The Unity Scoop – September 6
Dear Families of Unity,
It was an honor to welcome our high school students back to school this week alongside a strong and productive second week with our middle school students! On behalf of our entire team, we are excited to engage in a full week of classes next week and are committed to a strong start in the 2024-25 school year!
In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we offer a number of photos of students and staff in action over the first few days of school. Do take a moment to take in the photos, and appreciate all that your children are experiencing at the start of the school year. And, of course, please take some time over the weekend to have conversations with your kids about how they are feeling about school, what went well over the first two days, and what they hope for in the coming week. I encourage you to reach out to your child’s advisor(s) if there is information shared that you feel could be helpful to us in best serving your child. Our collaboration with you is invaluable, particularly at the outset of the school year.
In addition to the photos, we share some free resources from our social work team and information on after-school programming. We also recap a host of information that was included in last week’s Scoop edition. Please take a minute to review to ensure that you are fully informed on all things Unity going into the coming week.
Have a fantastic weekend!
In unity,
Josh
Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder
Updates as of September 6, 2024:
1. New – Highlights from our First Week of School!: Enjoy the photos below of our students and staff in action over the first few days of the school year. There were many meaningful moments of connection and learning over the course of the week!
In Ms. Gibson and Ms. Zayers’ math class, Unity’s 6th grade students created ratios by making batches of different quantities and used tape diagrams to determine unknown quantities in ratios.
In Ms. Bonhomme and Ms. Diaz’s science class, 7th grade students developed their observation skills alongside their partners by identifying different types of rocks and their qualities.
Members of Unity’s Instructional Coaching Team prepared for walkthrough of classes.
Unity High’s Ms. Olivier (Assistant Principal of Climate & Culture) and Ms. Jaquez (Dean of Students) facilitate grade-level orientation sessions for our high school students.
Unity’s 9th grade students transition to classes on their first day of orientation.
2. New – 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
3. New – 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 three virtual webinars are being offered:
1. Being Your Child’s Greatest Advocate: Navigating IEPs, 504s and Educational Accommodations
Thursday, September 12, 12-12:45pm
CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR FREE SPOT!
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!
4. Recap – Our Middle School Students Complete their First Week of School!: Congratulations on completing our first week of school together! It felt great to meet so many of our newest families. Similarly, it felt rejuvenating to reacquaint with our returning families. A special congratulations goes out to our 6th grade students and families. We are so thrilled to have you join our community! Enjoy the photos below of our 6th graders and families on their first day!
5. Updated – September 2024 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated schoolwide 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
6. 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).
SAVE-THE-DATE!
- HIGH SCHOOL BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT FOR ALL FAMILIES (IN PERSON)!, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 6PM
- MIDDLE SCHOOL BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT FOR ALL FAMILIES (IN PERSON)!, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20TH, 6PM
- Grades 6-8 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
- Grades 9-12 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
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!
New – 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:
- Tryouts for the following sports teams will take place during the week of September 10th – 12th from 3:30 to 5:15pm:
- Cross Country
- Volleyball
- Flag Football
- Soccer
- Step
- Permission slips will be made available on Tuesday, September 3rd. Students must turn in a signed permission slip in order to try out.
High School Fall Athletics:
- Tryouts are set to begin the week of September 9, 2024 for our Flag Football and Soccer teams. To participate in either of these sports, students must be medically cleared by a doctor. Please complete the medical form linked here by September 9th to participate in the fall athletics season.
9. 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.
10. 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!
11. 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.
12. Recap – Student Class Schedules: All students – grades 6-12 – received their class schedules on their first day of school.
13. 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.
