UAI Staff News
Volume XI
Issue 02
September 5th, 2023
The restart and continual opportunities to do again are an important concept to center in our thinking and planning as we step into the 2023-2024 school year. As we learn new things are begin new things, mistakes and imperfections are the rule. Failure is to be expected, and a chance to learn from those mistakes and failures is critical to growth and achievement.
This is UAI's 18th year opening. We are quite far away from that first day of school in 2006. Back then, we were in a 3-room temporary school house with a cute little yard and only 75 kids and 10 staff. We made many mistakes and missteps over the last 18 years, but we have also learned deep and invaluable lessons that have strengthened our school to where we are today.
18 years later, we open our school with over 400 students, nearly 70 staff, 7 floors of classrooms and a cute little yard out back! We have successfully graduated 11 classes of students, firmly established partnerships with NYU & CUNY, and have created a community and family of students, families, and staff that feel connected to one another and the school long after they have left our walls. Our alumni have graduated to become teachers, nurses, medical assistants, and engineers. Our teachers have moved on to roles in leadership, teacher training, and curriculum development. Our staff has evolved from entry level positions, working on their degrees, to fully certified pedagogues and counselors, deepening their capacity to support our families and students.
18 years ago, when we first opened our doors - we were executing and idea. We stumbled, erred, and learned... A LOT
Today, when we open our doors - we are opening an institution aimed at providing young women with the knowledge, opportunities and connections that will lead them to careers and pathways that will help them reshape our world.
This year, we will inevitably continue to find new ways to flub and mess up, but I treasure those, now. I know that without those moments of "oops" and "uh oh" we cannot become excellent. I embrace every "oh shizzles" and "again?" as an opportunity to refine, hone, and enrich our home, our families, our community, our school
Welcome back UAI - I'm excited to see you all again tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to the magic we collectively create together this year!
Important Upcoming dates
- Tuesday, 05SEP23 - First Official Day for All Staff
- Wednesday, 06SEP23 - Second PD Day for All Staff
- Thursday 07SEP23 - First Day for All Students
- Monday, 11SEP23 - First PM Office Hours and Monday PD
- Wednesday, 13SEP23 - First Day of Elevate Study Skills in 6/7 and 8/9 Learning Labs
- Friday, 15SEP23 - First Day of Hispanic Heritage Month
- Monday, 18SEP23 - 2nd PM Office Hours and Monday PD
- Monday, 25SEP23 - Yom Kippur, NO SCHOOL
- Monday, 09OCT23 - Indigenous People & Italian Heritage Day - NO SCHOOL
- Wednesday, 11OCT23 - 2nd Day of Elevate Study Skills in 6/7 and 8/9 Learning Labs
Announcements & To Dos
SyncGrades is Up! SyncGrades is our brand new online grading system. From the original makes of Skedula, SyncGrades is a DOE approved 3rd party software to manage our grades and communications with kids and families.
We are still finalizing some steps of set up (for example, we haven't yet linked your accounts to our UAI domain - that's coming soon). AND remember, this our first time with SyncGrades - so perfection is not happening - but many lessons from the mistakes await ;-)
Go ahead and Login with your DOE email and credentials (so click on the button that says login in with DOE email). Click here if you Forgot DOE Password. 
MUCH of this is incredibly intuitive and user friendly. Go ahead and navigate to the Wiki to learn how to use SyncGrades (upper righthand corner where your initials are and then select Wiki).
Or you can go directly to:
- SyncGrades Teacher Overview: A walkthrough on using SyncGrades for your courses and classrooms.
- SyncGrades FAQ: Answers frequently asked questions such as how to create assignments, enter grades, and see student information.
- Explore the Wiki. Make sure to look at the Blue Left Hand bar for links to many more How Tos and detailed directions.
If you have any questions that are UAI specific (e.g program questions), please complete this FORM. You can also email SyncGrades directly if the issue is a technical (click the "Need Help" button just below where you found the "Wiki"). Please do not email Kiri any questions about SyncGrades. Kiri only did the set up and will be handing over SyncGrades management to Jason, our tech coordinator. He, himself, is new to SyncGrades, too. So, please have patience.
