Sunday, January 29, 2017

Week of January 30th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV
Issue 21
Week of January 30th, 2017

This Week's Memories

Kayla, Nande & Tiara at
NYC Women's March
(photo by Ilyana)
This weekend, the POTUS signed an executive order banning immigrants from specific Muslim countries and prioritizing immigrants of one faith over all others.  The ACLU brought suit and won a stay of this order (at least for some).  There is always hope...no matter how grim things get! 

After moaning and complaining about being required to go to the movies on Monday (in order to make the classrooms free for post-flood renovations), the juniors & seniors thoroughly enjoyed the movie and some came back to school to share how they were inspired by the story of these amazing mathematicians and scientists.  

See...there it is again...that hope!

As we prepare and launch the spring term this week, no matter how challenging or hard our jobs can be, there is always hope.  We have to
Juniors & Seniors Ready to See
Hidden Figures @ UA Court Street
(photo by Ilyana)
remind ourselves to pause, reflect, and find it.  It will always be there.  Sometimes it's small - like when a student, without being prompted, turns to a peer to help her understand something in class.  It can be huge - like when a student who had previously exhibited failure and disinterest finally responds to your efforts and outreach and completely shifts her attitude and achievements in class.  It can be daily - like when your class chooses to use language of support (e.g. accountable talk vs. cursing or negative speak).  Whatever and whenever, if we make the time to look for it, our girls will always provide us with the inspiration and drive needed to continually interrogate and improve our craft.  

The work we do is not easy, but nothing this important ever is.  As we kick off the spring term and turn the corner from opening up to closing out our school year, remember to make yourself pause and find your hope!  



To Do's for this Week

[MONDAY, 30JAN17] Full Staff PD Agenda

  • 8:00 - 8:30 AM Breakfast Provided 
    • Optional Attendance for breakfast
  • 8:30 - 9:15 AM Kiri's State of the School Address
    • Update on progress towards goals
    • Intro of new data tools
  • 9:20 - 10:50 AM Workshops (Collaborative Reasoning or Classroom Environment)
    • Collaborative Reasoning
      • Choosing Texts to Engage Students and Promote Content Mastery
    • Classroom Environment
      • Understanding Challenging Students and Effectively Redirecting Anti-social Classroom Behaviors
  • 10:55 - 11:30 AM Debrief Exams
    • This is the follow up to last week's PD at home.  You'll be debriefing the exam you took with your partner.
  • 11:30-12:30 PM Lunch
    • Lunch on your own
  • 12:30-2:30 PM Unit Planning Work Time
    • The rest of the afternoon will be IWT to complete units and begin planning this week's lessons.  We will be collecting final Unit Plans at the end of the day
  • 2:30 - 3:00 PM Unit Plan Share



[30JAN17] Door Decorating Competition. Ms. Kree and Girl's Inc are working hard to help get student volunteers assigned to each classroom to assist teachers in completing door decorations. We will start this work the week of January 30th. For questions, please reach out to Ms. Kree or Ms. Jen C.









  • [01FEB17] Middle School Dance Tickets Go on Sale. Ms. Jen & Ms. Kree are coordinating a middle school dance.  Please encourage students to seek out tickets from Ms. Jen or Ms. Kree
  • [10FEB17] February's Family Friday.  Ms. Kristina & Ms. Marsha are planning a celebratory event to have their students show off their written work with their families for our Family Friday (which occur the first Friday of every month) in February!  Thank you Kristina & Marsha for your hard work in getting our parents in to celebrate our girls' academic achievements!
  • [15FEB17] Winterfest.  Our annual celebration of After School activities and display of students arts and artistic talent will be on Wednesday, 15FEB17.  Please join us in celebrating our girls in the gym from 6-8PM.
  • [17FEB17] Black History Month Assembly.  We will be having our next full school assembly on Friday, Feb 17th.  This will be a slightly early assembly to accommodate a staggered rapid dismissal for the building (SLJ and AIL are dismissing early on Friday).  The Assembly will begin at 1:30 and we will rapidly dismiss at 2:15PM.

