Week of January 27th

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 18

January 27th, 2025

MidYear Reflection.  It's hard to believe how quickly the fall has flown.  This week, we kick off the 2nd half the year, and before we know it, we'll be celebrating the year together at our annual, post-graduation staff gathering!  

But before we start counting those chickens, it's important to take a moment to reflect and pause to look back on the fall. 

Without fail, the January doldrums come to settle in on all of us.  The holidays are over, it's cold & dreary outside, and the kids are freaking out because the semester is ending and some are confronting the outcomes of their bad choices throughout the semester while others are stressing about their grades and performance on the benchmarks.  Let's face it - January can be a real bummer.

And yet....

Here's another perspective on that....

These last few weeks, I had kids coming to me to ask me for help in preparing for their benchmarks, they talked to me about the "practices" they took in their classes and shared with me that they wanted to study more to be ready - WIN!!

Seniors who have been trying to pass regents exams for years finally took advantage of the help we provided them in the regents prep classses AND took to heart the directive to study on their own.  Students who had previously scored no higher than a 50 on their regents pulled down 70s to satisfy those graduation requirements - WINNERS!!

Sticking with our seniors for a minute...Already 92% of our seniors (so.. all but 4 kiddos) have received at least 1 acceptance to a college of their choice!  The breakdown of the quality of colleges that have already offered spots for our students is phenomenal - and ALL of that is because of Tiffany's AMAZING work in her first year as our full-time, solo, college counselor.  60% of our students have been accepted to 4-year colleges and universities (some with full rides!) which is up 20% from last year!  Our families are rapidly completing their Financial Aid forms, giving them access to more aid and support in their choices moving forward.  This puts the class head and shoulders ahead of where their counterparts last year!  And now, Tiffany is already gearing up to work with the Class of 2026 to prepare them for their college journey!  Tiffany is a machine!  Thank you for pushing so hard with our kids and families, and leading with your heart to get them to trust and believe in your work with them!  WINNER WINNER!!

Looking at MP2 grades, 61% of our general education students have achieved the goal of having an average of 80 or higher on their report card.  That's only 1% shy of our goal for the YEAR (which is 62%).  That's great work!  We still do have work to do with our ENL and SWD students. Only 24% of our ENL students (which is down 5% from last year) and 21% of our SWD students (which is unchanged since last year) met the mark at the end of MP2.

Finally, our average daily attendance is currently 89%, which is a 3% increase over last year and is direct evidence of the success of the work you have done to connect with kids and their families!  WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

If you've been feeling a little worn down this past month, that makes sense.  As humans, we have evolved to have a highly developed sense of problem identification and problem solving.  We're engineered to find and locate problems and then build solutions, but we're not engineered to celebrate them.   That's something about which we have to be intentional and mindful.

In the semester to come, there will be no shortage of problems that will need our attention to solve.  That is something that we will always have in surplus.  However, the challenge is to remember our successes alongside our problems and to raise up and inspect those successes as we move forward in the spring.  The challenge is to continue to celebrate the wins for ourselves and our students, because it is that sense of accomplishment that fuels us and brings the meaning. It's that sense of achievement that propels our work and moves all of us onto the next problem with the confidence and stamina to find, develop, and cultivate the solutions we need.

Welcome to the Spring term and remember...every day after this brings more daylight and ultimately, more warmth, sunshine, and joy!

UPCOMING DATES

• MON 27JAN - Chancellor PD Day
• Agenda Below
  
  
• TUE 28JAN - First Day of Spring Term
  
  
• WED 29JAN - Lunar New Year - NO SCHOOL
  
  
• MON 03FEB - Chancellor Lester Young Visits UAI
  
  
• TUE 04FEB - Urban Assembly Founder and Former CEO, Richard Kahn visits UAI
  
  
• MON 03FEB-FRI 07FEB - School Counselor Appreciation Week
  
  
• FRI 14FEB - Valentine's Day & Senior Snow Tubing Trip
  
• Rapid Dismissal at 2:30PM

TO DO THIS WEEK

• Google Classroom and GAMA set Up.  By the end of the day of PD tomorrow, please make sure you have created and posted all assignments and assessments that are TO BE graded for MP3.  
  
  
  
• Student Privacy Training.  Please check your email for the DOE directive to complete the Student Privacy Training.  That needs to be completed by the end of the day on 27JAN.   
  
  
  
• Course Failure Outreach. Please reach out to the families in your classes who did not pass MP2.  Any student who failed a core class (ELA, SOC, MAT, SCI) will be automatically put onto a "Promotion In-Doubt" List.  Also, any students who has <90% attendance rate will also be put on that list.  This means that they are in danger of not promoting (or graduating if in 8th/12th grades).  We will be meeting with all seniors and 8th graders first, and then ultimately all students who are PID.  However, these meetings SHOULD NOT come as a surprise.  All families MUST have been informed first by you.  So please make sure to call home and update the outreach log.   

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Monday Chancellor's PD Day
  
  
  • Zoom Link: 
  • https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81765931467
    Meeting ID: 817 6593 1467
    Passcode: UAIZOOM
    
    
  • Agenda:
• 8:30 -   9:00AM - Opening Staff Zoom
• Principal Address & State of the School
  
  
• 9:00 - 11:30AM - Mapping our Path Forward
• Moving Towards a Shared Playbook starting with SEL
  
  
• 11:30 -12:30PM - Lunch

• 12:30 - 1:30PM - Team Meetings (with ILT leads)
• Team Benchmark Data Analysis
• Gradebook SetUp
• Team Meeting Agendas, Shared Norms, and Expectations
  
  
• 1:30  -  3:20PM - Independent Work Time
  
• Student Data & Privacy Training
• Set up GAMA
• Planning for MP3

• REPOST:  Summer School Planning is Starting.  Summer school planning is beginning.  We will not be hosting Girls Inc and DYCD summer camp this summer, and our students who need an all-day placement can register for DYCD programs at the Montauk School this summer.   
  
  We are currently looking for folks who are interested in doing some enrichment work (6-12) this summer.  AND we will also have regents prep this summer.  If you are interested in working this summer, please complete THIS FORM no later than 14FEB.