Week of April 28th

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 29

April 28th, 2025

It's OUR Assistant Principal Celebration Week!  While technically, Assistant Principal Appreciation week was the week before spring break, Annie was at the ASU/GSV conference then, and so, I decided to move the week of celebration to this week.  PLUS - as an added bonus, it's her birthday on Thursday!  So double whammy!!!!

Annie makes our school the beautiful, thriving place it is—and she has earned a very public, very joyous celebration of her work.  She is definitely not the one who likes to be in the limelight.  Typically, I honor that in folks, but I need to make the exception here, because her excellence in leadership is something to be lauded, examined, and celebrated by our whole community!

Leadership is full of challenges. It demands long hours, tough decisions, deep empathy, and the courage to face the unknown. It requires balancing the needs of many, holding the emotional weight of others, and constantly seeking the best path forward. These challenges can test even the strongest among us—but Annie meets each one with grace, clarity, and love.

Annie is a thoughtful, heart-centered leader. She shows up every single day with purpose and care, always centering our students' experiences and advocating for their joy, growth, and belonging. She holds our community in ways that often go unseen—quietly steady, yet deeply impactful. Her leadership is not loud, but it is powerful. It’s the kind of leadership that makes you feel safe, seen, and inspired.

I’ve learned so much from Annie. Her brilliance, tenacity, and passion guide our school through both the peaks and the valleys of the year. Like many women in leadership, Annie faces the challenge of doubt—not her own, but the doubt that can surround women who lead with compassion and strength. But let me be clear: I have never doubted her capacity, her integrity, or her ability to lead. Not once. She is exactly the leader our school needs.

Annie wants to see every child thrive—and she wants the same for every adult in this building. That kind of leadership takes heart. It takes vision. And it takes someone like Annie.

So, here's to YOUR week Annie.  This is the one time in the year where we all make the time to notice, 

appreciate, and celebrate your limitless efforts to uplifting our community each and every day!

Thank you for all that you do! Thank you for supporting my leadership and leading with me to bring UAI to a better and better version of itself each and every year!  

UAI - please join me in celebrating her this week. She deserves all the recognition—and more—for the way she leads and loves our school.

UPCOMING DATES

• Monday 28APR-Friday 02MAY - Assistant Principal Appreciation Week
• Monday - Coffee Any Time - you want it, you got it!  Just name it!
• Tuesday -  Breakfast Blueberry Muffins - made for you by Kiri
• Wednesday - Lunch Time Yummies!
• Thursday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!
• Friday - Sharing Notes of Appreciation
• Please take a moment to complete this form to share your appreciation with Annie!

• Wednesday 30APR-Thursday 01MAY - NYS MS ELA Testing (grades 6-8)
  
  
• Thursday 01MAY - PPO Visit (see below)
  
  
• Wednesday 07MAY-Thursday 08MAY - NYS MS ELA Testing (grades 6-8)
  
  
• Wednesday 07MAY-Wednesday 14MAY  - AP Exam Testing Week
  
  
• Thursday, 15MAY- Honor Roll Celebration, Evening Parent Conferences
  
  
• Saturday, 17MAY - New Student Welcome
  
  
• Monday, 19MAY - Smile Dental Visit to UAI
  
  
• Monday 26MAY - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL

• Remaining PD Dates
1. 28APR - SEL PD with UA
2. 05MAY - Teacher Appreciation Celebration
3. 12MAY - SDC PD - Academic Playbook Session 2
4. 19MAY - SDC PD - Academic Playbook Session 3
5. 02JUN - Last Huddle of the Year
6. 09JUN - Regents Week Orientation
7. 16JUN - Grading Time for All/Room Set up for Testing
   
   
• Upcoming Staff Appreciation Dates
• 05MAY-09MAY - Teacher Appreciation Week

TO DO THIS WEEK

Thursday 01MAY PPO Visit.  Superintendent Walsh is coming to visit UAI on Thursday, May 1st for my final PPO of the year.  This will also be Annie's first pass at organizing the PPO visit (I'm a terrible boss for doing this to her on her birthday, I know ... but it's good learning and the opportunity only comes twice a year).   So...let's all circle the wagons and get our best for Thursday's visit to make sure Annie brings home a slam dunk on her first pass!  For Thursday's lessons, 

• Move any test or assessment to another day.  Make sure the class is HIGHLY interactive and intellectually engaging (high effective in Danielson Domain 3). Here are some quick tips... 
  
