UAI Staff News
Volume XII
Issue 13
November 25th, 2024
Thank You. We are already almost done with our 3rd month of school, which means that we're almost a 1/3 of the way through the school year. So far, each of you has worked hard and given so much to our kids, their families and our school.
- For Our MS Teachers - Phillan, Denyda, Freida, Sarah R, Fatima, Mike, Juelle, Bryanna, and AMNH Resident, Matt
- Thank your for welcoming our newest members - our 6th graders - with your trademark warmth, structure, and intellectual challenge.
- Thank you also for continually shepherding our 7th graders through their hormonally driven decision making and consistently taking each one of their missteps as an opportunity to learn and making a point to celebrate each one of their achievements.
- Welcome Bryanna, Denyda & Freida to the team! Also, Welcome Matt! Thank you Juelle, Sarah, Fatima, and Mike for welcoming folks to the team and continually building camaraderie and collaboration. AND, Thank you Sarah for taking on the responsibility of working with Matt to onboard him into our profession and develop the skills & understandings needed to thrive in his first year on his own!
- Many thanks to all the work that Aurora did for the beginning of the year. She is moving on to her next work chapter. I definitely appreciate all that she did while she was with our team and wish her only the best in her next venture!
- Thank you Phillan for taking up the leadership mantle and being the sounding board, point person, and advocate for all things middle school! Your passion for our kids and their staff is so needed and appreciated!
- For Our 8-12 Math Teachers - Brett, Jasmine, Sue, Amanda, and Judy
- Thank you for taking on the challenging task of making the 2nd year of IM implementation work! There are no easy answers, and even the ones that we do find are sometimes not quite the best solutions - but your work and effort in continually pushing yourselves and each other to refine the curriculum to serve our kids the best is what makes you shine as a team.
- Welcome to Brett & Jasmine and many thanks to Sue, Amanda, & Judy for welcoming them to the team!
- Thank you Judy for always pushing each one of us to be our best version of ourselves. Your commitment to UAI and the math team is clear and we would never be able to surf the crazy expectation of the city and district without your steady hand! You are a rock AND you rock!!
- For Our 8-12 Science Teachers - Thomas C, Camryn, Tom W, Mary, Liza and our AMNH Residents - Will, Jordan, and Cassidy
- First - let me say I'm sorry before I say thank you. That Earth Science curriculum is doggy doodoo... and I'm sorry for that. Now let me say how much I appreciate each of you for digging in to figure out how to make it work and how to make it much, much better.
- Thank you all for always being onboard to leverage up your individual practice. Whether it is using video or working alongside our AMNH residents - your ability to reflect on and grow practice consistent. That's such an important part of being the best for our kids - I really appreciate you all!
- Thank you Liza for your leadership and support of the team. Juggling the launch and support of THREE brand new courses this year, with TWO being mandated by the district is tough! AND you manage the AMNH residents & partnership, are learning to program the school, and coordinate testing. Thank you. You're amazing!!
- For Our 8-12 English Teachers - Sarah M, Crystal, Yasmeen, Patricia Gy, Laura, and Marsha
- Thank you on for leading the herculean task of lifting up our student literacy and English Language Skills. You are not alone in the work, but you are leading all of us, and your efforts pay out dividends in everyone else's classrooms - thank you!
- Welcome Crystal & Yasmeen to the team. Transitions from other teams into ELA isn't an easy move, but you both have dug in deep to learn the work and are clearly finding your footing to help our most needy students. THANK YOU!
- Patricia & Laura - thank you for stepping above and beyond your classrooms to make our school an even better place for kids and adults! Thank you for taking on senior activities, Patricia! Thank you for leading our UFT chapter, Laura!
- Thank you Marsha for leading the team and our Student Government this year. Your strength in creating strong and inclusive environments creates the strong foundation of trust that both our ELA and Student Teams need to thrive. Thank you!
- For Our 8-12 Social Studies Teachers - Shan, JRob, Jake, Martine, and Kelly
- Thank you all for taking on the behemoth task of getting our students to fully understand the world we live in and to help them uncover their own place in it that is too often erased from our history. Your commitment to continually center our kids in your content and your collective efforts to always push high level expectations around literacy and thinking is unparalleled in the city. Primary source learning is not only highly rigorous and historical best practice - but it is also the goal that the city has been pushing in Social Studies for years. Excellent work - and thank you!
- Shan - thank you for your endless energy and passion for creating a rich and FUN community for our kids. Your work in student activities has been phenomenal this year. Thank you for stepping up, thank you for taking the lead, and thank you for making UAI that much better for our kids and their families!
- Thank you Kelly for leading our Soc team!! Your work in bringing Student Work into meetings this year is blazing the trail for the rest of us. Student work is central to giving us an accurate picture of how effective our teaching practice is. Thank you also for stepping above and beyond your instructional work to do so many amazing things with our YLC, our schoolwide interventions, and our Equity team. Thank you!
