Week of September 1

 

Volume: XIII

Issue: 2
September 1, 2025

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP MESSAGE

Welcome back to a brand new school year! I hope your summer provided the rest and renewal you deserve, and that you’re returning (or starting for our new staff) with a full heart and fresh perspective.

As we begin this year together, I want to reaffirm our shared commitment to building a stronger, more collective community, one where every voice is valued, every strength is uplifted, and every challenge is met together. Community is not just something we build, it’s something we live daily, through collaboration, care, and shared purpose.

This year, our work will continue to be grounded in our school's core values:
Joy, as we create spaces where learning is meaningful, energizing, and full of life and love.
Rigor, as we hold high expectations for ourselves and for our students, knowing they rise to the bar we set with support and belief.
Equity, as we actively work to disrupt barriers and create opportunities for all students to thrive.
Power, as we honor the agency of our students and ourselves, ensuring everyone feels seen, heard, and capable of shaping their world.

Thank you for the brilliance, passion, and heart you bring into this work. I’m excited for what we will build together this year - not just for our students, but with them.

Here’s to a school year filled with purpose, connection, and impact. Now let's get to work!

UPCOMING DATES

• TUE 02SEP25 - First day of school for staff
• THU 04SEP25 - First day of school for students
• FRI 05SEP25 - Back to School Kick-off Celebration! 
  
  *During MS & HS lunch!
• MON 15SEP25 - Hispanic Heritage Month Begins
• TUE 16SEP25 - IT Professional Appreciation Day - Let's ALL Celebrate Jason!
• TUE & WED, 23-24SEP25 - Rosh Hashanah - NO SCHOOL
• THU 25SEP25 - Curriculum Night 5PM-8PM
  
  
  
• WED 01OCT25 - National Building Custodians' Day
• THU 02OCT25 - Yom Kippur - No School
• MON 13OCT25 - Indigenous People's Day/Italian Heritage Day
• WED 15OCT25 - School Based Support Team Appreciation Day (Psych, Soc Worker, Fam Worker, OT/PT)
• MON 20OCT25 - Diwali - No School
• FRI 31OCT25 - Halloween

*All Student Engagement activities for the year will now be listed in this spreadsheet and on the UAI School Calendar! Thanks to Shan, Jen, Sue and the RPET team for bring our community to life through their planning of these events.

UPCOMING TRIPS

• Planning a Trip? - If you are planning a trip for September, please make sure to complete this

TO DO THIS WEEK

PD Agenda for Sep 2-3. Please see here for the PD agendas for Tuesday and Wednesday! We will be providing hot breakfast and coffee/tea on both days at 8am (not mandatory to attend). We look forward to seeing you all back and welcoming some new faces! Please note - for Tuesday's AM session, you do not need your laptops (or anything else)! Please do bring laptops to the post-lunch PD session. You will also need it for some of the session on Wednesday - we'll let you know when.

Cell Phone Policy Review. In accordance with the new Chancellor's Regulation on internet-enabled devices, UAI is implementing a new policy using Yondr pouches. Two weeks ago, all families were sent this letter. Please take a moment to review it, we will go over the policy more in depth on Wednesday!

Trash and Furniture Moving. This time of year is always a heavy lift for our custodial staff. As you set up your classroom and office spaces, please keep in mind that the custodians are being pulled in many directions with many requests from the three schools in the building. Harry has asked that we keep trash to a minimum - there will be no trash pickup by the city until Sept 4th. So, please hold off on throwing out large items like furniture. Of course, small items can be bagged and labeled as trash but let's hold off on big items for now. If you have teacher desks or other furniture in your space that you don't want, please send an all-staff email - it seems there will be many takers! Requests for items that you need moved must be submitted through this form.

Schedule Review.  The schedule has been updated since it was last sent out - check it out here. Please email your questions to Liza (and you CC Kiri).  We will be working with Liza closely to answer and address your concerns.  

REPOST  - Pacing Guide Submission.  Each year, we share our learning goals with our kids and families.  Course Pacing guides should be submitted to Kiri by Monday 08SEP25.  Please download and make a copy of this Pacing Guide Template (one for EACH course.  Teachers who teach the same course should be sharing the SAME pacing guide).  

Please make sure ALL links in your pacing guides and lessons are set to "ANYONE WITH THE LINK" can view.  

Please link all pacing guides into THIS DOCUMENT by 08SEP24.  