SEL Updates

So far in this SEL unit, 6th graders have covered the following techniques for de-escalating down the emotions thermometer:
  • Belly breathing
  • Positive self-talk
  • “Flip the script”
  • Envision a peaceful scene
  • Take a walk
  • Remove yourself from the situation
  • Write in a journal
  • Talk to someone you trust
  • Gratitude
  • Remember your character strengths
This week, we'll be covering the final two: envisioning your future and helping someone else. 6th graders will think through what they hope their lives will look like as adults and will also perform various helpful tasks for UAI teachers and staff. We'll regroup after each to process how these two activities helped the girls feel more positively.







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

No new postings this week 



Sunday, January 22, 2017

Week of January 23rd

UAI Staff News

Volume IV
Issue 20
Week of January 23rd, 2017

This Week's Memories

 

All around the globe, millions of people took to the streets to stand up and against the oppression of women.  Locally, Ms. Kristin chaperoned our very own 10th graders, Nancy Adjalla, Laura St. Victor, and Tamara Noel-George who volunteered to run an engineering challenge at Eric Adams' STEAM brunch.  Saturday was a historic event.  It brought global attention to issues that we live with daily. Our mission is to take that momentum and feed it back into our work with our young girls.  Through our daily jobs, we cannot help fulfill the mission set forth by Saturdays' protests!


To Do's for this Week

[MONDAY, 23JAN17] Full Staff PD.  Your summative assessment should be finalized by now.  Please make sure that it is uploaded to the folder that Colleen shared.  We will be using these in PD on Monday.  They need to be in a finished state.  Please bring a device, something to write with, and something to write on for PD.  The goal of Monday is to provide feedback on summative tasks in order to inform the unit planning work that we will be embarking upon for the 30JAN PD day.


[CHANGE of DATE, WED 25JAN17] Prepare for end of the semester. Marking period 3 ends Tuesday, 24JAN17. We found out last week that the PID deadline is earlier than usual.  The PID students need to be entered into the system BY Friday.  So, we're asking that ALL grades be completed by Wednesday 25JAN at 3PM.  This will move the official end of this marking period to Friday 20JAN.  Ms. Jennifer will still be producing report cards on 30JAN17 which will be distributed on the first day of the Spring term on 31JAN during 8th period.


[PLEASE DO THIS ASAP] Preparing for 30JAN PD day.  We are gathering data to check in on our progress towards school goals.  In preparation for a data share back with staff on the full staff PD day, we're asking three things


  • Parent Survey.  Only 3 parents have responded thus far.  Please reach out to them to get more responses!  Email (or text) this link:  https://goo.gl/forms/jpDsZdUbLP28C6u62 to your advisee's parents.  Please ask them to complete the survey by Wednesday.  
  • Teacher Survey.  Please take a few moments to complete this survey.  Please take a few moments to complete this survey now. Only 10 teachers have completed it thus far.
  • Student Survey.  This survey was emailed out to students.  Please make sure they complete it during advisory on Monday, 23JAN.  THE SURVEY .  Ms. Kerry, will you have the 10th graders complete this in class?


