Week of Jun 24th

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 38

June 24th,  2024

Final Post of the School Year! Today is the last blogpost of the school year!!  I'm still underwater with finalizing all the report cards and transcripts and whatnot - so short post again.

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School
  
  
  
• MON 01JUL - Summer School Staff Set Up Day
• TUE 02JUL - First day of Summer Splash and Summer Rising Summer School

Announcements & To Dos

Monday & Tuesday.  MOST folks have graduation assignments on both days, but there are some folks with Regents assignments.  Please make sure you are CHECKING your June Regents Schedule OFTEN!   If you have any questions about graduation assignments, please see Annie.  For Regents questions, please see Liza.

Final Grades Check.  Thank you all for getting your grades in.  There were some issues in getting them uploaded.  But I figured them out!  There were a lot of machinations and moving pieces to shoehorn them into STARS.  This was my first time using interdisciplinary codes (ZJ codes). Never stop learning!  Anyhoo - please take a look at your final grades.  Please reach out to JJR or me if you need to make any changes.  Any changes MUST be submitted no later than 1PM (via email) on Monday 24JUN.  We're going to run the report cards and transcripts after HS graduation.

Last Day of School.  The last day of school is Wednesday, 26JUN24.

• For Grades 6 & 7 - students report to their regular 1st and 2nd period classes.  They can collect report cards, clean out lockers and help pack up materials for the summer.  Students will be released to lunch as per usual at 10:15, but ALL students are welcome to leave at this point.  All students will be formally released at 10:30AM.  
  
  
• For Grades 8-12 - Wednesday is a Regents Day (so students are not officially in attendance).  However, students should be coming in to pick up final report cards, transcripts, and diplomas.  This is also the last chance students will have to clean out lockers.  Anything left in lockers this summer will be thrown out.  Please notify your students of this by posting a notice in your google classrooms.  Students can come pick up anytime between 8:30-10:30.  Here are the assigned rooms
  
• 8th Graders (Jelissa) - room 303
• 9th Graders (Noelle & Thomas) - together in Room 205C
• 10th Graders (Martine & Tom M) - together in Room 507
• 11th Graders (Elena & Tiffany) - together in Room 411
• 12th Graders (Freida, Patti, Jake, Patricia) - in Room 305
  
  
• Students can also pick up transcripts/diplomas any time from July 8th-July 31st from 8AM-12PM.  Lockers MUST be cleaned out by June 26th.  We begin clipping in the afternoon of the 26th, because we're going to do a full clean out of all the lockers this summer.
  
  
• Final staff meeting will be at 11AM in the farm.  Please try to complete your list (see EOY Checklist) by 11AM.  MS folks - if you need extra help, please reach out and we'll send some folks down to help you!

Year End To Dos.    

1. UAI Pacing Guides.   All courses will need to be linked into THIS DOC using THIS TEMPLATE.  The goal of cataloging your lessons for the year is to streamline capture the work that you've done for your classes this year in one place and to make the planning process for you (or whoever takes over the course next year) much more smooth.  To maximize our collective improvement, we have to stop reinventing wheels.  This is the first step!  You do NOT need to rewrite anything.  I'm just looking to take stock of what you did this year and put it all in one place.  Your lessons do not need to be perfect.  This is an organizational tool to help us expedite our improvement for next year!
   
   PLEASE Make sure you link in your docs before the last day of school.  You WILL be able to leave as soon as your checklist is signed off on and complete AND this is ON the checklist!
   
   
   
2. EOY Checklist.  Make a Copy of the EOY Checklist for yourself.  This is a comprehensive list of things you need to do prior to leaving on June 26th.
   
   
• As a reminder, students will be told to come to school at 8:30 and collect their report cards/transcripts no later than 10:30.  
  
  
• We'll meet in the farm for our final staff meeting at 10:45AM.  If your EOY checklist is complete and has signatures from everyrone, then it will be collected and you will be released for summer at 11AM.  If not, you'll have to stay until you complete the list.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.

Week of June 18th

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 37

June 18th,  2024

Happy Father's Day!! Happy father's day to all you fathers and all of your fathers (and father figures)!!

I hope you enjoy a fabulous day!! 

This blog post has lots of Info. We don't have a PD meeting for the remainder of the year, so this blog will have to serve as the primary source of communications.  There is a lot of extremely important information for you in this blog post, so please make sure you make a point of reading through this carefully.

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON 17JUN - Eid Al Adha - NO SCHOOL
• WED 19JUN - Juneteenth - NO SCHOOL
  
  
  
• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School
  
  
  
• MON 01JUL - Summer School Staff Set Up Day
• TUE 02JUL - First day of Summer Splash and Summer Rising Summer School

Announcements & To Dos

Check your Schedule.  Tuesday is our last late day of testing. So, some folks will start late.  Please make sure you are CHECKING your June Regents Schedule.  Please reach out to Kiri & Liza with any questions or conflicts you might have!