PER SESSION POSTINGS

FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS:  You must apply by completing THIS FORM

Fall Clubs and Activities.  If you're interested in running a lunch time or before/after school club, please sign up no later than 09SEP25.  After school clubs and activities will start on 15SEP

Week of August 15th

Volume: XIII

Issue: 1
August 25th, 2025

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP WEEKLY MESSAGE

[From Kiri this week].  Welcome back to the blog!! In preparation for the launch of the 2025-26 school year the blog will be officially gearing up for weekly release starting today!

I do hope everyone has had an enormously fun, refueling, and enjoyable summer!  Myself, I may not have had the summer I planned, but in the end, I did find a way to carve out the summer I needed - and sometimes that's just right!

I am eagerly looking forward to seeing you all again and to launching my final year with you at UAI!  Last week, I was furiously making lists and checking off the final details to send my not-so little one off to college.  Similarly, I feel like this year will be a series of activities and work to send off UAI into your most capable and loving hands, ready to steer the ship and skillfully sail our school into many new and exciting horizons!  

I am certainly feeling all the feels with Dashiel and UAI - my real baby, and my work baby - they are both all grown up.  But for both - I am in complete certainty that they will thrive and carve out an amazing path in the world.  I cannot wait to see what happens!

So, WELCOME BACK UAI! The 2025-2026 school year is about to begin and I am soooo thankful, appreciative, and honored to be opening it up with you for my very last time!


[NOTE:  Annie will be taking the blog over this year!  I'll pop in for a guest post here and there along the way- like today ;-) ]

UPCOMING DATES

• TUE 19AUG25 - Summer Regents Week Begins
• TUE 25AUG25 - Summer Classroom Setup Week Begins
  
  
  
• TUE 02SEP25 - First day of school for staff
• THU 04SEP25 - First day of school for students
• MON 15SEP25 - Hispanic Heritage Month Begins
• TUE 16SEP25 - IT Professional Appreciation Day - Let's ALL Celebrate Jason!
• TUE 23SEP25-WED, 24SEP25 - Rosh Hashanah - NO SCHOOL
• THU 25SEP25 - Curriculum Night 5PM-8PM
  
  
  
• WED 01OCT25 - National Building Custodians' Day
• THU 02OCT25 - Yom Kippur - No School
• MON 13OCT25 - Indigenous People's Day/Italian Heritage Day
• WED 15OCT25 - School Based Support Team Appreciation Day (Psych, Soc Worker, Fam Worker, OT/PT)
• MON 20OCT25 - Diwali - No School
• FRI 31OCT25 - Halloween

UPCOMING TRIPS

• Planning a Trip? - If you are planning a trip for September, please make sure to complete this

TO DO THIS WEEK

Welcome and Farewell.  We have had some additions and departures to our staff!  Please join me sending warm messages to our colleagues

• Welcome
• Matt Babcock.  Joining us this year straight from his AMNH residency with us is Matt Babcock!  He'll be joining our staff to teach Earth Science and Biology with Thomas this year!  Welcome Matt! mbabcok@schools.nyc.gov (yes that's right - the DOE messed up)
  
  
• Meg O'Brien. Meg joins UAI (via referral from our very own Noelle).  Meg is going to help us expand our students' creative expression through visual arts this year!  We are looking forward to seeing all the stellar beauty that Meg is able to help our young ones find within themselves! MObrien32@schools.nyc.gov
  
  
• Mayisha Fariha.  Mayisha is our newest social studies teacher!  This is Mayisha's first official year of our profession after completing masters at Columbia's Teacher's College.  Welcome aboard Mayisha!  We're excited to have you join this epic team!  (mfariha@schools.nyc.gov)
  
  
• Celeste Karzon.  Celeste joins UAI's English team this year with decades of instructional experience in both charter and public school.  Her commitment to young people comes through clearly in her work.  We look forward to having you bring that love and passion to our English classes at UAI! (Celeste's DOE email is still pending - stay tuned!)
  