[23JAN17] Most of the School Viewing of Hidden Figures. Kree, (from her sickbed!) confirmed 300 tickets for our school to see Hidden Figures and UA Court Street Cinemas! Thank you to Kree and Girls Inc!!!!  We will be taking 11th & 12th graders (because we need to free those classes for flood damage restoration), and we'll be taking the middle school.  The 9th graders are going bowling, and any extra tickets will be distributed by Jen and Kree as they become available. Unfortunately, we just weren't able to take everyone this time around!  But we are trying to take as many as we can!  
For these grades, students will remain in advisory until departure. While you await your departure time, please make sure students complete THE SURVEY.  Kree and 
Jen will be coming around to the advisories in the AM to coordinate. Here's the departure plan:
                • 9:15AM 11th Grade: Chaperones Ilyana, Brodie, Anna, Mike, James, Paula, Vanessa (Girls Inc) and Kree
                • 9:20AM 6th Grade:  Chaperones Alison, Matthew, Phillan & Lauren, and + 1 Girls Inc Chaperone leave at 9:20 AM.
                • 9:25AM 7th Grade:  Chaperones Kristina, Christina, Cherry, Natalie and Basya (Girls Inc) leave at 9:25AM.
                • 9:30AM 8th Grade: Chaperones Marsha, Meaghan, and Jade (Girls Inc)
                • 9:35AM 12th Grade: Chaperones Tracy, Elana, Jen,  Martine +2 Girls Inc Chaperones

[30JAN17] 
Door Decorating Competition. 
Ms. Kree and Girl's Inc are working hard to help get student volunteers assigned to each classroom to assist teachers in completing door decorations. We will start this work the week of January 30th. For questions, please reach out to Ms. Kree or Ms. Jen C.








  • [10FEB17] February's Family Friday.  Ms. Kristina & Ms. Marsha are planning a celebratory event to have their students show off their written work with their families for our Family Friday (which occur the first Friday of every month) in February!  Thank you Kristina & Marsha for your hard work in getting our parents in to celebrate our girls' academic achievements!
  • [15FEB17] Winterfest.  Our annual celebration of After School activities and display of students arts and artistic talent will be on Wednesday, 15FEB17.  Please join us in celebrating our girls in the gym from 6-8PM.
  • [17FEB17] Black History Month Assembly.  We will be having our next full school assembly on Friday, Feb 17th.  This will be a slightly early assembly to accommodate a staggered rapid dismissal for the building (SLJ and AIL are dismissing early on Friday).  The Assembly will begin at 1:30 and we will rapidly dismiss at 2:15PM.

SEL Updates

As a capstone to national no name calling week, students at 6th/7th grade lunch on Friday decorated quilt panels on the importance of kindness. We'd love if you could help us keep the ball rolling by positively reinforcing acts of kindness in your MS classes next week and helping the HS students know the work of the MS by sharing it in your classes when they return from Regents!






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

No new postings this week 




Monday, January 16, 2017

Week of January 16th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV
Issue 19
Week of January 16th, 2017

This Week's Memories

This quote comes from his student paper in 1947, "The Purpose of Education".  
In it, Dr. King also states:

To save [us] from the morass of propaganda... is one of the chief aims of education.
Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false,
the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction. 


As we enter into the final week of Obama's presidency and gear up for the first week of Trump, it is important to take pause today, a special day for an amazing man.  It is important to take stock of who were are and why we work with our students and their families.  It is important to know that what we choose to do is the work that needs to be done to preserve the good that still persists in the world and to empower our girls to make manifest the change our world so desperately needs.

I choose this work because I believe in bringing equity to our world.  I believe education is the way to achieve this.  I believe working with students who need the most support is the place to effect this change.  I am honored to work with so many of you who share my mission and vision.  I am lucky to have such amazing thought partners in this work.  It is hard; it can be grueling; but everyday, I know it's worth it because it's the right work. 

Celebrate today and tomorrow we will get right back into it!


To Do's for this Week

[MONDAY, 23JAN17] Full Staff PD. Continue working on your summative assessment that we began in last week's full staff PD.  We will be using these assessments in next week's PD so please have the final product uploaded to the folder that Colleen shared last week.


[TUESDAY, 24JAN17] Prepare for end of the semester. Marking period 3 ends Tuesday, 24JAN17.  All grades are due on Friday, 27JAN17 at 2:30PM.  Ms. Jennifer will be producing report cards on 30JAN17 which will be distributed on the first day of the Spring term on 31JAN during 8th period.


