Week of October 11th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 6

Week of October 10th, 2016

To Do's for this Week

• [DUE 11OCT16] Email Student of the Month Nominees.  Now that a full month of school is done, it's time to celebrate our students who shine brightest! Ms. Jen & Ms. Tracy are asking each grade team to nominate a student and email them a brief blurb on why this student was selected to be the grade student of the month.  

• [11OCT16] October PTA Meeting. All staff are encouraged to join our monthly PTA meeting from 5:30-6:30 in the cafeteria.  This month's meeting agenda will include discussion and voting on how we use Title I funds.  This is a great opportunity to build relationships with parents outside of the classroom.  Those relationships are as critical as the one you have built with students in your class! Make the time and you will reap the benefits!

• [REMINDER] Short Weeks.   Both this week and next week are three-day weeks.  Maximize instructional time during these short weeks.  With September over, we've already completed 10% of the years' instructional days.  Plan time wisely to maximize instruction.  Be creative with assessment time using both in and out-of classroom time to achieve your goals!

• [COMING SOON] Launch Collaborative Reasoning Groups & Conferences.   If they are not already happening, Collaborative Reasoning Groups (formerly known as Unison Reading) & Conferences should be fully up and launched by the week of 17OCT16.  If you need help in launching these, work with your coach this week to get them up and running.  For additional support, see Ms. Colleen.

• [WHEN YOU HAVE A MOMENT] Website Updates.  I've been working on updating the website.  Please poke around the site and tell me what you think!  

Announcements

8th Grade Jada & her Dad

Bring Your Father-Figure to School a Success!  A big round of applause goes to Mr. McLean and Ms. Carol for coordinating a wonderful event for our students and their father-figures. We had nearly 30 parents and students who joined us for breakfast and lunch and some visits to morning classes. Both parents and students enjoyed spending the morning at UAI and spending time with their family. We look forward to continuing our work with parent engagement.  Please save the date for Haunted House Karaoke night on October 27th.  The seniors will be organizing their annual Haunted House for the middle schoolers during after school.  Immediately following this, we will be having a Karaoke night with parents, students, and staff!  I, personally, can't wait to belt out some Adele or even better - a Journey rock ballad!

Open Houses and Student Recruitment.  We are in full swing of student recruitment for the 2017-18 school year.  Student recruitment is vital to the future health of our school.  At present, we are trying to grow our middle school, which is woefully under-enrolled.  We are competing with loads of District 13 Charter Schools.  Each year UAI is becoming stronger and more amazing.  We need to get this word out and get families to choose us!  Ms. Val is leading this work and is need of your help and support.  We need a committee of 3-5 staff and 3-5 students who are willing to

• Develop and Produce Recruitment Materials
• Attend Recruitment Fairs to Promote UAI
• Visit area elementary and/or middle schools to conduct on-site recruitment activities
• Conduct School Tours

This is seasonal work and will not extend beyond December 1st, when the applications are due.   Because it's seasonal the time is all smooshed into a few weeks, so team members should expect to spend at least 3-5 hours a week (yes it's per sessionable!).  If you are interested, please email me & Ms. Val ASAP!

SEL Updates

Week 4 of SEL.  Over this upcoming week, middle school students will begin to develop their ability to empathize with others. They will practice recognizing facial, vocal, and situational cues that signal how others may be feeling. Wherever possible, please prompt students to guess how a book character, classmate, or even you might be feeling based on facial expression, tone of voice, or the situation at hand. In the high school,  students will continue to reinforce last week's topics. They have begun to explore the benefits of sharing positive accomplishments and the negative effect of put-downs. They discussed ways to keep the class and school a positive place. Next week they will dive into building rapport with their teachers  - what the teachers need from them, what they need from the teachers and how to better communicate with all school staff. They will break this down and watch a video that further unpacks the importance of these relationships and the significance of school culture (H.I.P.E instead of put-downs).

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

None this week!