Final Grades Are Due.  We have a couple of new things this year with final end-of-year grades, so we need to do a couple of things differently.  Firstly, we are doing grade averages of MP1-MP4 to come up with the final grade for the year.  Lastly, we used interdisciplinary codes (beginning with ZJ) to mix our grades.  Now, we have to expand those codes so kids in specific grades get the correct code.  Here's what you need to do:

1. Enter your MP4 Grades into the UAI Final Grade Calculator (in the Column with the Blue Text)
2. Then, The Final Grades will calculate in the column with the Red Text.
3. Enter The FINAL GRADES in the STARS Grade File.  Please do NOT copy and paste.  The students are not alpha sorted.  They are sorted by their expanded codes.  You'll have to enter manually.
   

Final grades for EVERYONE (6-12) are due at 3PM on 20JUN24.  Please do not be late with your grades.  There is an incredibly TIGHT turnaround time for report cards, and we need all the time to prepare final grades, review transcripts and print diplomas.

If an 8th grader or a 12th grader is failing your class as a final grade, please make sure you email and text KIRI immediately.  We are beginning final preparation for graduation and we need to inform students ASAP if they will not graduate.

2024-25 Schedule and Budget Implications.  As per contract, HERE is the 2024-25 schedule.  As a reminder, the schedule is subject to enrollment and budget changes over the summer.  To be fully transparent, the WHAT & WHERE you are teaching is pretty firm (although again - there may be changes due to student needs).  They WHO & WHEN you are teaching (grades and periods) is much more flexible.  Please email Kiri & Liza with any questions or concerns you may have.

This program reflects a significant shift in staffing - all of which is due to budget shortfalls.

I finally was able to meet with our Affinity Budget and HR team to review the 2024-25 budget and what it means for our school. Our overall register decreased by 42 students from this year to next year.  That resulted in a loss of over $900K in Fair Student Funding.  While the mayor and city has been able to restore some funds, we are still in the red, and we still need to contract our budget by about $500K, and that translates into reducing our staff by five positions.

When excessing occurs, the guidelines are first to preserve as many classroom personnel as much as possible and to keep sufficient staff to meet legal mandates.  That means that we start by seeing where we can trim down staff outside of the classroom - and that is on the admin side and in our counselors and deans.

It is the principals' responsibility to decide which areas are to be contracted in order to make up budget shortfalls.  I have decided to trim three areas:  Admin, Counseling, and Special Ed.  

• Admin.  I have had to make the very hard decision to excess Dai.  Dai has been such an incredible asset to our school and has done so much to add to our community.  However, classroom instruction and student direct service will always be the priority at UAI.  Unfortunately, for the first time in UAI history, this means we have to excess.
  
  
• Counseling.  We have always had a strong commitment to counselors and providing robust College Advising and Mental Health support to our students and families.  We currently have four guidance counselors (Ms. Thomas, JJR, Tiffany, & Jelissa) and two social workers (Jen & Danielle I) on staff.  We no longer have the resources to support this level of service, and that means we need to reduce the number of guidance counselors we have.  Following seniority rules, that puts Jelissa in excess.
  
  
• Special Education Teachers.  Unfortunately, we were not able to avoid the classroom all together.  Our enrollment issues are particularly pronounced in the lower numbers of SPED students that we will have next year.  As per our budget & HR folks, we currently have 11 SPED people on staff, and we need to bring that number down to 7 in order to meet all mandates.  Coincidentally, Alison is leaving for Sabbatical next year, so that left a reduction of three.  Following seniority rules (last in first out), those three teachers are Yasmeen, Kaitlyn, and Akelia.
  
  
• Special Note.  There is still some uncertainty in positions.  I do know that folks are looking, but I do not yet know if they have landed positions.  I greatly appreciate everyone who has been upfront with me about their search.  It has allowed me to minimize excessing in other areas.  If you are searching for another position, I ask that you please tell me.  I would like to be able to communicate with folks to let them know if they have a chance to return if folks leave - thereby opening up funding for someone's return from excess.  For this year in particular, transparency helps the school AND helps your colleagues.
   

Excessing does NOT mean fired or laid off.  Folks will still have positions within the DOE, and specifically within our District (I'm not sure if this means Affinity-AKA citywide or District 13-Geographic).  Here's the exact verbiage from the union.

As of the summer of 2021, in most cases, the DOE no longer places newly excessed staff in the Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool. Instead, the DOE says, “Superintendents, executive superintendents (or a designee) and Borough Central Office staff will find funded vacancies within their district for all newly excessed staff who have not found a job though Open Market in preparation for the upcoming school year.” So, if a staff member does not find a position via Open Market, they will be placed in a school in their district and remain there until they transfer or leave the system.

Nonetheless, it is still a hard move to have to leave a community.  It is hard for the community to have to let them all go, too!  Of course, if staffing, enrollment and/or budget change over the summer (i.e. if we get more students, more money, or staff leave), things may change.  I am always hopeful, but given how many students we are short (42), I am not optimistic we'll be able to make up all of that gap this summer.

<REPOST>. Year End To Dos.    

1. UAI Pacing Guides.   All courses will need to be linked into THIS DOC using THIS TEMPLATE.  The goal of cataloging your lessons for the year is to streamline capture the work that you've done for your classes this year in one place and to make the planning process for you (or whoever takes over the course next year) much more smooth.  To maximize our collective improvement, we have to stop reinventing wheels.  This is the first step!  You do NOT need to rewrite anything.  I'm just looking to take stock of what you did this year and put it all in one place.  Your lessons do not need to be perfect.  This is an organizational tool to help us expedite our improvement for next year!
   
