Week of May 6th

UAI Staff News

Volume XI

Issue 32

May 6th, 2024

Push to the end!  We are well within the last marking period of the schools year, and as Spring settles in and the weather turns to wonderful, summer beckons and we all get a little bit more antsy!

BUT this month will fly! And before you know it, we'll be in June's rush of assessments.  So, it's important to make each day count in May.

Outreach and communication with home is even more important with kids & their families.  Final grades will have impact on graduation, promotion, and summer plans.  So, please prioritize communication with home this month.  When parents and families are left out of the loop, our jobs to push our students to do their best becomes that much more difficult.  Vest them in a partnership with you by maximizing communications!  Email, text, and phone calls all work - stay on top of your grading and make sure you are giving frequent feedback both in class and to families.

There are really only four more instructional weeks until June, and that means only 4 more times you can communicate with home where students and families will have time to do something to shift and/or support student performance.  Make this time count!

We all stand united in wanting students to find their path to academically thrive.  For some students, that path is obvious and easy.  For others, we cannot have all the answers by ourselves.  So, please remember to reach out to peers, admin, and families for those tough cases!  We're all working towards the same goals, and sometimes the hive mind is necessary for solving tough cases!

Important Upcoming dates

• MON 06MAY - Staff Appreciation Week
• TUE 07MAY - WED 08MAY - NYS MS Math Exams
• TUE 07MAY - AP Exams Begin
• Tue 07MAY - AP Seminar Exam
• Wed 08MAY - AP Lit Exam
•  Mon 13MAY - AP PreCalc Exam
• Tue 14MAY - AP Lang Exam and AP African American Studies Exam
• Thu 16MAY - AP Biology Exam
• THU 16MAY - 12th Grade Senior Prom
• MON 20 May - Rescheduled - Schoolwide Teach in
• WED 22MAY - UAI Cultural Celebration 
• THU 23-24MAY - 12th Grade Senior trip
• MON 27MAY - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL

Announcements & To Dos

Staff Appreciation Week.  This week is the week to celebrate our entire staff!  Teaching and supporting classroom instruction is a constant challenge, and each of you put in so much effort and commitment to make sure each of our students and families receive the best support and community that they deserve in a school.  THANK YOU!  To recognie this,  we are planning to celebrate you all each day this week with special Gifts & Treats!

• Monday - Lunch on UAI - Staff Lunch (catered by Bassett) will be provided for all!
• Tuesday - Sweet Treats -  To appreciate your sweetness - enjoy some sweet treats!
• Wednesday - Special Staff Gift #1 - Be on the look out for a special gift of appreciation!
• Thursday - Snack Time - Food is the way to a person's heart! - Enjoy some wonderful snacks!
• Friday - Special Staff Gift #2 - Be on the look out for a special gift to end the week of love and appreciation!
  
  
  
  

Monday PD.  This Monday, The RPET will continue working with us to prepare us for a schoolwide teach in.  This is the 2nd half of UAI Schoolwide Teach In.  Please meet in the farm promptly have OPW time at 3:30PM.  Please use OPW time to stay on top of your grades & communications with students and families!

• May
• 6th:  Schoolwide Teach In Prep
• 13th:  Staff Equity Circles
• 20th:  DATE CHANGED:  Schoolwide Teach In
• 27th:  Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL
  
  
• June
• 3rd:  CEP1 - Revisiting our Goals & Outcomes for this year - Looking at our Data
• 6th:  Brooklyn Queens Day:  
• CEP2 - Refining Goals and Action Plans for 2024-2025
• CEP3 - Finalizing Goals & Presenting to Staff
• 10th:  Regents Orientation
• 17th:  Eid al Adha - NO SCHOOL

Outreach Reminder. Please make sure to complete your outreach by midnight tonight!   We need you to log your remote contact time to see that you are doing it!  Remember, if your forget to complete the log, you may lose your ability to complete this work remotely, and you'll have to complete the work onsite at school for the remainder of the year.

I'll be checking the log first thing in the morning on Monday, so please work to update the log with your outreach for this week!  Thank you! HERE's the LOG

Grading Policy Reminder.  As a reminder, our grading policy has shifted a little bit this year.

• 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.  For example
  
  
• A student who failed MP1, MP2, and MP3, could technically earn a 95 and pass for the year (tho that is super unlikely, given that they failed for the whole year) - technically possible (because the average of 55, 55, 55, and 95 is 65), but very unlikely (because a student who missed the entire year likely lacks the skills and knowledge to meet course standards)
  
  
• Conversely, a student who did well for MP1-MP3 cannot fail if they failed MP4.  If you think of it holistically, the student showed mastery of skills and content for 3/4 of the school year.  Something must have happened to have them end up failing MP4, but that doesn't erase their earlier achievement and course competencies.  (the Average of 95. 95, 95 and 55 is 85).  
  
  
• Then of course there are all types of cases in between these examples.  If you have specific questions or want a thought partner to talk about how to best handle a specific case, please reach out to your ILT lead, co-teachers, or supervisors!

Per Session Postings

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

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.