[MONDAY 30JAN17] Preparing for 30JAN PD day.  We are gathering data to check in on our progress towards school goals.  In preparation for a data share back with staff on the full staff PD day, we're asking three things

  • Parent Survey.  Please email (or text) this link:  https://goo.gl/forms/jpDsZdUbLP28C6u62 to your advisee's parents.  Please ask them to complete the survey by Friday.  You are more likely to have valid contact than Skedula (although it is also going out that way too).  We don't expect large returns, however, if you can confirm that at least two parents completed this survey, we'll have a good sampling for our data check in.
  • Teacher Survey.  Please take a few moments to complete this survey.  Please take a few moments to complete this survey now.
  • Student Survey.  We are planning on giving students their survey during a class on Monday, 23JAN (prior to seeing Hidden Figures - see below)




[UPCOMING] Black History and Women's History Months.  February and March are just around the corner. UAI will kick off Black History Month with a celebration of African American Women who have helped shaped our nation and made advancements in such fields as science & technology, government and community service.  We have a series of fantastic events to get us going:

              • [21JAN17] NYC Women's March.  Suzannah, Mara and Ilyana have been working together to organize a school group to go to the NYC Women's March this Saturday.  Please do reach out to them to find out more!  On Wednesday, we will be hosting a poster making party after school for the March.

                Unfortunately, our trip passes don't work on the weekends.  So, we are looking for metrocard donations to help students travel from home to school, and then, to and from the march (3 rides).  If you plan to donate, please buy a pay-per-ride metrocard and leave it with Mara by Friday.   Your help would be greatly appreciated!
  • [23JAN17] School Viewing of Hidden Figures. Kree JUST secured 300 tickets for our school to see Hidden Figures!  Thank you to Kree and Girls Inc!!!!  Save the date for Monday.  We are currently working on details with Kree.  We will be emailing you all shortly with the plan!
  • [30JAN17] Door Decorating Competition. Ms. Kree and Girl's Inc are working hard to help get student volunteers assigned to each classroom to assist teachers in completing door decorations. We will start this work the week of January 30th. For questions, please reach out to Ms. Kree or Ms. Jen C.
  • [03FEB17] February's Family Friday.  Ms. Kristina & Ms. Marsha are planning a celebratory event to have their students show off their written work with their families for our Family Friday (which occur the first Friday of every month) in February!  Thank you Kristina & Marsha for your hard work in getting our parents in to celebrate our girls' academic achievements!
  • [15FEB17] Winterfest.  Our annual celebration of After School activities and display of students arts and artistic talent will be on Wednesday, 15FEB17.  Please join us in celebrating our girls in the gym from 6-8PM.
  • [17FEB17] Black History Month Assembly.  We will be having our next full school assembly on Friday, Feb 17th.  This will be a slightly early assembly to accommodate a staggered rapid dismissal for the building (SLJ and AIL are dismissing early on Friday).  The Assembly will begin at 1:30 and we will rapidly dismiss at 2:15PM.

SEL Updates

Friday, 30JAN17 - No Naming Calling Day 
Ms. Lauren, Ms. Jennifer and  Ms. Jen are planning an amazing lunchtime activity for our middle school girls to celebrate kindness and community. The Day will be entitled “No Name Calling Day”
 Middle School Students during lunch will be working on creating a “Kindness Quilt” which we will display on the third floor.  Please feel free to join them at lunch (10:30-11:20) in the cafeteria. The more the merrier!  Lauren and Jennifer will also be teaching an SEL class this week to support the No Name Calling Day mission.

While this day is aimed at our youngest students, it's an opportunity to offer our older students perspective and leadership. Please promote this day in your classes, and encourage our older UAI girls to support the work of our youngest ones in making strong efforts to spread kindness. Spreading kindness and building community in the smallest ways build a foundation of a strong school! Eradicating name calling - even those used in jest - is the first step.

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

SECOND POSTING - In case you missed last week!