   PLEASE Make sure you link in your docs before the last day of school.  You WILL be able to leave as soon as your checklist is signed off on and complete AND this is ON the checklist!
   
   
   
2. EOY Checklist.  Make a Copy of the EOY Checklist for yourself.  This is a comprehensive list of things you need to do prior to leaving on June 26th.
   
   
• As a reminder, students will be told to come to school at 8:30 and collect their report cards/transcripts no later than 10:30.  
  
  
• We'll meet in the farm for our final staff meeting at 10:45AM.  If your EOY checklist is complete and has signatures from everyrone, then it will be collected and you will be released for summer at 11AM.  If not, you'll have to stay until you complete the list.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.

Week of June 10th

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 36

June 10th,  2024

Final Weeks of Classes! This week is the last week for grades 8-12 students, and next week is the last for grades 6 & 7.  There's a lot of moving parts this week, so I'm just going to jump right into it!

Monday 10JUN

• ELA Map Testing (grades 8-12).  Please review the tab, "MAP schedule", to review your schedule.  Kids report to their NORMAL 2nd period classrooms (except for Theater & Gym - so please read those notes to help kids get to the right places). It is the teachers who are moving to proctor the exam locations (so look at the schedule carefully).  Marsha & Kelly will be coordinating the exam from 401.  Please connect with them for any issues in proctoring.  Grades 6 & 7 are on a normal schedule and normal schedule resumes after lunch. 
  
  NOTE:  Moving forward, because we are using MAP as a diagnostic to see where students are performing independently (and not as a summative measure of performance), we will not be providing accommodations for any student.  That way, we will have a more accurate measure of what students need in order to grow and develop skill sets - without assistance from accommodations.
  
  
• Staff PD in Farm at 3PM.  We will once again hold staff PD in the farm at 3PM on Monday and move OPW to remote work at 4PM.  For Monday's PD we will be
• Wrapping up and Reflecting on the work of the RPET for the year
• Reviewing expectations and directions for Regents Week.

Tuesday 11JUN

• MATH Map Testing (grades 8-12).  Same as above - this time with Math and with Judy & Liza coordinating proctoring.  Regular schedule resumes after lunch.  As a reminder, the MAP will count as the final exam for ELA and Math.  All students who miss the exam, must report to school on June 14th, 18th, or 20th to make up the exam in the tutoring rooms that will be staffed during regents week.
  
  
• After School Girls Inc Speed Networking Event - in the Cafe at 3PM

Wednesday 12JUN & Thursday 13JUN

• All other Finals.  All other final assessments can take place on Wednesday and/or Thursday during regularly scheduled class periods.  
  
  
• MS Activities.  The MS After School Movie Fundraiser will be on Wednesday at 3PM and the 6th & 7th graders will be going to the library on Thursday.
  
  

Friday 14JUN

• Regents Week Begins.  Please make it a habit to review and check the Regents schedule
  EVERY MORNING of Regents week.  We will be making adjustments as needed as the week moves forward.  People's schedules change and student needs fluctuate, so we need to adjust to accommodate for those things.
  
  NOTE:  Grades 8-12 students who have outstanding work to complete and/or tests to make up from this week MUST report to school at 8:30AM on Friday and report to the tutoring rooms to do work.
  
  
• MS Activities.  The MS will have their summer book giveaway extravaganza!

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON 10JUN - Math MAP Testing - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12)
• This counts as the final exam for all math classes
• TUE 11JUN - ELA MAP Testing  - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12)
• This counts as the final exam for all ELA classes
• WED12JUN & 13JUN - All other finals in regularly scheduled classes.
  
• FRI 14JUN - Regents Week Begins 
  
  
  
• MON 17JUN - Eid Al Adha - NO SCHOOL
• WED 19JUN - Juneteenth - NO SCHOOL
  
  
  
• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School
  
  
  
• MON 01JUL - Summer School Staff Set Up Day
• TUE 02JUL - First day of Summer Splash and Summer Rising Summer School

Announcements & To Dos

MP4 Ends.  We'll be reviewing final grading instructions in PD on Monday.  The MP for ALL students ends on Thursday 13JUN.  Final grades for MP4 and for the YEAR will be due at 3PM on 20JUN.  To be prepared, please make sure that you are fully caught up on your grading and that your gradebooks are up to date.

NOTE:  If you have an 8th grader or 12th grader that will fail for the year, and needs your course to graduate, then you MUST email Kiri, Annie, and Jen by EOD on Friday 14JUN to let them know.  If you're not sure if they need your course to graduate, reach out to Kiri/Annie/Jen to find out!

<REPOST>. Year End To Dos.  

1. Final Outreach.  By Monday at 8AM, you should have emailed the Course Task lists (or texted) and copied Kiri.  Please make sure that you enter your outreach for last week by 8AM on 10JUN. 
   
   
   
2. UAI Pacing Guides.  All teachers will get 1 PD day to catalog a course for the year.  All courses will need to be linked into THIS DOC using THIS TEMPLATE.  The goal of cataloging your lessons for the year is to streamline capture the work that you've done for your classes this year in one place and to make the planning process for you (or whoever takes over the course next year) much more smooth.  To maximize our collective improvement, we have to stop reinventing wheels.  This is the first step!  You do NOT need to rewrite anything.  I'm just looking to take stock of what you did this year and put it all in one place.  Your lessons do not need to be perfect.  This is an organizational tool to help us expedite our improvement for next year!
   
