Week of December 7th

UAI Staff News

Volume III

Issue 15

Week of Dec. 7th, 2015

Announcements 

Calls Home.  Let's make a goal this week to make it a point to make and log all of our calls home - that's calling any advisee who doesn't make it to 2nd period on time AND sprinkling a few positive calls (they are good for the teaching soul) in this week.  We are all gearing up for the winter break, so let's help our kiddos launch into the recess with some positive reviews and improved attendance!

PTA Dinner.  This Tuesday (08DEC) the PTA is hosting a family dinner for the UAI community.  Please come join the festivities and help us build stronger family bonds while we have delicious food!  It will be a wonderful evening with family and staff.  So, please make an effort to attend.

Subject Team leaders have been asked to develop some quick ideas around what to do during the winter recess.  Help your leaders out! We're really looking for simple things that parents can do to help their students develop academic and social emotional skills at home.  

Intervention.  As we prepare for the 2nd Marking period to end, it is clear that students need some extra help and in some cases, extra challenge.  To check in, please make sure that you are using all of our interventions

• Tier I:  Double Unison Reading and Double Conferences (Assessment = UR or Conference Record).  Students with IEPs and/or who have a DRP lower the the 25th percentile should automatically be scheduled for twice the amount of Unison and double the conferences.

• Tier II:  Workout Plans, Learning Groups, Lunch Time Tutoring (Assessment = CBMs, Self-Check Quizzes, etc.)  Students who are lagging on classroom assessments and/or need to build basic background abilities in math and English need to be equipped with Remediation workout plans, scheduled for learning groups, or mandated to Lunch or after school tutoring. 

• Tier III:  Parent-Teacher conference to create intervention plan (Specific Goals and Scheduled Follow Up Meeting to Check on Goals TBD by meeting).  Students who are unresponsive to Tier I or Tier II interventions and are persistently failing need to have an intervention scheduled with teachers and parents.  Grade teams should review Tier I and Tier II data to help inform goal-setting during the meeting.  Goals need to be SMART (specific, measureable, achievable, relevant, and timely).  

• Tier IV:  Full Intervention Meeting (hour+ long meeting with Admin/Teachers with specific goals and follow up scheduled in Conference time with teachers) This full length intervention will use strategies to shift student mindset and self-concept. Students who continue to fail despite multiple attempts to intervene often have deep-seated issues with self-concept and require a mindset shift.  This intervention uses the LC intervention protocol.

Things To Do This Week

• ALL STAFF.  Please take a minute to RSVP to the staff party so that we can get an accurate head count for the catering order.  Please bring your $20 to room 401 by Wednesday this week.

• ALL STAFF. In grade and subject teams, for the next few weeks, please take the time to use the Data Driven protocol to review these data points (DRP, Benchmark Data, and Classroom Grade Data) to identify students in need of intervention (see above for the Tiers)
• ALL STAFF: Please take a moment to review the DRP testing schedule for this week (click the tab "DRP Digital Testing") .  Ultimately, we will be moving to a 100% digital platform for these exams.  For this period, only the 6th and 9th grade will be using the computers.  However, this will be the schedule that we use for the next two administrations in the Spring.  So please follow this schedule for next week.

Staff Shout Outs

Perfect Attendance.  Val, Elena, Steve, Kim, Meredith, Natalie, and Tom have all been to school every single school day in September, October and November.  Congratulate them on their 3 month streak!  Let's see how many of us can join this perfection over the next 3-month span of December, January, and February!

Parent Outreach is on the Rise.  Natalie, Tracy, Marsha and Carol are all working together to build up parent involvement in our Middle School.  In addition, Carol is hard at work generating monthly newsletters to connect our families to UAI.  Bit by bit we are working to build bridges to our girls' families and these four amazing women are pivotal players in making that happen!

College Applications are In (or mostly in)!  This week, Mara and Lori pulled out all the stops to work with the Class of 2016 in completing their college applications.  It was a long week, but the majority of the girls have either fully completed or are well on their way!  Great work you two!

Resilient Scholars Project

Relationship Skills. Our students are a third of the way through the year, and some are persisting in showing defiant, rude, and other maladaptive social behaviors. As we work, it's important to be aware of how perspectives shift in reaction to these behaviors. Take a moment to do this activity to reflect on your relationships with students. Making time to reflect provides perspective on situations that seem unsolvable. Finding a different vantage point will often lead to the ideas and revelations that result in excellent strategies!

Important Dates

• Monday, 07DEC15. Pod Cycle 2 Begins (07DEC15 Through 18JAN15) - Pod Share on 02FEB16
• Monday & Tuesday 07DEC and 08DEC, 9th Grade DRP
• Wednesday, 09DEC15.  10th Grade DRP
• Wednesday and Thursday, 10DEC15 and 11DEC15.  11th Grade DRP 
• Friday, 11DEC15, UAI Staff Party 4-6PM
• Friday, 11DEC15.  MP2 Ends
• Friday, 11DEC15.  Middle School DRP
• Monday, 14DEC15. UAI Nets Family Night - $25 tickets - give money to Jen or Joanna
• Wednesday 16DEC15.  MP Grades Due
• Friday, 18DEC15.  Progress Reports Distributed 8th Period. 
• Monday, 21DEC15. Advisors call home to verify report card receipt.
• Wednesday, 23DEC15.  Early Dismissal at 2:00PM.  All students and staff MUST leave the building at 2:00 for the Winter Recess.
• Thursday, 24DEC15 through 03JAN16 Winter Recess.

For All UAI School Important Dates, please add "UAI School" calendar to your google calendars.

Per Session Posting

Recruitment Team.  This team will be working alongside Jen & Jennifer to plan and create deeper relationships during the Spring Term to build feeder-school relationships with Elementary and Middle Schools. Activities will include but are not limited to, planning mentor activities between our students and outside middle/elementary school students, planning community service events at local elementary schools (e.g. gardening, book reading, etc.).  Essentially, we need to show the schools how awesome our girls, our staff, and our school are so that we can create stronger relationships with these schools and UP our  enrollment!