  
• Welcome Back
• Alison Green.  Alison is returning from sabbatical to rejoin the MS staff this year!  Alison will be really supporting our MS with intervention and in Social Studies!  Welcome back Alison! agreen32@schools.nyc.gov
  
  
• Wishing you the Best of Luck in Your Next Chapter!
• Crystal Dudley.  Crystal made the decision over the summer to move to a school that was closer to where she lives.  We thank her for all of her hard work and wonderful contributions to UAI over the years, and we wish her the absolute best in her next chapter! cdudley2@schools.nyc.gov

Schedule Review.  You should have received the schedule last week in an email that Kiri sent out.  Please do take some time to read and review it.  As I said, the schedule did need to be remade completely because we needed to make some changes to accommodate for the requirements of our Future Ready program launch (which we learned more about in July).  I realize that changes are never easy, and I super appreciate your flexibility and adaptability with these recent changes.

NEW THIS YEAR -->>. We're gonna try this out.  Typically, folks would come to me with any questions or concerns they have about the program.  I'm training Liza up to take over the reigns of programming when I leave.   So, please email your questions to her (and you can cc me!).  I will be working with her closely to answer and address your concerns, but one can only truly learn by doing.  So, I'm asking her to take the lead!  As with anything new, people will make mistakes!  AND I will be there to help her learn and correct should anything go awry!  What I do ask is for your understanding and patience as Liza takes on the helm of programming and scheduling for the first time this year!  She's already done such amazing work!  You're in great hands!

Per Session Sign Up.  If you are interested in coming in this week to prep your classrooms or do some curriculum planning, please make sure you are completing THIS FORM.  You MUST complete the form in order to be eligible for per session pay.  Folks who do not complete the form, CANNOT be paid.  

Here's the work

• Teachers & Paras:  (Teacher Training Rate Per Session/ Paras Regular Per Session)
  12 hours MAX of planning, prep, and classroom set up
• Classroom Set Up and Curriculum Planning
• Materials Organization
• All materials are unpacked, stored in closets or shelves
• All boxes are broken down and marked as trash
• Do NOT remove materials from your classroom unless they have a place to go (i.e. another classroom).  We DO NOT have storage space in the school.  Your classroom closets ARE the storage space.  So, if you have materials that do not belong to you, this is the perfect way to meet your neighbors and see if they would be interested in housing them!
• Do NOT Remove Furniture without completing
  THIS FACILITIES REQUEST FORM (again, there are no empty secret storage spots in the building - we need to be strategic.  Again, ask your neighbors (on different floors even) if they are interested in what you no longer need.
• Classroom Decor -
  Create a warm. loving, rigorous and welcoming space for our kiddos!
• Please DO create a warm and welcoming space
• Please try to refrain from taping or hammering nails or tacks into the walls.  If you need to hang something, use command strips so the walls are not damaged.  This comes straight from our building custodians. 
• Definitely feel free to go wild on your bulletin boards!
• All teachers will get a $100 in UAI teacher's choice to spend as they want this year (If budget is sufficient, we'll offer another round in November). So purchase what you would like keep your receipts, and we'll reimburse you!  Stay tuned for the submission directions (which will come at the end of September)
• Planning & Prep
• Work collaboratively with teaching teams and para partners to prepare lessons, complete pacing guides, and review lesson roles for the opening days of September. 
  
  
• Counselors & Secretaries:  (There's only one per session rate for these roles)
  12 hours MAX of office set up, and role prep
• Office and Role Prep
• Ready materials for school opening
• Counselors & SST
• Transcript & program review
• Transfer & New Admit Counseling
• Prep for Counseling for the Year
• Secretaries & 12month staff
• Prep Classroom Staff Materials (keys, key cards, supplies)
• Prep Student Supplies
• Organize incoming student files
• Prep forms for distribution
• Prep office space for work for the year

Pacing Guide Submission.  Each year, we share our learning goals with our kids and families.  Course Pacing guides should be submitted to Kiri by Monday 08SEP25.  Please download and make a copy of this Pacing Guide Template (one for EACH course.  Teachers who teach the same course should be sharing the SAME pacing guide).  

Please make sure ALL links in your pacing guides and lessons are set to "ANYONE WITH THE LINK" can view.  

Please link all pacing guides into THIS DOCUMENT by 08SEP24.  

PER SESSION POSTINGS

FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS:  You must apply by completing THIS FORM

Summer Set Up.  12 Hours MAX for all staff to come in 26AUG-28AUG (or on Mon/Fri of that week with permission from Kiri who needs to let school custodians know you're coming in) to set up, prep, and prepare for school opening.

Fall Clubs and Activities.  If you're interested in running a lunch time or before/after school club, please sign up no later than 09SEP25.  After school clubs and activities will start on 15SEP