Sunday, July 18, 2021

Summer Update #1

UAI Staff News

Volume IX
Issue 1
July 18, 2021

Principal's Message

Summer Lovin'.  We are three weeks into a much deserved summer break, and I am hoping that each of you have found ways to unwind, slow your minds, and recharge your bodies, hearts, and souls!  I had the chance to get away for a few days over the last few weeks, and I know it took me some time to force my mind to settle and appreciate the slower paces and lightening stress.  So, please make sure to allow yourself the joy of relaxation.  Summer is for lovin' yourselves!

We still have 7.5 weeks of summer left.  Make sure that you are prioritizing your YOU time now.  Establish routines and healthy mindsets to take into next year to strengthen your own well-being.  Be ok to put you first right now.  The rest of the work will always be there, and it will be ready for you to take on when you are ready to take it on!

I am really looking forward to a wonderful return to in-person learning.  While there are still a lot of questions, what definitely looms largest for me is to be back in actual community with all of you once more!

Committee Updates

School Restructuring Committee.  
  • Scheduling SubCommittee:  The scheduling committee is moving towards a finalized version of the fall program. During the Town Hall meeting this Wednesday (see below for details) will review the program in detail and gather your feedback.  If you're unable to make that Town Hall, we will be recording it so you can have access to that information later!  Here are some main points of the program
    • Integrating Student Choice.  One of the main calls for electives has been rooted in the goal of giving students choice.  However, the amount of work it take to create a high quality course can be overwhelming for staff teaching multiple preps.  So the dilemma presenting itself was how to offer student choice while maintaining instructional quality.  Well..what could a program look like if that were the case?  That might be a way where we can not overwhelm teacher and provide students with choice!  Come to Thursday's Town Hall to learn more!
    • Minimizing Co-Teacher Partnerships.  For almost everyone, this program limits the number of co-planning/co-teaching relationships to 2.  That way, folks have to work with at most 2 people (Danielle R - you're the 1 exception planning with Jamie, Judy, and the new math teacher TBD)
    • Small Group Work.  All staff will have 2 small group professional periods.  If you have students who have outstanding NX grades from June, those students will be automatically assigned to your small groups.  If you do not, you will have the opportunity to use the small group time for extra tutoring and/or to host clubs.  Students will come out of their study hall period to participate in small groups (NX/Tutor/Clubs).
    • Staffing Assignments.  We are still finalizing rooms and periods.  The goal is to minimize movement as much as possible - keeping teachers in their same rooms (though there will be some changes).  We will release the final period schedule (with room assignments, teaching periods, preps, lunches, and professional periods) within the coming weeks.  For now, here is the staffing and co-teaching assignments.
  • Hiring SubCommittee:  The hiring committee has been hard at work interviewing candidates. 
    • We've had a couple of staffing shifts this summer, which is normal for schools.  Rebecca F has moved on to join a school that is closer to her home, and Emma has also recently resigned, deciding to relocate upstate.  Some of you may have heard that Marsha has accepted an Assistant Principal Position at the Urban Assembly Gateway school, and we are so incredibly proud and excited for her!!  
    • We have also received our final budget for the upcoming year, and now that we are finally funding at 100% of our funding formula, we can officially afford to bring class sizes to 25 for all academic classes.  In addition, we are looking to backfill positions that we never filled during COVID (eg. Dance).  We are currently hiring for Math, Dance, Special Ed, and one more (which could be ENL).  
    • We have hired four new staff (Shana Mian (Bio), Jenetta Roseangel (SPEC), Claire Gottsegen (SPED), and Liza Backman (Chem)).  We'll be formally introducing them during the Town Hall on Wednesday.
    • Our goal is to complete hiring by the end of next week, before Kiri goes on vacation!  If you are available to help out with our interviews, please reach out to Kelly to let her know.  It is a lot of time and effort to bring on new staff, and only a few folks from hiring are available over the summer.  Please help out if you can (per session is available!).
  • Other Hiring Update.  I am also interviewing for a School Secretary, School Aide, and School Business Manager.  Both Del and Aisha have been key in helping me interview candidates and assess their fit with UAI.  We currently have a lead on a secretary, and may have a lead on a school business manager, too!  If you know anyone who would be a good fit for a school aide (charged with managing deliveries, which requires moving boxes and with other office tasks), please email me to let me know ASAP!
 