   
3. EOY Checklist.  Make a Copy of the EOY Checklist for yourself.  This is a comprehensive list of things you need to do prior to leaving on June 26th.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.

Week of June 3rd

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 35

June 3rd,  2024

Reflecting on an Incredible Year! As we launch into June, we are now most definitely in the final lap of the school year.  It's the perfect time to take a pause and look back on the year.

This year we truly brought our core values to life!

RIGOR:  We launched the year with a unified move to collective lift up our school and push it off the CSI list - WHICH WE DID!!!!!  Our CEP goals and core values drove us towards achieving our goals. Our collaborative work pushed each of us to be our best through lesson run throughs, shared planning meetings, shared benchmarks, instructional rounds, and analyzing student work to assess their learning our own  pedagogical effectiveness.

EQUITY:  Our students continued to exercise their voice and stand behind their beliefs. It was not perfect, as some also spread hate during that protest in October, but even that was a huge learning experience that made our community that much more strong.  Our RPET bravely led a a three-pronged approach to strengthen & elevate student & staff capacity so that our entire community grew in inclusivity & community cohesion & strength.

POWER:  Our students rose through the fall challenges to exercise their own power.  The YLC is on the way to DC at the end of June to compete for 1st place in the national Invent2 Prevent competition for their Bridging the Gap project.  Our Student Government has been working actively alongside our RPET to support the work of the teach in and they've worked to have input into school policies like lateness and lunch.  The resilience and persistence our students & staff demonstrated this year in the face of one of the biggest hurdle UAI has ever faced is evidence of how truly powerful we all are.

JOY:  This year our joy really shined through!  We had so much fun on Trips to DC, Six Flags, Upstate (to free the fishies), Camp Getaway (and so many more).  We celebrated events like Black History Month, Family Culture Night, Spirit Weeks, Awards Night, Prom (and so many more).  Even on the day-today, we just had fun in class with the endless stream of visitors that came to watch each of us being amazing and doing our best to show all those who doubted us exactly how amazing UAI is.

Your hard work and dedication is GREATLY appreciated, but more importantly, it has left indelible marks and memories with our students & families.  Your influence in their lives is bigger than you think, and lifting up these core values ensures that that influence is strong and positive as we help our students move through these early chapters of their lives! 

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON 03JUN -  PD in the Farm - Looking back on our Goals
• TUE  04JUN - Algebra 1 Regent Exam - no classes 8-12, regular classes 6 & 7
• THU 06JUN - Brooklyn Queens PD Day - NO CLASSES, Remote PD
• MON 10JUN - Math MAP Testing - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all math classes
• TUE 11JUN - ELA MAP Testing  - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all ELA classes
• WED 12JUN - Science & Spanish Finals (in regular class periods)
• THU 13JUN - Social Studies, Art, Comp Sci, Health, PE Finals (in regular class periods)
• FRI 14JUN - Regents Week Begins 
• MON 17JUN - Eid Al Adha - NO SCHOOL
• WED 19JUN - Juneteenth - NO SCHOOL
• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School
• MON 01JUL - Summer School Staff Set Up Day
• TUE 02JUL - First day of Summer Splash and Summer Rising Summer School

Announcements & To Dos

Year End To Dos.  Please stay on top of your grades and gradebooks.  Keep them up to date so kids and families are aware of progress constantly.  Final grades for the year will be due on June 20th at 3PM.  IN addition, please put these three To Dos on your radar:

1. Final Outreach.  Please continue to reach out to students who are not yet meeting min requirements to pass your class for the year.  Please make sure that you enter your outreach for last week by 8AM on 03JUN.   Students should come in to work during regents week on the following days if they need extra time/help to meet your expectations.  You can find those days on the June Regents schedule.
   
   
2. UAI Pacing Guides.  All teachers will get 1 PD day to catalog a course for the year.  All courses will need to be linked into THIS DOC using THIS TEMPLATE.  The goal of cataloging your lessons for the year is to streamline capture the work that you've done for your classes this year in one place and to make the planning process for you (or whoever takes over the course next year) much more smooth.  To maximize our collective improvement, we have to stop reinventing wheels.  This is the first step!  You do NOT need to rewrite anything.  I'm just looking to take stock of what you did this year and put it all in one place.  Your lessons do not need to be perfect.  This is an organizational tool to help us expedite our improvement for next year!
   
   
3. EOY Checklist.  Make a Copy of the EOY Checklist for yourself.  This is a comprehensive list of things you need to do prior to leaving on June 26th.

Monday June 3rd PD. Looking back on the year also means looking back on our goals.  In Monday's PD and during Remote PD time on June 6th, we'll be looking back at our CEP goals to review how we did towards achieving those goals.  We will also be revisiting them for next year and adjusting the goals and action plans from the learnings we glean from our reflection.  In preparation for the PD on Monday (which will be in the farm at 3:30), please take a moment to review this year's CEP goals.

Literacy:  All Students Learn to Read Well.

(District Goal; Improve ELA Exam Pass Rates)

        UAI:  By June 2024, students reading on or above  grade level will improve (on MAP)

For ALL - 8.5% (total of 20%) 

For SPED - 8% (total 8%) 

For BLACK Students - 8% (total of 15%)

Supportive Environment:  All students are physically and emotionally safe.

