Week of 05APR21

 UAI Staff News

Volume VIII

Issue 35

April 5th, 2021

Principal's Message

Welcome back from the Spring Recess!  Hopefully, you all found time to rest and recharge over the break.  The time away from school, particularly this time, is essential for developing our stamina to sustain the work through to the end of the year.

There are 60 school days remaining to our year, and each day we are moving closer back to full in-person learning.  The results from the recent round of the Pfizer kids-version vaccine is extremely promising AND reports are promising that those may even be available by summer.

NYC is vaccinating nearly 100K people each day now, and has already administered 4.4 million doses!  This news coupled with the promise of the vaccine outcomes for children is definitely brightening the light at the end of this incredibly challenging tunnel of a school year!

So, as we step into the last chapter of this school year, when the work feels overwhelming, take a step back, lift up your nose from the grindstone, smell the blossoms of the springtime and remember, each day we are closer to being back in our school, building a better, brighter learning experience for all of our kids, staff and families.

Don't Forget To Scroll To the Bottom to See This Week's Per Session Postings

Birthdays This Week

No Birthdays this week!

If you have a Bday this week, I don't have it on my calendar!

Send me an email So I can Add it!

Student Birthdays

Sunday, 05APR21:  Jenelle P (12)

Tuesday, 06APR21: Valedia F(7)

Wednesday, 07APR21: Qiyana G(9), Kai AC(8)

Thursday, 08APR21: Nareah A(7)
             Friday, 09APR21: Yalishka R (9), Maranda V (7)

 Saturday, 10APR21: Enaas S (12), Lyric D(9)

UAI Committee Updates.  Please see updated dates for Spring 2021 Staff Meetings.

Staff Circles Committee  (Members: Annie, Jennifer, Juelle, Marsha, & Nakita)

No updates this week

School Restructuring Committee (Members: Annie, Courtney, Jen, Kiri, Laura, Marsha, Nadine, Nina, and SarahM).  The SRC agendas & minutes are always open for staff access.  The SRC will be continuing working on developing supports for SPED/ENL students as well as review the work of subcommittees (Hiring, COVID Lessons Learned, and Scheduling).  This week, the SRC will review and finalize the year-end calendar for release to all staff in next week's blog.

The Equity Team (Suzannah, Nina, Elana, Kelly, Phillan, Annie, Nakita, Rebecca C, Damon, Ms. King (Kianna’s mom), Ms. Barnes (Alyssa’s mom), Ms. Martuscello (Veronica’s mom), Kianna King, Emily Payamps, Jerlai Tyner, Jamilah Alshawish, Salia Naschel).   This week the Equity Team met to discuss the 50% grade floor at UAI.  We read relevant readings about grade scales from Fair Isn't Always Equal and Grading For Equity and then discussed our perspectives about the matter.   We also brainstormed some questions for Dr. Bettina Love.  Please see the attached agenda slideshow to review our notes on the readings.  

School Opening.  As you know, the DOE released the opt-in survey once more to all students and families to give them a chance to elect into in-person learning.   The survey closes on Wednesday, April 7th.  Please reach out to your advisory families to make sure they know about the survey, and if you have students who wish to opt back in please let Annie know ASAP.

Soft Opening Weeks.  While this survey has been released, there has been no explicitly stated date of return for MS or HS students electing to start in-person again.  That said, we will definitely accommodate students as much as possible, so the sooner we know who wants to come back, the sooner we will be able to adjust.  All students are invited to return to 4 days of instruction, but if they desire, students can choose to come in on Monday & Tuesday or Wednesday & Thursday.  For the next two weeks as we discover the numbers and names of students wishing to return, we will have to make program changes to accommodate.  To the extent possible, we will make only necessary changes, and we will communicate those changes as soon as possible.

That said, please look at these next TWO WEEKS as a "Soft" opening for MS and HS.   Here are some things to keep in mind

• The NX Institute for grades 8th -12th grade will not start until MP4 (on April 19th).  
• This will give teachers time to meet & plan and prepare for those institutes.
• This will also give time for teachers and advisors to communicate changes.
• Students are going to be assigned to specific rooms and advisors.  Please keep them in those assignments.  If there is a reason something needs to change, please communicate with Kiri directly BEFORE promising anything to the student or family.  With so many changes happening right now, we need to have a tight hold on shifts to best protect the health and safety of staff and students.  So, please, please, please, communicate (text is best).
• This soft opening period is a period of flux as we figure out which students are returning.  The goal is to make sure all changes are in place for the start of MP4.  However, in order to make this happen, we need staff to understanding and be prepared for switches and changes as we strive to create balance and maintain COVID safety protocols for in-person staff and students.

Family Conference Data. Thank you all for working hard to connect with our families. Collectively, we completed 340 of 497 conferences with our families and students.  Well done all!  Please use this data we collected during conferences to continue to assist in your outreach and understanding of who can and cannot reasonably use videos during live zoom class time.

Post Grades Weekly. Please review the UAI grading policy and make time in your week to grade and provide feedback to students each week.  Grades should be posted weekly, as a reminder.

Per Session Postings

To Apply for any of the following per session opportunities, please COMPLETE THIS FORM and email the appropriate point person listed in this posting.  

Summer School Per Session Post.

We are currently preparing for summer school and looking for the following positions. 

We are planning to run summer school July 12th through 29th, Mondays thru Thursdays.

Hours are still TBD and precise program offerings are still being determined and will be

driven by student needs. We are looking for up to 10 positions. 

Planning & prep time in addition to teaching time will be paid for teaching staff. 

Please complete the per session interest form and email Kiri by March 23, 2021. 

• 2 Administrators (Must have Admin certification)

• 1 Teacher Coordinator of Summer School

• 4-7 Teachers (subject to student enrollment)

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