Week of October 21st

UAI Staff News

Volume VII

Issue 10

October 21st, 2019

Announcements

Happy Birthday to Nick! Nick Juliusburger, our 9th and 12th grade Physics Teacher will be celebrating his birthday on Wednesday.  Help him celebrate with some hallway high fives and/or notes and emails of well wishes.

A Big Thank You from the Recruitment Team!  Between fairs, school visits, and tours, the past two weeks have been busy for recruitment! We hosted our first two UAI tours last Friday and this Thursday of 8th grade girls who seemed excited and interested in joining us for high school. We visited and scheduled visits to elementary schools who have 5th grade girls that are interested in STEM. We hosted an open house and attended HS borough fairs and MS district fairs where we met with prospective families and students. And last but not least, we co-hosted a "Why UAI" event with Girls Inc for our 8th graders where they were able to visit tables representing different exciting opportunities at UAI HS.

We want to send a big, heartfelt THANK YOU to all the staff who have made this work possible- from actually attending these events themselves, to helping dispatch students to represent their clubs and organizations, to letting us use their classrooms, and especially for sparing their students who are so important to our recruitment work. Your support is so helpful for ensuring we have the right number of students to keep us strong and healthy next year! We have a few more weeks left of this "busy season," but feel free to email Lauren if you have any questions related to recruitment!

Fire Drill on Monday.  We will be testing out a new exit plan on Monday during a Fire Drill at 9:30.  This plan ONLY impacts classrooms that exit out the back stairwell.  That is all classrooms that end in 09/11/15 (so 309, 311, 315; 409/411, 415; 509, 511, 515).  Basement classrooms still exit out the basement doors, up the ramp and down to Jay.  All other classrooms (including gym) should exit down the front stairs and leave out of the front door to walk down Adams to Tillary.

• The 09/11/15 classrooms exit down stairwell A (this is the one that goes straight down).  Take this stairwell all the way to the basement (past the first floor) through the door that will exit into the courtyard.  The alarm will ring.  That is ok - it's a fire drill.

• DO NOT use stairwell E (the stairwell that is on the left when you head down the stairs).  These stairs do not go the exit you need to take. 

• In the courtyard, turn left to walk up the stairs (not the ramp) to exit onto Johnson Street.
  
• Turn right on Johnson Street and walk down the hill to Jay to wait in front of the Family Courthouse.

• This is a new exit pattern.  So if you have prep 2nd period on Tuesday, we need your help to direct folks down stairwell A.  Right after 1st Period, please report to these locations to block entry to stairwell E (the back stairwell on the left) and direct passage down stairwell A (straight down the back stairs). 
• Kelly & Giselle - 5th Floor Stairwell Landing
• Joey & Rebeca C - 4th Floor Stairwell Landing
• Brodie & Matthew - 3rd Floor Stairwell Landing
• Val - 2nd Floor Stairwell Landing - Let AIL exit out of stairwell E, direct UAI down stairwell A
• Kristina C & Sarah R - 1st Floor Stairwell Landing - note please direct them to basement exit (do not exit first floor or out the side exit).  Go down the stairs to the door to the courtyard.
• Doris - Courtyard Exit - direct students up the stairs to Johnson Street (and away from the middle schoolers exiting up the ramp)
• Danielle I - Stand at top of Stairs at Johnson Street and direct exit to Jay
• Floor Sweepers Remain the Same.
• 5th Floor & Gym - Courtney
• 4th Floor - Annie
• 3rd Floor - Jen
• 2nd Floor - AIL
• 1st Floor - Isaiah
• Basement - Jelissa

Kiri is Out Tuesday through Friday This Week.  My mother-in-law passed away last week, and my family needs to fly down for her funeral on Wednesday morning, and burial on Thursday afternoon.  We will be traveling on Tuesday and returning on Friday.  Annie will be in charge with Jen & Val supporting.  I will be available online and via text if you need anything.  Please still continue to call me if you are sick this week.  I will communicate and coordinate with Annie.

To-Do This Week

Upcoming PD.  Tomorrow will be our first in the series.  Here's the calendar for the next few sessions of PD

• October 21st:  Aromatherapy and Stress Management for Teachers
• Agenda:  
• 3PM - Congratulations Ms. Cherry!  You will have the honor of reviewing the blog (and having a few minutes to give the special announcements you requested!)
• 3:15-4:10PM - Aromatherapy  & Self Care with Ms. Vanessa

• October 28th:  Understanding Social Emotional  Learning & the DESSA
• November 4th:  Grade Team Meetings
• November 5th:  Implicit Bias and Instructional Practices
• Teacher Consultancy Round II
• Examining our Biases - Taking at look at our Data
• Effective Student Discourse & Using Writing to Consolidate Learning
• November 18th:  Consultancy Reflection (Nov 11th is a holiday)
• November 25th:  Wellness & Self Care -UAI Teacher Potluck

Class Time Dilemma.  We are still having problems with passing period and releasing students on time.  Please use class timers (or your phone) to keep yourself in lock step with the bell schedule.  When you let a class out (or in) late, you set off a chain reaction that disrupts the bell schedule for everyone.  Effective time management is part of your expected teaching practice.  In addition, being at your doorway to welcome students into your class if part of effective teaching practice and professional responsibility.  This week, we will be taking an audit of hallway practices to gauge teacher practice in these two areas.  Please put forth your best efforts to make sure you start and end classes on time AND that you are at your door welcoming students into your classrooms at the start of each period. 

Student Support Services Update

Per Session Opportunities

Extra Prep?  This is not technically a Per Session Opportunity.  Rather it is a Per Diem opportunity (coverage pay).  We are looking to recruit staff for the following per diem (prep period coverage pay) for these activities:

• Lunch Coverage during Early Voting Week.  Teachers will host up to 34 students for lunch in their classroom each day that the cafe is closed during early voting.
  
• Prep Period Dean Support.  Our discipline support team needs some extra eyes and hands to more effectively manage our support practices.  Teachers will be tasked to duties including (but not limited to) hallway and bathroom monitoring, student removal from classrooms, save room coverage, and other duties.

If you are interested in either of these activities, please email Kiri as soon as possible (if you have not already done so for the lunch coverage)