The Unity Scoop – September 22
Dear Families of Unity,
I hope that the weekend has been good to you and your loved ones. I want to express our gratitude to all family members who participated in this week’s Back-to-School-Nights for our middle school and high school. It felt great to reunite with so many of our returning families and connect in-person with our newest families. On behalf of our entire team, we thank you for joining us this week and we look forward to our strong collaboration in the coming months and beyond.
In this edition of the Unity Scoop, we share a number of photos from this week’s festivities, including students and teachers at work in classrooms, student-athletes and coaches during practice, and leaders and families during Back-to-School-Night. We also 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!
In unity,
Josh
Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder
Updates as of September 22, 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!
Ms. Saint-Louis provides additional support to a small group of 8th graders in her Algebra I class.
Ms. LaPlaca and Ms. Rivera facilitate an overview of how to properly use a microscope in a 6th grade science class.
Ms. Bonhomme and Ms. Diaz co-plan 7th grade science lessons for the coming week.
2. New – Photos from this Week’s Open School Night Sessions: Thank you again to our families for participating in this week’s Open School Night sessions. And enjoy the photos below!
Principal Yun welcomes Unity High families during the opening session.
Ms. Shunk orients families to using Jupiter to monitor students’ academic progress.
3. Updated – 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.
- 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.
- 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.
4. Updated – 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 will be given a $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies.
5. 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
6. New – Attention Middle School Families! Picture Day is this Coming Wednesday, September 27th: We are excited to have our middle school filled with smiles on Picture Day this Wednesday!
7. New – Field Trips in Grades 6-8 to Three Exciting Destinations this Coming Friday!: Our middle school students will venture out for some enrichment together this Friday.
- Grade 6: LeFrak Skate Park in Prospect Park
- Grade 7: New York City Science Museum
- Grade 8: Bowling at Bowl 360
8. 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
9. 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 began practicing with their fall athletic teams this past week! See the photo below of our girls volleyball team hard at work during their practice with Coach Patrick this week.
High School Fall Athletics:
- Congrats to our high school’s flag football team on their first game of the season this past Friday! Try-outs continue next week with our boys basketball, girls volleyball, and boys volleyball teams. To participate in either of these sports, students must be medically cleared by a doctor. Please complete the medical form linked here.
10. 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 webinar being offered this coming week:
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!
11. Recap – 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 began 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
12. 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!
13. 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.
14. 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!
15. 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.