(District Goal; Attendance improved, Supports improve, Suspensions decrease)

UAI:  By June 2024, behavioral occurrences in transition grades (6, 8, and 9) will 

For ALL - decrease 10% for All (to 60% 

For SPED  - Decrease 10% (to 30%)

UAI:  By June 2024, the percent of students feeling connected to the community will 

For All - increase by 10% (to 70%) on NYS LES

Graduation Rate:  All students have high-quality academic experiences.

(District Goal;  Improve Graduation & NYS Math Exam Pass rates)

UAI CEP:  By June 2024, student performance on MS Math & Algebra I regents                                        exams will improve by:

    For ALL:    7% more MS students will score >3 

                     average score on ALG 1 regent will improve to 65

    For SPED:  Avg. score on MS will improve to 2.4 (up 0.4 points) 

                 avg. score for Algebra 1 will improve 9 pts (to 65)  

 

NOTE:  Grad rate is will be 94% overall (100% for ENL & 83% for SPED)

College & Career Readiness:  All students graduate college & career ready and have a strong plan and pathway to economic security.

(District Goal;  Improve 9th Gr Course Pass Rate & Course Rigor)

 UAI CEP:  By June 2024, the percent of students having >75 GPA will improve

    For ALL:   9% (to 75%), 

            For SPED:  7% for SPED (to 43%)  

            For ENL:  9%  (to 75%) 

 

NOTE:  96% of 9th graders earn >10 credits; 97% of students enroll in adv. courses

Families:  All districts & schools are more inclusive and responsive for parents and families.

(District Goal;  Improve Family engagement in surveys & email & more families choose UA/CUNY)

UAI CEP:  By June 2024, there will be an improvment of families reporting that 

they have participated in a school meeting (+ 10% to 75%)

principal/school leaders offer regular opportunities for feedback (+5%) 

school leaders work hard to build trusting relationships w/ families (+5%) 

<<REPOST>> June Regents Schedule.  Please review the June Regents schedule for your own programming, and for student lists.  As an FYI, this program is still being built, and if you have any conflicts, please reach out.

Because we have so many more teachers and paras available during Regents testing days, our need for sub paras and sub teachers is significantly less.  So, some of our subs will not be called in for Regents Testing days.  You can also review the lists with students.  This schedule is still being finalized, so please do reach out to Kiri & Liza with questions or concerns! As an FYI

• Any student who scored >50 on an April mock exam is automatically registered for the June exam.
• Any HS student who is in a course that terminates in a regent exam (GLO, USH, 10th ELA, LIV, EARTH, ALG1) is automatically registered for that regent exam (even if they don't score>50) unless they have already met their graduation requirements in the exam area (e.g they already have a social studies regent exam).
• Anyone who is not automatically registered for the exam MUST get teacher recommendation. (So, e.g. all GEO and ALG2 test takers are teacher recommendations).  

<<REPOST>> Grading Policy Reminder.  As a reminder, our grading policy has shifted a little bit this year.  Check out the "LOWEST FINAL GRADES" tab of the MP4 Outreach Log

CHANGE:  Each marking period is now independent of the others.  So MP4 is a separate grade from MP1, MP2, and MP3.

CHANGE:   We are still annualized, so grades need to be cumulative.  So, the final grade for the school year is an average of all four marking periods. 

SAME:  The lowest failing grade we use (anywhere) is a 55.  We do not use zeros or grades less than 55 to indicate failure.  

NOTE:  It is possible for a student to fail MP4 but pass for the year, depending on how strong their grades were for the other three MPs.  Conversely, if a students failed 3 marking periods, they would have to have very strong MP4 grades to even have a hope of passing.  On the "Lowest Final Grades" tab you can also see the MIN MP4 Grade that students need to pass (>65) for the year.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.

Week of MAY 28th

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 34

May 28th, 2024

Closing Out the School Year. As we enter into the last week of May, we need to both work harder to make sure our kids make it strongly across the finish line AND make moves to close out the year to prepare for summer school and the launch of next fall.  

• Finishing Strong.  Once again, many thanks to all the hard work folks have done this past month, and especially last Thursday night to outreach to families and make sure they are looped in on their child's progress in your classes.  For the remainder of the year, please prioritize outreach to the students assigned to you on the "June Outreach Tab" of the MP4 Outreach log.  FYI - By the EOD on June 6th (Brooklyn Queens Day), you will need to complete a task completion sheet for each student which lists all the tasks (with descriptions) that the student needs to complete to meet minimal requirements and earn a 65 for the year.   Students will be required to attend during regents week to receive tutoring to finish these assignments, and failure to successfully complete the minimal requirements will result in being mandated to summer school and/or repeating the grade. We will be sending out these task sheets to families on June 7th, so please make sure you are keeping students and families in the loop this week and next so that they are not shocked or surprised when we send out that information.
  
  
• Closing Out the Year.  There are various tasks that are required each and every year for closing out!  So that we're all prepared for what is to come, here is a list of the things you'll be doing in the upcoming weeks as we prepare to close out the 2023-24 school year.
  
  
• Archive Gradebooks and share link with Admin for Course Record Keeping.  HS Staff will be given grading periods during Regents Week to complete this task.  MS Staff should use professional period time to complete this task.
  