Regents Prep.  If you are interested in offering regents prep sessions to students beginning this week, please email Val ASAP.  Unfortunately, we can't do Saturday sessions now (although we will have them in the run up to June).  After school only (or during lunch or before school).  Please let Val know your schedule and provide her with the list of students with whom you will be working.  Regents prep hours are flexible and will be available to staff through 1/23.  Teachers must have a minimum of 5 students to have their per session hours approved.  So, please do make sure you understand that these positions require that you are reaching out and recruiting students.

STEAM Brunch and Resource Fair.  We are looking for 2 staff members for 3 hours (9-12) on 21JAN17. Lunch will be provided by girls inc (chipotle).  Activities are at 20 minute intervals. For more details they can see Kree. To sign up, see Ms. Val.   





Sunday, January 8, 2017

Week of January 9th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV
Issue 18
Week of January 9th, 2017

This Week's Memories


Homecoming.  Many shout outs to Jen, Doris, and Mara for making our first official homecoming event a success.  During the day, Mara invited our alumni to come and speak with our juniors and seniors about the college experience.  Alumni from all four of our graduated classes came to speak to our current students.  They had so many questions for our alum, who were happy to share their insight and experience.  Later that night, Jen and Doris planned a wonderful event for our girls and the alumni. Delicious nibbles and festive decorations abounded.  Thanks to all of our chaperones (Jamie, Elena, Kristina, Brandon, Doris, & Jen)!  You all made a wonderful evening for our girls!




To Do's for this Week


[MONDAY, 09JAN17] Full Staff PD. This Monday, we're pausing on Pods to prepare for the next full staff January PD day (30JAN17).  To do this, please bring the summative assessment for your first unit of the spring semester as well as the accompanying grading rubric.  The goal of these next two Monday PDs and the 30JAN PD is to give you enough time and feedback to work through a complete unit.  So, be sure to bring the assessment that pairs with the unit that you will start at or near the beginning of the spring term (which begins on 31JAN17).






We are asking that your assessments fall within specific parameters.  
  • Social Studies: Please select a thematic Regents essay task.  Natalie, you can use the US History Regents as inspiration and revise it to meet your middle school students.
  • ELA: The task should be from the LDC unit you are revising or creating.
  • Spanish: Please adapt a task from the Regents or proficiency exam for a summative task.
  • Science teachers:  Use New Visions Curricula's summative tasks as models for your culminating assessments. Link here.
  • Math teachers: Use New Visions Curricula's summative tasks as models for you. Link here.
The assessment can be a draft or a task you used last year, adapted to fall within in expected parameters.  You will have work time both on 09JAN and 23JAN to complete work on the task.  So, you are not expected to bring a completed assessment.  Rather, bring as much as you can to substantively work on refining the assessment.  We will all be working out of 409 on Monday. Bring technology and needed resources for this assessment planning.


[TUESDAY, 10JAN17] UAI @ Brooklyn Nets. Our annual school trip to the Nets at Barclay's Center is coming up next week.  This year, we're charging $30 to cover the ticket price.  Pizza party was cancelled.  Please see or email Jen with specific questions.





[WEDNESDAY, 11JAN17] College Awareness Day. 11JAN17 is College Awareness Day for the DOE!  To celebrate, we're asking all UAI staff to wear apparel from their alma mater.  Additionally, we would love for you to decorate your doors (or just your class door windows) with the mascot from your alma mater.  Kree will be working with Mara to promote the day with students.  To help them, please hype the day up in your classrooms this week!


[WEDNESDAY, 11JAN17] Lady Eagles at Home. Our wonderful basketball team returns home on Wednesday.  They are currently in 4th place with a record of 4-3.  With 5 games left in the season, we're not out of the running yet!  Hope always springs eternal!  Come out and help our team lift their spirits by cheering them on to a win this Wednesday!







