Week of March 29st

UAI Staff News

Volume IX

Issue 27

March 28th, 2022

Longer Than Usual.    This week's post will be a combo of last week and this week's information.  I had some family and personal events happening last weekend and this past weekend.  Last weekend, I flew to Atlanta for a dear friend's wedding and this weekend, I trekked up to Boston to celebrate my bestie from college's new book release, The Shame Machine.

So...Sunday blog writing was a little disrupted as of late.  Many apologies!

So, let's dive right in....

Important dates this month.  

• Monday, 28MAR22:  MP3 Power Up Week Begins
• Monday, 28MAR22: Staff Meeting:  ELA team meets to finish Course Selection Work
  All other teams conduct outreach to students who are currently not passing courses.
• Tues-Thur 29Mar-31Mar22:  NYS Middle School ELA Exams
• Friday, 01APR22:  MP3 Ends
• Wednesday, 06APR:  Grades Due
• Friday, 08APR:  Report Cards Distributed

Committee Updates

Scheduling Committee. The scheduling committee will meet Wednesday to review course selections and establish a process of student course selections for the fall.  You can see the agenda and notes here.  

The Hiring Committee.  Our next fair is On March 12, 2022.  Please SHARE OUT THIS FLIER to anyone you know who may be looking for a job in teaching next year!   

• You can always view our notes and decisions on THIS DOC. 
  
  

Equity Team.  The Equity Team read another passage from Pushout this week to start thinking about which specific policies are causing disproportionality in our discipline data and how we might revise these policies.  The team will reconvene to discuss the reading this week.  Agenda

Circles Committee.  No Updates this week

Consultation Committee.  Next meeting is on Thursday 07APR22 at 3PM in room 403.  See consultation committee notes.   Goals for this committee are still TBD

Instructional Leadership Team. All teams completed course catalog components except English.  That team will meet today to make final edits.

Announcements

Middle School Testing.   TODAY - Middle School Teachers should meet in room 403 to review Middle School Testing Procedures with Kiri.  It will be a super brief meeting to review final rosters and programming for the week.

Small Group Instruction To Resume.  Earlier this year, I removed small group instruction during your professional periods to provide teachers with more time for planning and adjustment to returning to in-school instruction after COVID.  As we enter into the final marking period of the year, that time needs to return to original intent so that we can support and intervene on student failure.

Any student who does not pass a MP3 course will be pulled from Learning Labs on specific days and assigned to their teacher(s) for small group instruction.  During small group work, teachers are expected to work with students to provide intervention and support instruction to close learning gaps in order to propel student learning and achievement for MP4.  

Small groups will launch when we return from Spring Break on Monday, 25APR22.  Students will remain in these assigned small groups for the remainder of MP4.  

Since students will be programmed into Small Groups, daily attendance in Skedula will be required.  Additionally, a weekly log of outreach & support will be required to be entered into Skedula.  

June Remediation.  In addition to Small Group Intervention, students who are still failing as of May 27th will be mandated to attend school to work with their classroom teacher(s) during any and clerical, professional development, and assessment days in June.  These days and the small group instruction periods are aimed at providing students opportunities for success during the school year.

Start Summer Vacation Early.  If you have not already used up your allotted vacation days, I am giving the blanket approval to any and all staff who wish to use any or all of their vacation days for the last 7 days of June.  This means that if you haven't used any of your days yet, your last day of school this year could be June 17th (instead of June 28th).    Please email Kiri by the end of next week (April 8th) if you are interested!

 

To Do This Week

PAY ATTENTION TO THE YELLOW HIGHLIGHTS
This is the stuff that requires your attention AND it's stuff you need to do!

Teacher Preference Sheets.  Teacher preference sheets are due next Monday, April 4th by the end of the day.  Please complete THIS FORM.

Per Session Postings

Please complete THIS PER SESSION INTEREST FORM and email Kiri to let her know that you are applying for a per session position.

After School Small Groups.   If you do not have enough space in your in-day small groups (they are limited to 10 students per group) and/or  you wish to hold additional small groups after school, please complete the above per session interested form and email Kiri with the days and hours you would like to work.

Curriculum Organization.  All teachers are eligible to earn up to 50 hours of per session to organize and submit their current curricula by the end of June 2022.  Curricula will be submitting using UAI pacing templates with sharable links to lesson plans, assessments, and associated materials.  Please complete the per session interest form above and email Kiri if you are interested!

2022 UAI SUMMER Camp.  <STILL OPEN> This summer will build on what we started last summer in our effort to create highly engaging and challenging summer programming for our students.  Mandatory make-up programs have been moved into June and we are replacing the punitive form of summer school with programming that is aimed at enriching, exciting, and getting kids thrilled to be in school again!

We are looking for summer school teachers to offer programming this summer.  We will offer elective credit to the courses.  The courses can be anything that interests you, and classes will be limited no more than 15 students per class.  

We are looking for teachers to teach elective classes in:

• Arts:  Creative Writing, Art (visual, performing, or movement), Poetry, Storytelling, Photography etc.
• Social Justice:  Community Organizing, Protest Art, Social Media Campaigns, Etc.
• STEM:  Finance, Engineering, Drones, Rockets, 
• EntrepreneurialMedia:  Podcasting, YouTubing, Social Media Management, Documentary Film Making
• Open Call:  Have an Idea?  Submit it!!
  
  
  

Days:  11JUL-29JUL , Mondays-Thursdays ONLY

Hours (Max) 5 hrs per day 

    (90 min classes with an hour prep for each class up to two classes a day)

    Total possible hours = 60 hours    Minimum possible hours = 30 hours

Regents Prep 2022.  This summer we hope to offer Regents Prep in Algebra I, Geometry, Living Environment, Earth Science, US History, and English.  

Regents Prep consists of working with students on Regents Test prep to prepare them to take and pass the August Regent Exams AND then proctoring and grading those exams.

• Days:  08AUG-17AUG, Mondays - Thursdays ONLY
• Hours: 5 hrs per day (max) (90 min classes w/ hour prep per class, max of 2 classes per day)
• Total Possible Hours = 35 hours

 Summer Staffing.  Our summer programs require out-of-classroom staffing.  We are looking for folks to

• Supervise UAI Summer Camp (must have Admin License) and/or Regents Prep
• Coordinate UAI Summer Camp (teacher license ok) and/or Regents Prep
• Supervise SYEP Program (teacher/counselor/para license ok)
• Provide Waitlist Management and Student Recruitment Support (teacher/counselor/para license ok)