  
• Catalog Lessons & Pacing of each course for the 23-24 school year with linked lessons, materials, and assessments for the school year in UAI pacing Guide.  CORE (ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies) Subject Teams will be given planning days.
  
  
• Technology. This summer we are going to collect all tech from staff.  If staff would like to hold onto their computers for the summer, that can happen, but we'll have to have folks complete a formal request.  We need to revamp our tech tracking tools this summer, and so, we need to pull back in all tech from kids and staff.  Please make sure that you're pulling off any personal items that may (but should really not be) stored on your computer.  We'll also be doing an overhaul of tech this summer to get things ready for next fall.  
  
  
• Classrooms.  Our classrooms are always used for the summer.  So any personal items cannot be stored in the classroom.  We have no way of securing or monitoring personal items in the summer.  In addition, all UAI classroom materials must be stored and secured in locked closets (or on bookshelves that turn to face walls/are covered.  
  
  
• Checkout List.  This was last year's checkout list which hasn't been updated for this June yet, but it will give you an idea of what to expect on the last day of school.  We will have a staff meeting at 10AM on June 26th where we will collect these sheets.  Staff will be assigned to their rooms to pass out final report cards between 8:30 and 10AM.  During that time, staff should also work to finalize the checkout list.

Important Upcoming Dates

• THU   30MAY -31MAY - Senior Trip (12th Grade)

• Upcoming June Dates
• TUE  04JUN - Algebra 1 Regent Exam - no classes 8-12
• THU 06JUN - Brooklyn Queens PD Day - NO CLASSES
• MON 10JUN - Math MAP Testing - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all math classes
• TUE 11JUN - ELA MAP Testing  - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all ELA classes
• WED 12JUN - Science & Spanish Finals (in regular class periods)
• THU 13JUN - Social Studies, Art, Comp Sci, Health, PE Finals (in regular class periods)
• FRI 14JUN - Regents Week Begins 
• MON 17JUN - Eid Al Adha - NO SCHOOL
• WED 19JUN - Juneteenth - NO SCHOOL
• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School

Announcements & To Dos

June Regents Schedule.  Please review the June Regents schedule for your own programming, and for student lists.  As an FYI, this program is still being built, and if you have any conflicts, please reach out.

Because we have so many more teachers and paras available during Regents testing days, our need for sub paras and sub teachers is significantly less.  So, some of our subs will not be called in for Regents Testing days.  You can also review the lists with students.  This schedule is still being finalized, so please do reach out to Kiri & Liza with questions or concerns! As an FYI

• Any student who scored >50 on an April mock exam is automatically registered for the June exam.
• Any HS student who is in a course that terminates in a regent exam (GLO, USH, 10th ELA, LIV, EARTH, ALG1) is automatically registered for that regent exam (even if they don't score>50) unless they have already met their graduation requirements in the exam area (e.g they already have a social studies regent exam).
• Anyone who is not automatically registered for the exam MUST get teacher recommendation. (So, e.g. all GEO and ALG2 test takers are teacher recommendations).  

Per Session Activities End This Week.  Except for ILT & Deans, all per session activities end this Friday, 31MAY.  We need to close out per session for the school year, and the final pay period for after school activities will be 31MAY.  This includes IEP, Advisory, Clubs, and any other per session activity that is not related to ILT or Dean support.   If you have any questions or a specific need, please see Annie or Kiri in person!  

<REPOST> Save the Dates. As we will every year, we will have training rate per session set aside for all folks who want to come in next year to set up classrooms and get a jump on planning.  Please save the Tue-Thu during the last week of August!

<<REPOST>> Grading Policy Reminder.  As a reminder, our grading policy has shifted a little bit this year.  Check out the "LOWEST FINAL GRADES" tab of the MP4 Outreach Log

CHANGE:  Each marking period is now independent of the others.  So MP4 is a separate grade from MP1, MP2, and MP3.

CHANGE:   We are still annualized, so grades need to be cumulative.  So, the final grade for the school year is an average of all four marking periods. 

SAME:  The lowest failing grade we use (anywhere) is a 55.  We do not use zeros or grades less than 55 to indicate failure.  

NOTE:  It is possible for a student to fail MP4 but pass for the year, depending on how strong their grades were for the other three MPs.  Conversely, if a students failed 3 marking periods, they would have to have very strong MP4 grades to even have a hope of passing.  On the "Lowest Final Grades" tab you can also see the MIN MP4 Grade that students need to pass (>65) for the year.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.

Week of May 20th

 UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 33

May 20th, 2024

Teach In Day is Here!  Monday is our Anti-Bias School-wide Teach In.   Our RPET Team (Annie, Joanna, Sarah R, Danielle I, Jean, Jelissa, Elena, Sue, and Freida) have all worked hard to pull together a day of collective learning and growth.  We are a community united in our pursuit of maximizing inclusivity, controlling implicit bias, and eradicating hate.  

We began this work in the wake of the fallout of the student-led pro-Palestinian protest in the fall.  While our students had a long (and successful) history of leveraging their voices to stand up and speak out agains things like gun-violence, advocate for climate change, and push for women's reproductive rights and Black lives mattering, this last protest in the fall was different.  The fall protest revealed how underprepared we were as a community at large to recognize and address actions that spread hate.