[WEEK of 09JAN17] Prepare for MidYear Reviews and Admin Check In. Starting next week, Colleen & Kiri will be conducting our Midyear reviews to check in on pedagogical practice.  Please make sure you log into Advance to review your feedback for this year in preparation for the review. In addition please CLICK HERE to review complete expectations for your review.  You should have already received a calendar invite for your scheduled review.  If you did not receive it, please email Kiri ASAP.

Additionally, Val will be touching base with each of you to briefly review your data around progress with professional responsibilities including staff attendance, student attendance outreach, and updates in Skedula (both anecdotal and grades).

[THIS MONTH] Prepare for end of the semester. There only a few days remaining in this semester.  It can be source of stress for our students.  Please review the SEL strategies below to help them cope with their emotions in your class as you prepare them for the end of the term.












SEL Updates

Continuing our unit on emotions, this past week, 6th grade SEL class focused on anger. Students opened up about emotions that frequently underlie their feelings of anger (jealousy, loneliness, rejection, sadness, etc.) and worked to recognize situations and settings that tend to make them feel angry. Students vowed they would work in the future to implement de-escalation strategies the next time they find themselves in these "trigger" situations, including:
  • Belly breathing
  • Positive self-talk
  • "Flip the script" (reframing their thinking)
  • Taking a walk
  • Envisioning a peaceful scene
  • Removing themselves from the situation as appropriate
  • Writing in a journal
  • Talking to someone they trust

Teachers can remind students to implement their strategy of choice if they notice they're feeling angry in the future.Over the upcoming week, students will be discussing stress and anxiety, and ways they can make gratitude a daily practice to help keep their stress levels low. 


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

Regents Prep.  If you are interested in offering regents prep sessions to students beginning this week, please email Val ASAP.  Unfortunately, we can't do Saturday sessions now (although we will have them in the run up to June).  After school only (or during lunch or before school).  Please let Val know your schedule and provide her with the list of students with whom you will be working.  Regents prep hours are flexible and will be available to staff through 1/23.  Teachers must have a minimum of 5 students to have their per session hours approved.  So, please do make sure you understand that these positions require that you are reaching out and recruiting students.

STEAM Brunch and Resource Fair.  We are looking for 2 staff members for 3 hours (9-12) on 21JAN17. Lunch will be provided by girls inc (chipotle).  Activities are at 20 minute intervals. For more details they can see Kree. To sign up, see Ms. Val.   






Monday, January 2, 2017

Week of January 3rd

UAI Staff News

Volume IV
Issue 17
Week of January 3rd, 2017

This Week's Memories

Happy New Year!  Like the rest of the world, 2016 saw enormous challenge for UAI.  As we turned the corner from the end of last year into the rebirth of this school year, we began to build the foundation for a newer, stronger, and healthier UAI.  Now, at the half-way point of our school year, we welcome a new calendar year.  With the outcomes of the election and the changing cultural tide around us, our mission to empower young women through math & science is now more important than ever.  

Reflecting on this fall and looking ahead to the spring, I am inspired by the commitment and bravery that each of you show every day.  Our teenagers continually present challenges - both as teenagers and as students who grapple with the hurdles of poverty and race.  In the face of these challenges, you continue to find new ways to challenge them to thrive in spite of these barriers.  It is my honor to work with each of you as you develop these tasks, and as you hone your craft. 

I know that working at UAI is a choice.  I am thankful that you all chose to work with our students, so many of whom face great challenge.  I am honored to share with you the mission to bring about change for our youn women.  In four years, we will have another election, and every single student in the UAI high school will be eligible voters. What we do and how we do it matters.  I look forward to the work of 2017 with you all.  I am excited about the hope that 2017 brings to us all!

