Week of April 23rd

UAI Staff News

Volume V

Issue 30

April 23rd, 2018

[School Days 140-144]

[5 Days Remaining in MP5]      [34 Days Remaining in HS School Year]      [44 Days Remaining in MS School Year]

Announcements

Habitat H20.  This past spring break Mr. Damon took a group of students to swim with the manatees!  Each year, students have the opportunity to take their classroom learning to the real world and study marine biology in Florida.  Having the chance to match abstract learning of textbooks and the classroom to real world experience is such an important experience for our young women.  Who knows, perhaps one of the young women pictured here will become the marine scientist who solves the ocean pollution problem!

Barclay's Center Fundraiser for our Adams Campus Lady Eagles.  Last Sunday, our Adams Street Staff faced off against our Lady Eagles.  While they may be younger, the staff showed that experience and communication pays off.  It was a wonderfully fun game and a super special experience for adults and students alike.  Thank you again to Ms. Elana for organizing, and special shout outs go to MVPs Nina, Damon, Courtney and Isaiah for helping bring home the "W" for the grownups!

Student Activism Continues.  Last Friday, our seniors joined the National Student Walkout to continue bringing attention to gun violence and the need for gun control.  It is an absolute pleasure to watch our young women find and use their voices to truly make our world great again.  Keep it up Class of 2018!

The Class of 2024 and Red Nose Day.  Taking inspiration from their bigger sisters, the Class of 2024 (yeah it took me a moment, too...it's the 6th graders) are coordinating their own community service event.  On their own a group of gregarious girls came up with the idea to do a fundraising campaign to combat childhood poverty.  This campaign will kick off in May.  They'll be working with Ms. Jen and Ms. Vanessa to organize and prepare.  Keep your eyes on these young ones.  They are well on their way to becoming social justice warriors!

Staff Spotlight

Damon Noland.   Over spring break, Mr. Damon took our students on an exciting educational trip to Florida for the third year in a row.  Habitat H20 provides students with the opportunity to experience science in real life and learn about marine habitats.  In addition to making the time to coordinate important experiential opportunities in science, Mr. Damon also supports our Lady Eagles as an assistant coach.  This weekend, Mr. Damon showed off his skills on the court as the Adams Street staff took the win against our students!  In addition to all of this, Mr. Damon always fights for the rights of our staff as chapter chair from representing at Albany to collaborating with me and UAI leadership!  Thank you for all you do both in and outside of the classroom, Mr. Damon!!!

Kelly Preston and Jake Cagle.  This year Kelly and Jake have worked collaboratively with Annie to put together a brand new US History curriculum that is rooted in the study of primary sources and is crafted to push student thinking in each and every lesson.  Their narrative lesson plans put student thinking at the center of their plans and as a result, all other teacher moves (assessment, questions, student work) falls directly from that.  Of course not every lesson was as perfect as they would like, but they are now well-poised to refine their work in preparation for next year.  Take a look at their pacing calendar to get an idea of what you should have ready to go for our retreat to Tarrytown!

To Do This Week

Monday PD.   Please meet in room 409 this week.  We will be doing some announcements prior to releasing you for planning.  (I didn't say that last week!).  We will continue to use Monday PD to link this year's lessons into our Pacing Calendars.  Last week, you should have linked all of September and October lessons.  This week, please work on November and December.  Next week, please be ready to work on January, February, and March.


Tuesday Family Outreach.  The 5th Marking Period ends on Friday.  On May 9th from 5-8PM, we will be having traditional parent-teacher conferences so that parents have a chance to check in with all teachers prior to the end of the school year.  Please prioritize calling the homes of any of your advisees that are failing any class.  We will be using the conferences as interventions and supports for students.  Please call home and invite them in on the 9th!

MP 5 Grades are Due.  MP5 Grades will be due on Wednesday, May 2nd at 3PM.  On May 1st-3rd, we will be having benchmarks as well as the MS Math exam.  Your schedules will be a mix of proctoring and grading exams on those days, so get ahead of your grading this week!  Because we use this marking period to plan for summer school, we need you to follow this rule very explicitly:

• USE the grade of 60 if a student is currently failing your class AND you predict passing by the end of June.  Otherwise, use the grade of 55.

May/June Absences and Subs.  So many folks had the opportunity to go out to PD events this year!  Our social studies, math and science teachers had the opportunity to participate in PD with New Visions and Algebra for All.  Our English Teachers had the opportunity to participate in PD with our partners, the Literacy Design Collaborative.  Many of you have asked for days to attend PD, and all have been met with a yes!

But now we're at the end of the year.  Because of register loss, we had to give back nearly $200K to the DOE.  Until now, I've been able to shield you from that pain.  We are nearly out of money for coverages and subs.  I'm still trying to move and shake some levers to fix this, but we should always plan for the worst and hope for the best.

For May and June, please do not assume that you are going to be able to go to PD.  Each PD request will be considered individually and must have explicit approval from me or Annie.  Additionally, if you are sick, please make sure to email me, Annie, and Brodie with your lesson plans.  Being low on coverage money, one of us will have to take over your classes for the day you are sick.  Please do not email lesson plans that require us to make copies and/or use technology.  Additionally, if you have coaching periods on your schedule or other comp-time duties, please be prepared to be pulled from those periods to cover classes in the event that someone is sick.

Per Session Opportunities

Summer School.  I know I asked about summer school a while ago.  I've finally coordinated with the other principals and have better specific ideas.  If you are still interested in teaching summer school, please email me by the close of school on Monday, 24APR18.

Prom Chaperone.  Please email me if you are interested in chaperoning the prom.  If you plan to do so, you will miss the evening portion of our retreat and will join us on Thursday for the day.  You can email Danielle (R) for details on Prom.