On Monday, we will be leaning into key social emotional skills to build them collaboratively - perspective taking, empathy, self & social awareness - as tools to build our capacity to be more inclusive and more capable of halting the spread of hate in our community.  We are not alone in this work.  We have the Islamic Network Group (ING), who specializes in building peace & unity in communities and supporting communities to develop their capacity for fostering inclusivity, acceptance, and harmony.  With their support and participation in two panels (1 HS and 1 MS), the RPET has worked to provide a rich array of experiences aimed at pushing us all to realize our core values of Rigor, Power, Equity and Joy. 

Equity work is hard work.  It's exhausting. It's fraught with so many perils (which causes LOTS of anxiety and stress), making it so difficult to know what the right move is.

We could certainly step back and do nothing.  That would be easier for all, but in truth it would only really benefit those who already possess privilege.

That is why we push so hard to do this work.  We cannot idly stand by allowing certain members of our community to carry the weight alone.  We all must step forward and bear the load together, united, and pushing towards shared goals.

In order for us to achieve this unity, we need folks to do their part to cultivate and support student buy in.

• Find your why.  Bias is allowed to run amok when we allow ourselves to be passive and shy away from the hard work that it takes to learn to become aware of and confront the biases that spread hate or privilege specific groups.  Reflect on your own reasons why this work is important to you.  Have that in mind for the day as you lead the activities.  It will help our students follow your lead to fully engage in the work.
  
  
• Show Up for the cause!  Your energy and attitude leads to quality of the experience that our students feel.  If you feel that this equity work is important, they will follow your lead.  Your presence and energy is the best beacon to how kids should engage.
  
  
• Be Prepared.  Please make sure you and your co-facilitators are fully prepared.  
• Is it crystal clear when folks are taking their preps? (Everyone lunches at same time, professional period IS the teach-in work on Monday)
• Is it crystal clear who is leading which activity and what the responsibilities are of folks who are not leading (e.g. discipline, teaching assist, helping students stay engaged)
• Is it crystal clear how you are managing students who engage in disengagement actions (use phone, put head down, work on other work, etc)? 
  
  
• Do you have all the materials and have you tested your audio/video?
  
• Copies of Facilitator Guide
• The Teach In Slide Deck (or your own version if your team made one)
• Notecards (or post-its) for student commitments to HEAR throughout the TeachIn
• Video/Audio Test:  The Blind Man & The Elephant
• ~ 22 Copies of face and markers for Models of Self Activity
• Test link to Word Cloud Generator for Models of World/Others Activity
• Test link to Danger of a Single Story for Models of World/Others Activity
• ~ 4 Copies of QFT Focus
• ~ 22  Copies of hand for Commitment Wall Activity
• ~ 11  Copies of thank you's (see your folder) 
  
  
• If you have any questions or uncertainties, please make sure you make time to email/text or powwow at the start of the day to hammer out the details.
  
  
• Post Up Reminders.   In all of your google classrooms, please post up messages in your Google classrooms to remind students about the Teach in and why it is important.  You can use this slide:
  
  
  
  
  

Important Upcoming Dates

• MON  20MAY. 
• School Wide Teach In
• MON PD - Staff Circle - Teach In Debrief
  
  
• TUE    21MAY. 
• MS Trout Release Trip - Be Free little fishies!
  
  
• WED  22MAY.
• UAI Cultural Celebration 5:30-7:30PM
  
  
• THU   23MAY.
• AP Testing Continues - AP Bio (4 students) @12PM
• PM Parent Conferences - 5PM-8PM (Remote)
  NOTE - there are no afternoon conferences in May - just Thursday Night
  These conferences are focused exclusively for students who are not yet meeting CEP grade goals (>75 in your classes)
• Please Make Sure you have contacted families via email, text, or call at least 3 times PRIOR to these meeting and you've logged it into the outreach log
  
  
• FRI    24MAY.
• NYSESLAT Testing Finishes - Last Day of MakeUps
• AP Testing Continues - APAAS (26 students) @12PM
  
  
• MON  27MAY - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
  
  
• THU   30MAY -31MAY - Senior Trip (12th Grade)

• Upcoming June Dates
• TUE  04JUN - Algebra 1 Regent Exam - no classes 8-12
• THU 06JUN - Brooklyn Queens PD Day - NO CLASSES
• MON 10JUN - Math MAP Testing - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all math classes
• TUE 11JUN - ELA MAP Testing  - 2nd & 3rd Period (8-12); 4th/5th Pd (MS)
• This counts as the final exam for all ELA classes
• WED 12JUN - Science & Spanish Finals (in regular class periods)
• THU 13JUN - Social Studies, Art, Comp Sci, Health, PE Finals (in regular class periods)
• FRI 14JUN - Regents Week Begins 
• MON 17JUN - Eid Al Adha - NO SCHOOL
• WED 19JUN - Juneteenth - NO SCHOOL
• MON 24JUN - High School Graduation
• TUE 25JUN - 8th Grade Stepping Up
• WED 26JUN - Last Day of School

Announcements & To Dos

Last few weeks of school.  Now is the time to be super clear with both kids and families about where students stand in the class.  PLEASE look at the OUTREACH log.  Make sure you are making outreach to students who are currently failing or will fail your course for the year.  On Thursday, during Family Conferences, you will be expected call ALL of the students's families who are currently failing your course and explain what the student has done to be in this status and what the student can change to pass the course before the end of June.