- For Our Breadth Teachers - Elena, Tom M, Roger, Patti, Noelle, and Pauline
- To our team of folks who teach across all the grades in our school, thank you! Thank you for lifting up your significant load and bringing joy and support to each of kids in your Spanish, PE, Theater, and Learning Lab classrooms!
- Elena, Tom, and Pauline - thank you for holding down upper class learning labs and helping them stay on track to study, get work done, and for our seniors - apply to college! (Thank you Elena!!)
- Patti - thank you again for stepping up to hold Badminton club before school! Thank you to both you and Roger for taking on the planning and shaping of our health classes!
- Noelle - you are a wizard at providing so many different opportunities for our students to step out of their shells and find their light. Your theater class is constantly engaging and I always see kids running to you class and being the last to leave the room - a clear sign that you are their favorite, too! Thank you for putting in endless hours to produce amazing theatrical events each semester. It's always magical and wonderful to see what you and the kids can do! Thank you!
- For Our Daily Substitute Teacher - Mahjabeen, Sean, and Jermaine
- Thank you each for returning this year to help us cover our classes when folks need to be out. You each work hard to cultivate relationships with our staff and kids. I cannot emphasize how appreciate I am for that. Having folks out can be extremely disruptive for kids, but because they know each of you, that disruption is greatly minimized, and their learning and achievement proceeds with minimized hiccups! Thank you!
- Jermaine - that you for adding "Go To Class" to the UAI lexicon! Your bellowing voice sends kids skipping along when they hear it echoing from the stairwells. I miss it when you're not there, and I definitely appreciate your efforts to make sure our kiddos get to where they need to go!
- For Our 8-12 Paraprofessionals - Adelle, Brenda, Janiya, Ebony, and Nora
- Thank you for supporting our kids who need the most help in finding and staying on the right track! Your support and your pushing them to be their best selves is exactly what they need in order to learn to master their learning differences and develop the skills they need to succeed independently.
- Brenda & Janiya - thank you for going above and beyond the role! Brenda, thank you for bringing order and organization to our hallways and bathrooms. Janiya, thank you for taking on the task of managing all our transportation!
- Welcome Ebony and Nora to the UAI team this year! You bring both joy and structure into each of our classrooms and your students definitely supply you with an endless supply of challenges, but you each keep at it - trying to find the best ways for them to thrive! Thank you!
- For Our Student Support Team - Jen, Annie, Jennifer, Tiffany, Jean, and Nicole (and Alaisha!)
- Thank you to our student support team!! Our classroom folks push and challenge our students to academically thrive, and you all provide the redirection, soothing, and support they need to navigate adolescence and arrive at the beautiful young people they are when they graduate. Your work is subtle, can be incredibly rough and heartbreaking, always a little frustrating (because kids so often don't learn the first time...or the 18th time), but your work is essential to UAI realizing it's mission of helping students find their Power.
- Tiffany, Thank you for stepping into the College Counselor role this year. Watching you grow and flourish in the work (in just 12 weeks) has been awe-inspiring! You took to the work like a fish to water and have a natural talent in the field. Combined with your skills in working with kids and families, you have rapidly managed to provide an excellent level of post-secondary support for all of our students and their families this year. I don't have enough words to show my appreciation - so, I hope a big heartfelt THANK YOU suffices!
- Jen and Annie - thank you for leading the team and always being on top of making sure our kids are getting the best support exactly when they need it most!
- For Our Admin Team - Annie, Jen, Paula, Damaris
- Thank you Paula for picking UAI this year! We are so lucky to have your energy, your smile, your work ethic, and your know how as an addition to our school operations team. Welcome to UAI and thank you!
- Thank you Damaris for all that you do to support our main office and it's operations! I know you are like me looking forward to that sweet, sweet happy time that begins with an R - but for now, I am happy for the efforts and work you put forth to support the team.
- Jen - you are doing amazing things in Recruitment this year. You are the energizer bunny that never quits and if the system was actually fair, I have no doubt that our school would be overrun with kids next year. Your work this year has been next level and epic (I know I'm not wielding that Gen Z/Gen Alpha lingo right but you get what I mean). Much LOVE and appreciation for all that you do, have always done, and will continue to do for our school, for our families, and for our kids. But most of all thank you for always being a sounding board and thought partner in bring UAI to where it is today, and for always being there for me.
- Annie - I couldn't have picked a better #1 (and yes, you'll have to watch Star Trek to get that reference). I thank Emily everyday for pointing you our way, and I'm forever grateful that you picked UAI over AGL :-). Your calm strength and kid-centered leadership pushes all of us to be better and believe that we can be better. This year you've taken on operations as a total newbie and 3months in, you're moving like a pro - like it's been 30 years! You're amazing and I thank you for being so! Thank you for always pushing and challenging me, too. It's not always pleasant - true - I'm stubborn and I like to be right all the time so of course I'm not gonna like being challenged. BUT, the truth is I'm NOT always right (shocker, I know) AND I need people to push me because through that push I usually find myself with stronger, clearer, and better ways forward. Thank you for knowing that about me, and thank you for never giving up on pushing me to be a better leader for us all.