First Days PD. Tomorrow and Wednesday are our opening PD days. We'll be meeting in the farm (room 205) for both days. All PD Days for the 2023-2024 School Year are 6hours and 50 minutes. So the days will be 8:30AM-3:20PM. Here's the Agenda for those days:
Tuesday, 05SEP23: Day One
- 8:00AM [ALL Staff] Breakfast - Optional - Provided by UAI (from Panera)
- 8:30AM [ALL Staff] Introductions and Connections
- 9:00AM [ALL Staff] Principal's Opening Address
- 9:20AM Break
- 9:30AM [Deans, Counselors, Teachers, Paras] 2023-24 School Policies & Structures
- 10:20AM Break
- 10:30AM [Teachers & Paras] Co-Planning, Conferences, and Shared Curriculum
- 11:30AM Lunch
- 12:30PM Meetings
- Co-Planning Team Meetings - with ILT Leads
- MS Team Meeting - with Phillan - Rm B49
- 8-12 Advisors & Counselors Meeting (Room 303) - with Jen & Kiri
- Learning Lab Teachers (Room 305) with Annie
- 2:00PM [Teachers & Paras] Classroom Setup
- 3:20PM Days Ends
Wednesday, 06SEP23: Day One
- 8:30AM [ALL Staff] Introductions and Connections
- 9:00AM [ALL Staff] Principal's Opening Address
- 9:15AM [Teachers & Paras] Instructional Excellence - Danielson & CLASS
- 10:15AM Break
- 10:30AM [Teachers & Paras] SyncGrades & Grading at UAI
- 11:30AM Break
- 11:45AM [ALL Staff] Nuts & Bolts and First Days Logistics Review
- 12:15PM Lunch Provided by UAI (from Sophie's Cuban)
- 1:00PM Meetings
- Co-Planning Team Meetings
- Math (All Alg 1 teachers) Team Meeting - with Supt. Fred Walsh - Rm 403
- 2:00PM [Teachers & Paras] Classroom Setup
- 3:20PM Days Ends
UAI Schedule. There were some changed made to the UAI schedule to accommodate for balancing sections and meeting SPED and ENL service requirements. Please review your schedule again. What you see on this form may differ from what you see in SyncGrades. If that is the case, email Kiri immediately. That means there's an error somewhere and we need to catch it before the first day! You'll also see Class Lists. Take these with a grain of salt. There is much shifting in the first week of school. So, please allow for that.
Classroom Setup. Many thanks to those who came in last week to set up classrooms! We are getting it together! As a reminder, please do NOT leave furniture in the hallway. You can either bring it to the locker room across from 503 or you can complete this form for custodial removal if the furniture is too large for you to move on your own.
All classrooms have been set up with 28 desks and chairs. Please be mindful that while your specific classes may not have 28 students, another class that uses that room may need all 28 seats. So, please make sure that you are not removing desks unnecessarily.
Classroom Set Up Guidelines
- Physical Classroom Set Up. The physical learning environment is an active partner in how well your lessons land. The physical learning environment should demonstrate our schools' core values so that our students can more readily experience and understand how those values permeate throughout our school and throughout their day. You will be reimbursed up to $250 for anything you need for your classroom practice. So, find ways, relative to your discipline, to highlight our core values
- Equity - Representation matters - Students should see and hear themselves and folks who look like them and share their experiences. Make sure your classroom highlights these folks within your curriculum.
- Power - Voice & Choice - Students' voice matter. We are a school aimed at helping young women cultivate their voice and power. How you arrange desks says A LOT. Our mission is to amplify student power. Desks should be structured for collaboration & discourse - our primary tools for growing student power to think, create, and analyze.
- Rigor - Challenge Minds - Students should be able to see examples of what they will learn this year. Eventually, your walls will will with student work - either on active problem solving or final work products. Until then, what can you put up to illustrate the high academic expectations you have for their learning this year.
- Joy - Learning is Fun - Last but definitely MOST important. We are all here to have fun doing what we do. Let your creativity fly as you find ways to make your classroom feel warm, welcoming, and joyful!
- Google Classroom Set Up. This year, the DOE is really wanting us to migrate to their domain. Well... for some of us - that's asking to move like 18 years worth of work...and they say that we are only allowed to move things over 1 file at a time. So... we will begin the migration, and it will probably take the year to complete. So, here's the plan.
