Week of April 26th

UAI Staff News

Volume VIII

Issue 38

April 26th, 2021

Principal's Message

This is the last week of April!  The blossoms are going crazy (which makes the allergies go bezerk), but there's something about the lengthening days and warmer temperatures that  raises the spirits and lightens the mood.

In the midst of the seemingly endless amount of work we have to do each day, please make time to take a break and enjoy New York City in the spring.  It is truly magical and it will give you a boost and the invigoration needed to bring this crazy year to a successful end!

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

Birthdays This Week

Happy Birthday To:

Saturday, 01MAY21:  Annie & Del

Student Birthdays

Tuesday, 27APR21: Giselle MA (10)

Thursday, 29APR21:  Ebouny M (10)
              Friday, 30APR21: Jazmin A (12), Sajeda (12), 

Kayla E (12)

Saturday, 01MAY21:  Salihah K (07)

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. See agenda/minutes here.

School Restructuring Committee (Members: Annie, Courtney, Jen, Kiri, Laura, Marsha, Nadine, Nina, and SarahM).  The SRC agendas & minutes are always open for staff access.  No new updates this week.

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 how the UAI community can become more active in the fight for social justice.  We are excited to start to plan for teach-ins that we will conduct in May and June.  Each teach-in will end with a call-to-action.  Please be on the lookout for emails if you would like to be involved.  Please see this week's agenda and notes for further details.  

Thank you all for participating in the Equity Team PD on Friday.  We are excited to continue our work in creating a more equitable policy at UAI.

Grading Policy Update.  After nearly a year of work and research, the Equity Team released their first adjustments to the grading policy.  In last Friday's meeting, they shared:

• Floor Grade of 50.  The floor grade of 50 will remain in place.  On Friday, Nina shared a powerful and personal story of the detrimental impact that zeros can do on a student's average because of their disproportionate impact it has on the grading average.  The Equity Team then shared the mathematical explanation of how a floor of 50 is more in line with the ranges the other 10pt ranges (90-100; 80-89; 70-79, etc).  Having a 50 is not "giving" students credit for doing nothing.  It is the fair floor for our grading system.  For any and all assignments, the lowest number grade given is a 50.  To communicate with students how they are performing, please use feedback, to clearly articulate what they need do to improve performance.
  
  
• No More Participation Grades.  In their last staff engagement, the Equity Team took a look at the Participation Grade Category.  Because this category is inherently subjective, it is the category most obviously and egregiously open to implicit bias.  Surveys from staff overwhelmingly agreed, and after much research and reading the Equity Team confirmed this conclusion and ruled that there will be no more Participation Grades.

MP4 Log of Support. Weekly, during grade team meetings, we will be documenting teacher intervention and outreach in the MP4 Log of Support.   Each of you have worked so courageously and so hard to bring so many of our students through this year successfully!  It's time to make one last push to try to get as many as we can through the end of this year successfully.  For those students who received an NX for MP3, try to figure out WHY they were unable to meet course expectations. If you don't know, that's a sign to have a one-on-one with the student and their family to troubleshoot and problem solve collaboratively.  You don't (and shouldn't) have to solve the problem alone.  If after that you are still running into a wall, please reach out to Kiri, Annie, or Jen for additional intervention support!  Once you have a strong handle on the WHY, then you'll be able to work with students and their families to create supports both in school and at home to make sure each student has a shot to end the year well! 

SAT and NYS MS ELA Testing.   On Tuesday, 11th graders will be taking the SAT.  To accommodate, we are once again putting all HS classes on remote learning only and 11th graders taking the test are excused from classes.  HS teachers should review Brodie's email from last week and this program.  Please communicate today with students and advisors that all in-person HS students should be remote tomorrow, and all test-takers should come to school in-person.

For MS, only 10 students are taking the ELA exam.  So, we will be able to have testing and in-person classes.  All in-person MS students should come to school tomorrow.  MS teachers, please review Jamie's email on MS testing.  Natalie and Jake will be proctoring the 10 students, all other classes will be in person as normal.  We'll be providing coverage for Jake & Natalie in the morning.

COVID Testing.  Today, (Monday 26APR) is our next round of COVID testing.  

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 College Advisor Posting closes next week, 25APR21

Applied: Doris Twine

Staffed: Doris Twine

Summer School Per Session Post.

We are still looking for teachers, but here are the postings so far.

Please complete the per session interest form and email Kiri 

• 2 Administrators (Must have Admin certification) - Marsha & Brodie

• 1 Teacher Coordinator of Summer School - Kelly

• 4-7 Teachers (subject to student enrollment): Suzannah, Nadine, Cherry, Joey, Kristina

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