We certainly shouldn't save gratitude for the Thanksgiving week. It should be something that is constant. However, it often falls to the side as our work eclipses everything. But here we are. It's Thanksgiving..so let's make the most of it!
I invite you all to take a page out of my blog effort today. Think about those around you at UAI who have helped you, done some amazing work, or pushed our shared mission forward. Think about who inspired you or challenged you so far this year.
Reach out - send them a quick text, email, or stop by their classroom - share some kind gratitude.
Then...reach out again - to those who you don't always recognize and step into their shoes for a minute. Take another minute to reach out to them to connect and share appreciation
THANK YOU ALL!!!
Important Upcoming Dates
- MON 25NOV - Native American Heritage Month Celebration
- TUE 26NOV - 6th Grade Trip to the Met - Fatima, Denyda, Phillan, Bryanna chaperone
- WED 27NOV - 2:20PM Rapid Dismissal
- THU 28NOV and FRI 29NOV - Thanksgiving Recess
- WED 27NOV - Senior Trip To Moana - Patricia & Marsha Chaperone
- MON 02DEC -
- Launch of UA Project Cafe - 205A and Farm Classes Relocated 9-11AM in Farm
- First Girls Basketball Home Game vs. Achievement First @ 4:30PM in Gym
- TUE 03DEC - AMNH Trip for 6th & 7th Grade
- WED 04DEC - CUNY Visits UAI to see BTCM in action
- THU 05DEC - Trip to African Diaspora Film Festival
- SAT 07DEC - FAFSA Application Support AND MS/HS Open House Day
- WED 11DEC - District Evaluation Visit (PPO)
- THU 12DEC - Winterfest
- FRI 13DEC -
- UAI Theatrical Production of Rabbit Hole
- UAI Staff Winter Celebration (Details TBD)
Upcoming JANUARY Homecoming Events
- 02DEC-10JAN - Homecoming Court Selection
- 06JAN-10JAN- Homecoming Spirit Week - Details to Come
- 08JAN (7th pd) - Homecoming Assembly (7th pd) HC Court Announced
- 09JAN (7th pd) - Homecoming Parade (thru UAI Halls)
- 10JAN - Homecoming Dance (7:30-10PM)
Announcements & To Dos
Thanksgiving Snack Luck. Thank you to Jasmine for launching our Thanksgiving Snack Luck!! Please sign up to bring something for Monday PD at 3:30PM. It's also OK if you forget to sign up - just bring something! I'm making a slow cooker beef bourguignon, but I don't have any bowls. If someone could bring bowls and spoons, that would be a great complement! (I'm also making cookies for the vegetarians out there!)
Learning Huddles. I will announce Learning Huddles during Monday AM Announcements (because that's private to UAI and this blog is public to everyone). If you have a student(s) that you need help thinking about how to support, please complete this Learning Team Huddle Nomination Form no later than Friday @3PM (preceding each week - I had said Sunday, but turns out - I need more time to coordinate).
Old Announcements That are still on the To Do list
[REPOST] Graded Assignments for MP2. Also on Friday, folks will have time to create all the assignments that will be graded for MP2 in GAMA (Grade and Messaging App). As announced at the start of the year, you should be telling students at the start of each unit what their assessments will be and which of those assessments will be graded and which will be aimed at helping the prepare for the graded assessments. In this same path, those graded pieces need to be in GAMA. This is the way that students will be able to see their grades. Staff will have MP2 to get used to transferring and updating grades (just like we used MP1 to get used to taking attendance and using GAMA). By MP3, we will be communicating with families & students that GAMA is our LMS (learning management system). So we want staff to be fairly fluent with it prior to that launch.
[REPOST] Outreach. Lots of folks have not yet remembered to log their outreach so far this week. Please remember that you have until 3PM tomorrow. Folks who failed to log this week's outreach and last week's outreach will receive emails reminding them. You will receive a total of 5 warnings this year. On the 6th time you forget to log outreach, you will lose your privilege to conduct the outreach remotely. I really don't want to rescind that privilege and that's why I'm providing FIVE chances to get it right. Please make sure you are setting a reminder in your phone or calendar to log your outreach each week. You need to make sure this gets done.
For these next few weeks, please make sure you are prioritizing contact to families of students who are not yet reaching our school goal of receiving >80 in your class. Please invite students to Office Hours on Monday to get extra help from you if needed.
Per Session Postings
For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form
Restorative Justice Coordinator - Filled: Sue Rissberger
Classroom SetUp and Planning. 12 hours total. All Classroom Staff (Teachers & Paras) are eligible. Tue 27-29Aug .
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