- Create a 2023-2024 Folder and an Everything Else (archive folder). All staff should create a 2023-2024 Folder in their UAI Google drive. Everything you do this year should be created in and/or moved in to this folder. This will allow you to cull your documents from the things that you actively use (and will thus have to migrate). For the things that are not so frequently used, create an archive folder. This will essentially separate your drive into two folders - what you're using (2023-2024 Folder), and what you're archiving (Archive Folder)
Your 2023-2024 Google Classrooms should be created in (or copied to) the 2023-2024 Folder. This year we will be using SyncGrades which communicates with your Google Classroom Gradebook (more on that later). Please coordinate with your co-teachers to see who is going to what for the Google Classroom set up.
There are a million different ways to organize your google classroom. Simply google "How should I organize my google classroom" to see more!! The most important thing is that you are strategic in your organization. Think about the whole year and how you would want your classroom to look when the year completes. Things that are helpful for you and your students
- Get inspired. Take a tour through other folks' Google Classrooms. Get inspired by what other folks have done (or what you've done in the past!). Make a copy of the classrooms that you want to emulate, and begin your build from there.
- Give your Assignments and Numbering Nomenclature. For example, the 3rd progress assignment from unit 5 might start with "5.3P"(Unit 5, Assignment 3, P for Progress) and be called "5.P3_ Right Triangles Practice 2". The 2nd performance assessment task from unit 5 might be called "5.A2_Right Triangles Quiz". This will help you and your students more readily find and reference Assignments and Assessments.
- Create a Resources Topic & Keep it at the Top of Classwork Page. For things that you use all the time throughout the year (e.g. Earth Science Reference Tables, ELA or SOC Essay Rubrics, Links to background skill builds (e.g. iReady) or curriculum (e.g. HMH online curriculum), create a Resource Topic and pin that to the top of your Classwork page.
- Be intentional about your notifications. Your class is one of 7-8 classes that each student has. That can be a lot of messages which overwhelm students. As you set up assignments and use your stream, think about how you are notifying students. Be strategic.
First Days of School and New School Structures. Students and families will receive this opening email along with links to SyncGrades for returning students to login. Students will be able to see their programs in SyncGrades OR into their NYCSA accounts to see their programs.
- Thursday, 07SEP23
- Middle School
- All 6th grade students will be directed to B49 for Breakfast and 1st Period.
- All 7th grade students will be directed to B53 for Breakfast and 1st Period.
- Advisors will distribute programs and welcome students during 1st period.
- All students will follow normal programs beginning 2nd period.
- 8th/9th (Lower High School)
- All students will be brought to the Gym where we will orient students and distribute programs. All teachers who teach 8/9th graders 1st period on Thursday should report to the Gym. Once orientation and program distribution is complete, student will resume normal program (no later than the start of 2nd period).
- 10th-12th (Upper High School)
- All students will report to their 1st period teachers to receive their programs. There will be lists of where to go for 1st period posted in the cafeteria. 1st Period Teachers will distribute programs to students.
- Friday 08SEP23 will be a normal program, but as we manage new admits and kids who are new to UAI, there will likely be lateness to class and changes in rosters. Your patience is much appreciated as we work to settle kids in.
- Your first two days should definitely focus on building relationships AND launching into course content. Joy doesn't come at the expense of Rigor or Power or Equity. So please make sure to plan intellectually engaging AND fun activities that spark the joy of learning with peers.
- As you look ahead to planning out the year, please check out the UAI Calendar (at the bottom of this blog post) to see important dates. As a reminder, all teachers of the same course are expected to use the same final banchmark assessments which will be given and analyzed at the end of each marking period. Please see the calendar for those dates.
[Repost] Staff Handbook and School Schedule. Please make the time to read through the staff handbook and review your schedule. All staff are expected to read through and sign off on the staff handbook by the Tuesday, 05SEP23. Also, please review the 2023-2024 UAI School Schedule. We are still balancing sections and finalizing the schedule this week, so you can expect class lists next week. But you should certainly review the program carefully, looking at your own and student programs (and room programs) to make sure there aren't any mistakes. We've certainly combed through it a lot, but it never hurts to have more eyes!
Per Session Postings
For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form"
Classroom SetUp. All classroom staff are invited to come in to set up and plan for up to 10 hours all together any day this week Monday-Friday 9AM-2PM. Staff must clock in AND out each day, and cannot be in the building after 2PM. Please adhere to guidelines set out in the blog post above. All Staff MUST also apply to this position by completing the "Per Session Application From" - see link above. [Posted 27AUG23].
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