey complete screenshot to 347-746-1575 to enter the raffle.  We thank you in advance for your invaluable feedback, and, more importantly, we thank you for positioning us to act on your feedback.

• Complete the survey by clicking here
• Note: in the event that you have children attending both our middle school and high school, please complete the high school survey.
• Text the survey complete screenshot to 347-746-1575 to enter the raffle.

3. New – 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 last night.  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.  We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on November 21st.

4. New – Two Unity 11th Graders Continue in their Second Year as Fellows at JP Morgan’s Fellowship Initiative!: Kudos to Ibrahima Barry and Evan Ramos who are now in their second year as Fellows in The Fellowship Initiative (TFI) at JP Morgan.  Both students began participating in the fellowship in the summer prior to 10th grade and will continue as fellows through their graduation from Unity.  As Fellows, Ibrahima and Evan are gaining valuable college and career job experience, building their professional network, and learning under the mentorship of current JP Morgan employees.  In addition, both students are also eligible to apply for internships at JP Morgan as well as a $10,000 college scholarship.  Again, congrats to you both – continue to make us proud!

5. New – College Trips for Unity Middle Coming Soon!: As a grades 6-12 college-preparatory school, we are excited to have our students in grades 6-8 visit three terrific college options right here in New York City!  Students will visit Long Island University, Columbia, and New York University next Friday, October 25th.  See the details below!

6. New – Fall Spirit Week is Just Around the Corner!:  See the fliers below for Unity Middle’s Spirit Week and Annual Hallowsfest Extravaganza during the Week of October 28th!

7. New – Stellar Attendance in September – 98% and Above!: The following lengthy list of students demonstrated a strong and consistent dedication to their education by showing stellar attendance in May.  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!

8. Recap – Unity’s Seniors Visited the Campuses of a Number of Local Colleges and Universities!  Unity’s 12th graders visited five colleges and universities in New York City last week, including Columbia University, Long Island University, St. Francis College, St. Joseph’s College, and Hunter College.  Enjoy the photos from their visits below!

9. Recap – Unity Students in Grades 6-8 Outperform Their Peers Across New York State in Math, English Language Arts (ELA), and Science!  Our students showed off the impressive skills that they developed over the course of the 2023-24 school year as they performed better in math, reading & writing, and science compared to the average student in key districts of comparison and the state of New York.  Kudos to our team and our families for their impact on student learning!

10. Recap – Unity High Earns Advanced Placement Honor Roll Status with CollegeBoard!  Unity has been recognized by the College Board for delivering results for students while broadening access. Unity’s Honor Roll status reflects a commitment to increasing college-going culture, providing opportunities for students to earn college credit and maximizing college readiness.  Congratulations to our high school leaders and our AP teachers!  Indeed, this is an impressive achievement and reflects our commitment as a grades 6-12 school to excellence and access.

• 100% of graduates completed at least one AP course while in grades 9-12 (this reflects high access and exposure to college-ready coursework)
• 26% of graduates earned college credit while in high school (vs. the national average of 21%)
• 21% of graduates completed at least 5 AP courses while in grades 9-12 (this represents ample opportunity for students to thrive academically in college-ready coursework while in high school)

11. Recap – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Joel Watson, Unity’s Class of 2022: 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 Joel Watson, who is enrolled at Brooklyn College.

Joel Watson graduated from Unity in 2022. He now attends CUNY Brooklyn College and is majoring in Digital Art with a minor in Digital Design and Production.

Joel dreams of being a director or producer of a TV show or movie in the future, and he is steadily making progress towards this goal. Joel has taken classes even during winter break and summer to get ahead!

While at Brooklyn College, Joel has received stellar grades, and is on track to graduate with his Bachelor’s Degree in May 2026. He has already completed 75 credits and we are so, so proud of him!

The latest news on Joel is that he is building his resume to find internships in the media production field. We can’t wait to see what this Unity alumni will do next.

12. Updated – October 2024 Schoolwide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of October – 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.  Update: Unity’s Board of Trustees meeting for the month of October has been rescheduled for October 30th at 6pm.

13. 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.

14. Updated – The Fall Athletic Season is Now Upon Us!: See the October calendar above for details on this coming week’s games.  And see team photos of our Middle School Soccer Team below!  Come out to support our student-athletes in action.  Go Panthers!

15. Recap – Save the Date! Unity’s Campuses to Join Forces to Support The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer on Saturday, October 27th: Members of our community from grades 6 through 12 will participate in a 3-mile walk on Saturday, October 27th, in support of The American Cancer Society (ACS).  ACS’s Making Strides initiative raises lifesaving funds that support breast cancer patients, survivors, thrivers, and caregivers through every step of the journey.  Unity families are encouraged to take part –  sign up here to participate!

16. Recap – Unity Middle School Students to Earn Dress Down and Pizza by Practicing their ELA and Math Skills during Tutoring Class!  Families – see the flier below and please encourage students to develop their ELA and math foundational skills through focused practice during their daily tutoring block.  Through this practice, we look forward to celebrating their growth alongside you in the coming months!

17. 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!

18. 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.

19. 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