TO DO:  By 8pm on Thursday, please make sure you have completed and documented in the outreach log for MP4 all outreach to students who failed MP3 and/or are currently failing < MP4.

<Repost> Update GradeBooks.  Please use your prep time this week to make sure your gradebooks are up to date.  We are using SyncGrades gradebooks to track student progress and make plans for summer school and graduation.  At this late stage of the year, we need your help in being super on top of your grading so that we have the most up-to-date information to share with families.

If you have an 8th or 12th grade student in your classes that you believe will ultimately fail, please reach out to Kiri/Annie immediately.  Those families are being met with now to let them know that they will be mandated to summer school and cannot participate in June ceremonies.

If you forget to let Kiri/Annie know, we cannot effectively do our job to prepare families and students.  Your communication is essential.  Please make sure to be on top of your grades!


Save the Dates. As we will every year, we will have training rate per session set aside for all folks who want to come in next year to set up classrooms and get a jump on planning.  Please save the Tue-Thu during the last week of August!

<<REPOST>> Grading Policy Reminder.  As a reminder, our grading policy has shifted a little bit this year.  Check out the "LOWEST FINAL GRADES" tab of the MP4 Outreach Log

CHANGE:  Each marking period is now independent of the others.  So MP4 is a separate grade from MP1, MP2, and MP3.

CHANGE:   We are still annualized, so grades need to be cumulative.  So, the final grade for the school year is an average of all four marking periods. 

SAME:  The lowest failing grade we use (anywhere) is a 55.  We do not use zeros or grades less than 55 to indicate failure.  

NOTE:  It is possible for a student to fail MP4 but pass for the year, depending on how strong their grades were for the other three MPs.  Conversely, if a students failed 3 marking periods, they would have to have very strong MP4 grades to even have a hope of passing.  On the "Lowest Final Grades" tab you can also see the MIN MP4 Grade that students need to pass (>65) for the year.

Per Session Postings

For ALL per session activities, please complete Per Session Application Form

NO New Activities at present

After School Clubs.   If you are interested in running an after school club, please complete THIS form by EOD TUESDAY 26SEP23  AND submit the Per Session Application Form.  Clubs are slated to start next week.  Clubs must have a steady roster of at least 8-10 students per week in order to NOT be cancelled.  Rosters & Attendance lists MUST be submitted with per session time cards.  If your club goes three consecutive weeks with less than 8 students, your club will need to be cancelled (so that we can optimize funds for other uses - so sorry...wish we could fund everything all the time, but unfortunately, we don't have endless sums of funds).  After school sessions can be 3-4PM or 3-4:30PM or 3-5:30PM (teacher's choice)up to three days per week.  So per session hours can range from 1-7.5hrs per week).  Posting Expires 10OCT23.

Please continue to help promote your after school clubs.  Please make sure you are getting a reliable group of at least 10 students.  Help our after school classes get off the ground! - I will be collecting final rosters on 30NOV - you have additional time to recruit!!

Black Student Union - Joanna & Pauline (Rm 411) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-4:30

Arts & Crafts Club - Tiffany & Jennifer (Rm 311) - Mon/Tue/Weds - 3-4:15PM

Theater Production Club - Noelle (Rm 315) - Tues/Thurs/Fri - 3-5:30PM

Student Government - Sue, Marsha, Phillan, and Girls' Inc's Kassi (Rm 309) - Tuesdays - 3-4PM

Youth Leadership Council - Kelly  (Rm 307) - Tuesdays 3-4PM

Photo Club - Tom(Rm 205F) - Wednesdays 3-4:30

Cheer - Mary & Lia - Various days depending on Game Days

Anime & Art Club - Adelle & Francis (Rm 409) - Tuesdays & Thursdays 3-5PM

Running Club with Camryn (starts after the marathon is over)

Dance Club - Girls Inc - Room 503

Students Against Racism & Bias Club - Jelissa (Rm 305) Tuesdays & Thursday 3-4PM

Muslim Student Association - Laura (Rm 404) TBD

GSA Club - Amanda - Rm 407

PSAL Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. PSAL Games are starting up soon. Please submit the Per Session Application Form if you are interested in supervising student spectators.  Hours vary depending on games.  Each game (basketball or volleyball) is usually 4-6pm (is) so each supervision session is about 2hours.  Staff are welcome to sign up for as many games as they'd like.  Please see UAI calendar or PSAL website for game dates. Duties include making sure

students remain safe and orderly during games

only eligible students are admitted to games

all students fully dismiss from the building at the conclusion of the games

CSI Planning & Supervision.   Posting Expires 10OCT23. This posting if for supervision per session to plan, supervise, monitor and coordinate extra improvement efforts to address UAI achievement gaps and improve student performance in target metrics.  Activities include analyzing and reviewing data, planning and executing professional development experiences to improve staff performance, analyzing and editing video footage to improve teacher lesson execution and lesson implementation, and supervising out of school activities - including recruitment, staff planning, and after school activities.  Hours vary per week depending on task and work completed.  Hours range 1-7.5 hours per week.

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] - Posting CLOSED and JOB is over.