The Unity Scoop – September 13
Dear Families of Unity,
Happy Friday afternoon to you, and congratulations on supporting our students in their first full week of school for 2024-25!
In continuing the strength of this support, there are four things that I kindly ask you to engage in at home and over this coming week:
- Ask your child about their school day and week, 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Attend your child’s Back-to-School Night Session this coming week. 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.
We look forward to hosting all of our families next week during our Back- to- School Nights on Wednesday (9/18) at our Middle School and on Thursday (9/19) at our High School. See below for details!
Kudos to you in advance for engaging in these four things listed above, and for getting off to a strong start to the school year!
In this edition of the Unity Scoop, we showcase our students and teachers in action this week. In addition, we congratulate our student-athletes who tried out for our fall athletic teams. We also offer updates for high school athletic tryouts next week. Finally, we recap a host of information that was included in recent Scoop editions that are still helpful to families and relevant. Please take a minute to review to ensure that you are fully informed on all things Unity in the coming week.
Enjoy the weekend!
In unity,
Josh
Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder
Updates as of September 13, 2024:
1. New – Highlights of Students and their Teachers in Action this Week!: Enjoy the photos below of our students and staff in action this past week!
Unity middle school students begin their day in Dance class with Ms. McRae.
7th grade students in Ms. Wilburn’s ELA classes actively practice their close reading skills.
In Mr. Coleman’s Physical Education class, students complete their fall fitness testing.
Unity High students put their creative design skills to the test in Ms. Gjakova’s Digital Art class as they compete in a “Chair Challenge” in teams.
Ms. Abreu leads her students in a round of introductions in her Intermediate Spanish class.
2. Updated – September 2024 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of September – 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.
Open School Night Dates and Times – all Unity families are expected to attend:
- Grades 6-8 at 432 Monroe Street, Wednesday, September 18th, 2024, 6-7:30pm
- Grades 9-12 at 584 Driggs Avenue, Thursday, September 19th, 2024, 6-7:30pm
3. Updated – 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
4. Updated – Become a Unity Student-Athlete by Joining One of our Athletic Teams this Fall!: We are excited to cheer on our Unity athletic teams this fall. Information on joining one of our fall teams is provided below. Questions about our middle school athletic program can be directed to Mr. Coleman. Questions about our high school athletic program can be directed to Coach Egharevba.
Middle School Fall Athletics:
- Congrats to our Students who Tried Out for our Fall Athletic Teams this Week!: Kudos to our many, many middle school students who tried out for our fall athletic teams this past week. We are proud of your willingness to try something new, engage in a sport that you are passionate about, and represent Unity as proud student-athletes! We look forward to being your biggest fans this fall season!
High School Fall Athletics:
- Congrats to our high school student athletes who tried out for our flag football and soccer teams this past week. Try-outs continue next week with our cheerleading and girls basketball teams. To participate in either of these sports, students must be medically cleared by a doctor. Please complete the medical form linked here.
5. Updated – Attention Middle School Families Who Are Interested in Afterschool Programming!: The partnership with our middle school and St. Nick’s Alliance continues strongly this year. St. Nick’s offers a rich array of afterschool programming in academic enrichment, leadership development, and extra-curricular activities for our middle school students. Programming kicks off on Monday, September 16th. Afterschool applications have been distributed to students and additional copies are available in the main office. Through St. Nick’s programming, 17 students from each grade have access to a free field trip to Dorney Park Halloween Haunt!
Details on St. Nick’s Alliance afterschool program and the upcoming field trip will be shared with families after submitting their application. Please contact Program Director, Luis Rodriguez, with questions via email at lrodriguez@stnickallliance.org
6. Updated – Back-to-School Resources for Families from our Social Work Team!: Upshur Bren Psychology Group is offering to families a FREE webinar series to help make the back-to-school transition feel more manageable for parents and kids alike! Specifically, the following virtual webinars are being offered:
2. Executive Functioning and Supporting the Transition to Middle School
Tuesday, September 17, 7:30-8:15pm
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE SPOT!
3. Reducing Childhood Anxiety: An Introduction to SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions)
Tuesday, September 24, 12-12:30pm
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE SPOT!
7. Recap – State Exam Results from the Spring of 2024 are Now Available to Individual Families: State exam results in ELA and Math for Unity students in grades 5-9 are now available. You can view your child’s test scores in their NYC Schools Accounts. You will need their child’s student identification number, which can be found on Jupiter, as well as your child’s account creation code, which should have been mailed to you. You may reach out to Mr. Beckford (cbeckford@unityprep.org) if you do not have your account creation code. We are excited to share our schoolwide results in the coming weeks – overall, the results are impressive and reflect our students experiencing strong growth in their skills over the course of last year!
8. Recap – Guidance on School Supplies: Guidance on school supplies are below:
- UPMS 6th-8th grade
- UPHS 9th grade
- UPHS 10th-12th grade: supplies for students in grades 10th-12th are based on each student’s unique schedule. Thus, there is no general supply list for all students of these grades. Students in grades 10-12 were informed of the supplies they need by their course teachers on the first day of school.
9. Recap – AP scores from the 2023-24 school year are now available!: Unity High students who completed their AP exams in May can sign into their College Board accounts and use this website to obtain their scores. In addition, students can also see notes on the scoring here. Congratulations to all of our students who earned college credit based on their scores! More generally, congratulations to all of our students who experienced an AP course this year!
10. Recap – Information and Guidance on Unity’s Dress Codes for the 2024-25 School Year: Unity’s dress codes by grade level are provided below.
11. Recap – New Students for Fall 2024 – Unity middle school has a few seats available for rising 6th and 9th graders for the 2024-25 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 $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies.