  
• Avoid anything that looks like a worksheet.  Find a way (at least for that day) to have kids do their learning outside of a handout.  Use non-permanent surfaces (whiteboards, windows, desktops) to do the thinking.
  
  
• Make opportunities for High Quality Discourse.  Turn and talks are the easiest to implement.  To ramp up the quality on these, help kids know what you are looking for when you come around to listen to them.  For example, if kids are in patterns where they just talk AT each other, tell them that you're coming around to hear how kids talk WITH one another - build on each other's ideas, ask questions of each other's thinking, or agree/disagree with one another, respectfully.  
  
  
• Be Clear on What you want to see.  When you ask kids to do something, quickly follow that up with WHY and WHAT you are looking for explicitly.  I want you do to this so that I can see you are able to do x, y, and z.  Your assessment criteria should be spoke AND written (on a slide or chart paper) so that kids have access to it while they are working.
  
  
• Include a chance to test learning.  This is where kids to write - to perform what they've learned.  For example, an exit ticket/writing task, etc. is what you provide to your kids to give them a chance to test their learning.  So, they've been trying to learn stuff throughout the period - how can they show you that they learned it?
  
  
• Use your routines!  This is a good place to use the routines you always use! Notice & Wonder (or See Think Wonder), So Basically, Stronger & Clearer... and/or your SEL routines.  These are part of your bread and butter.  So, definitely use them!
  
  
• This is the draft agenda for now...Fred can always change it, so folks should be prepared for a surprise visit if he does that!  
  
  
• 8:30 - Meeting with Kiri and Annie in 401
  
  
• 9:25 - Class Visits 1 (reminder - Fred may shift these...)
• 9:25 - ICT Earth Science with Thomas & Mary - Rm 205
• 9:50 - ICT Algebra 1 with Amanda & Sue - Rm 407
• 10:00 - Into Lit with Yasmeen - Rm 309
• 10:10 - Into Lit with Patricia & Crystal - Rm 307
  
  
• 10: 20 - Class Visits 2
• 10:20 - ICT CUNY QR with Judy & Jasmine - Rm 405
• 10:30 - AP Seminar with Marsha - Rm 309
  
  
• 10:40 - Recruitment, School Culture & Family Engagement - Rm 147
  
  
• 11: 15 - Student Group Meeting - Rm 147
  
  
• 11:30 - Teacher Group Meeting - Rm 147
  
  
• 12:10 - Independent Work Time for Fred - Rm 401
  
  
• 1:05- Meeting with Kiri and Annie in 401

Tracking Students in MP4.  Make sure you are using THIS DOCUMENT to document your 55 min remote  Outreach for MP4.  As a reminder, I'll be checking this document as evidence of your outreach time for outreach to families for the following kids:

• Celebrating the 80+ winners! -   Just record the date you reached out!
  
  
• Pushing to 80 - It is optional to include the list of things they need to do, but mandatory is the date you made the outreach!

• Tracking those in danger of failing - Finally, required for all students who could potentially fail - you need to create a link to the document (that is accessible by anyone who has the link) that lists all the things that the student needs to complete in order to satisfactorily meet the requirements of the course.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

• NHS Mental Health Awareness Week (Guest Post from NHS & Amanda/Sue)
  The National Honor Society is excited to be hosting Mental Health Awareness Week from May 12 to May 16, culminating with our participation in the NAMIWalks NYC + Mental Health Street Fest on Sunday May 18th, the nation's largest mental health event. 
  
  We'd love your help in making it a meaningful, engaging, and uplifting experience for our students. Each day of the week will feature fun, low-cost activities that promote self-care, mental health awareness, and connection among students. We’re planning lots of activities for the week, including a gratitude wall, make-your-own stress balls, and a raffle on Friday!
  
  To help make this week a success, we are kindly asking for support in a few key ways:
  
  We need a few people who are willing to host/supervise students during middle school and high school lunches this week for some activities (like a quiet/relaxation space, a board game lounge, a movie room, etc). If you're open to hosting, we’ll coordinate setup, supplies, and location – you just provide the supervision.
  