Announcements and To Do

UAI Staff Town Hall.  Kiri will be hosting the first summer Town Hall.  Final agenda will be updated soon, but here's the initial draft:
  • Welcome & Introductions
  • NYCDOE Updates - COVID Protocols and Expectations
  • Scheduling Committee Report
  • Hiring Committee Report
  • Q&A
  • ZOOM link

Classroom Set Up & Co-Planning.  All staff are invited to come into school on August 31, Sept 1, and Sept 2 to set up their classrooms and begin planning with co-teachers. Training rate per session for up to a total of 5 hours per day (15 hours per person) is available for you!  You are welcome to schedule your classroom set-up or planning time as you wish, but all work must be in-person and onsite at UAI.  All teachers will also have to clock in and clock out on those three days.  Anyone who applies will be accepted into the role.  To apply,  please COMPLETE THIS FORM 


Home Visits.  We know that relationships are the bedrock of a quality learning experience for our students.  To strengthen relationships, we want to actually meet our families where they are.  Home visits are one of the best ways to get to know our students' families and to better understand the individual stories of each of our students.   We're asking for advisors to volunteer to visit their advisory students during the last week of August and/or throughout the month of September.  Advisors would
  • Participate in a Training Workshop on Home Visits (via zoom)
  • Call homes to schedule visits
  • Successfully complete all priority visits (aka students who struggled in Remote Learning last year)
  • Successfully Complete visits to at least 70% of their advisory (e.g. 10-11 of 15 students)
  • Gather accurate contact information
  • Introduce self, school, and learn about individual student & family strengths, goals, and needs
All advisors wishing to participate will be accepted into the per session position.  To apply,  please COMPLETE THIS FORM 


Course Wish Lists.   It's that time of year to shop for your courses again.  Please visit ShopDoe to select materials for your course.  We will be purchasing general supply materials for the school (white board markers, paper, markers, scissors, tape, etc.). However, if you want something specific, please do put it on your list.  We are training new people in purchasing this year.  So we are creating a new system to support their onboarding.  
  • FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS to submit order requests.
  • If you do not submit correctly, your order will be automatically rejected.  
  • NOTE:  It takes at least 30-45 days for order to process and be delivered.  If you need materials by a specific date, they must be submitted at least 6 weeks prior to that date.  The sooner you can submit the order, the more likely those materials will be available for you to use when you need them!




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.  

Student Home Visits  We know that relationships are the bedrock of a quality learning experience for our students.  To strengthen relationships, we want to actually meet our families where they are.  Home visits are one of the best ways to get to know our students' families and to better understand the individual stories of each of our students.   We're asking for advisors to volunteer to visit their advisory students during the last week of August and/or throughout the month of September.  Advisors would
  • Participate in a Training Workshop on Home Visits (via zoom)
  • Call homes to schedule visits
  • Successfully complete all priority visits (aka students who struggled in Remote Learning last year)
  • Successfully Complete visits to at least 70% of their advisory (e.g. 10-11 of 15 students)
  • Gather accurate contact information
  • Introduce self, school, and learn about individual student & family strengths, goals, and needs
All advisors wishing to participate will be accepted into the per session position.  To apply,  please COMPLETE THIS FORM 


Classroom SetUp & Co-Planning  All staff are invited to come into school on August 31, Sept 1, and Sept 2 to set up their classrooms and begin planning with co-teachers. Training rate per session for up to a total of 5 hours per day (15 hours per person) is available for you!  You are welcome to schedule your classroom set-up or planning time as you wish, but all work must be in-person and onsite at UAI.  All teachers will also have to clock in and clock out on those three days.  Anyone who applies will be accepted into the role.  To apply,  please COMPLETE THIS FORM 





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