Below is a brief video that I hope inspires you as much as it did me.  Martine & Paula have both stepped up to fill the teaching gap that opened when Kristina S. left earlier this year.  Unfortunately, finding a chemistry teacher mid-year is nearly impossible.  So, both Martine & Paula faced their content fears and rose to the challenge of becoming the lead teachers in their 11th & 12th grade chemistry classes.  Neither have the background, but both pushed the envelope of their learning, and as a result, have inspired our students to do the same.  Below is Fabiana bringing beauty of chemical bonding.  Thank you Martine!  It was definitely one of the most beautiful things to happen in 2016!!



To Do's for this Week

[FRIDAY, 06JAN17] UAI Homecoming Dance. This Friday will be our first official homecoming dance.  This is a semi-formal dance, so students and staff should dress to impress.  Please help us promote the dance by announcing it to students in classes this week.  This dance is open to students in grades 8-12 plus UAI alumni.  Tickets can only be purchased from Ms. Doris or Ms. Jen.   It's a tricky calendar this year.  We had to schedule it right after break because the other Friday's in January ran up against 3-day weekends, Benchmarks, or Regents.  So, please help us get the word out by encouraging students to come! Tickets are $7, and they will not be sold at the door.  Last chance to buy tickets is Thursday 05JAN16.  


[TUESDAY, 10JAN17] UAI @ Brooklyn Nets. Our annual school trip to the Nets at Barclay's Center is coming up next week.  This year, we're charging $35 to cover the ticket price and also a pizza party that will happen before the game at UAI.  In addition to Homecoming, please also announce these ticket sales.  Tickets can be purchased from Ms. Jen in room 401.  Tickets must be purchased by Friday, 06JAN17.


[WEEK of 08JAN17] Prepare for MidYear Reviews. Starting next week, we will be conducting our Midyear reviews.  Please make sure you log into Advance to review your feedback for this year in preparation for the review.  In addition please CLICK HERE to review complete expectations for your review.  You should have already received a calendar invite for your scheduled review.  If you did not receive it, please email Kiri ASAP.


[THIS MONTH] Prepare for end of the semester. There are 14 HS and 19 MS days left in this semester.  High School Benchmarks will be on Thursday and Friday 19JAN and 20JAN.  Middle School Benchmarks will be the following week (26JAN and 27JAN).  HS Regents week begins on Tuesday, 24JAN.  Both MS and HS grades will be due on Friday 27JAN17 at 8:30AM.  As an reminder, please make sure you are adhering to the UAI grading policy:



At UAI, grades are numeric and based on a scale of 50-100.  For all course work and assessments, the lowest grade students can receive is a 50 and the highest grade is 100.  The 50-100 scale is a mathematically aligned scale to the traditional letter grades of A, B, C, D and F.

  • The ONLY failing grade we use on report cards and transcripts is 55. If a student has another actual grade (e.g. 57, 63, 51), only 55 may be entered for failing. There is ONE exceptions to this rule. If the grades being entered are for marking periods two or four, then teachers may elect to use the grade of 60. This grade indicates that the student is currently failing, but will likely pass for the semester. Administratively, we differentiate failing grades of 60 and 55 for Promotion In Doubt letters and Summer School programming.
  • All Passing Grades are integers > 65 but < 99. We do not use the final grade of 100. The minimum passing grade is 65. The maximum passing grade is 99.
  • A student's overall course grade is 50% Performance activities, 30% Progress, and 20% Participation. In the unit arcs, teachers must specify which activities and assessments fall into each category so that students have a clear understanding of how they are being graded. NOTE: Participation includes being on-time to class.
  • All courses are annualized (except for NYU Poly courses). Students officially receive their final grade and credit in June of the school year. Students will receive a progress report for 5 marking periods, and the final (6th) report card will issue the grade for the course. If passing at the 3rd marking period (end of the fall term), at least 1 credit is guaranteed. If passing at the end of the 6th marking period (end of the spring term), then the students will earn both credit.



SEL Updates

No updates this week


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

We need chaperones for this week's Homecoming Dance.  I'm looking for a maximum of 10 chaperones for this week's dance.  Hours will be from 5:45-10PM.  Please email Kiri if you are interested.