  We’re also trying to source supplies from our community as budgets have closed. We’re mainly looking for: 
  
  
• Photo booth props (fun glasses, signs, boas, etc.)
• Stress ball materials (balloons, flour/rice, funnels)
• Painting or art materials (markers, paper, paint, brushes)

One of the main ways we will be raising money is through a raffle held at the end of the week. We are looking for donations of all sizes for the raffle, things like gift cards, small self-care items, snacks, school spirit gear…anything! I will be using this as an opportunity to clear out some new, never-opened puzzles from a bygone puzzle phase, so anything students may enjoy is welcome! 

 

We’d also love your support. We will be walking on May 18th as a team and would love anyone who is available to come join us in person. Learn more about the walk here. We have a fundraising goal of $500 and would also appreciate your support in helping us meet (and exceed!) our goal. You can donate here!  

 

If you’re able to help with hosting or donating any of the above, please fill out this quick Google Form by Thursday April 23nd,  so we can organize everything smoothly. We truly appreciate your support in promoting mental wellness in our school community.

Thank you for all that you do!

Amanda & Sue

PER SESSION POSTINGS

FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS:  You must apply by completing THIS FORM

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 30APR.  We still have openings - so go ahead and apply if interested!

Week of April 21st

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 28

April 21st, 2025

Welcome Back!  Welcome back from the Spring Break everyone!  I hope you were able to rest, recharge, and spend some solid quality you-time to celebrate our completion of the hardest lap of the year - that February-April break stretch through March!

This last marking period is all about circling around our kiddos and giving them all the love and support, challenge and guidance, and encouragement & helping hands that they need to stick their landings and end the year proud of their efforts & achievements.   Some kids have been on the right path all year long and have achieved great things.  Others have had their fair share of obstacles that threw them off their way.  For these folks, some of them were able to find their way around those hurdles, but others continued to stay on their personal struggle bus.  Finally, there are some kids who still have not managed to grab on and find their rhythm through school.

Regardless of the pathway, each and everyone of these students our OURS.  They our OURs to cheer, OURs to cajole, OURs to challenge, and OURs to hold.  So for this marking period, as we bring all the threads together to neatly tie up the year, it is important to remember our role is setting OUR kids up to realize their best efforts and best achievements for the year.  This is the final marking period, and with that come their final performances, assessments, and tests of the year. 

Our job is to work together to make sure our students are ready and situated to realize their very best potential!

Let's go UAI!! We are ready to wrap up the year, and wrap up strong! 

UPCOMING DATES

• Monday 21APR-Friday 25APR - Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week
  
  
• Monday 21APR - Monday PD - Testing Orientation and MP4 Failure Tracker
  
  
• Monday 28APR-Friday 02MAY - Assistant Principal Appreciation Week
  
  
• Wednesday 30APR-Thursday 01MAY - NYS MS ELA Testing (grades 6-8)
  
  
• Wednesday 07MAY-Thursday 08MAY - NYS MS ELA Testing (grades 6-8)
  
  
• Wednesday 07MAY-Wednesday 14MAY  - AP Exam Testing Week
  
  
• Thursday, 15MAY- Honor Roll Celebration, Evening Parent Conferences
  
  
• Saturday, 17MAY - New Student Welcome
  
  
• Monday, 19MAY - Smile Dental Visit to UAI
  
  
• Monday 26MAY - Memorial Day - NO SCHOOL

• Remaining PD Dates
1. 21APR - P/SAT and MS testing orientation
                - MP4 Failing Outreach/ Modified Huddles
2. 28APR - SEL PD with UA
3. 05MAY - Teacher Appreciation Celebration
4. 12MAY - SDC PD - Academic Playbook Session 2
5. 19MAY - SDC PD - Academic Playbook Session 3
6. 02JUN - Last Huddle of the Year
7. 09JUN - Regents Week Orientation
8. 16JUN - Grading Time for All/Room Set up for Testing
   
   
• Upcoming Staff Appreciation Dates
• 05MAY-09MAY - Teacher Appreciation Week

TO DO THIS WEEK

Tracking Students in MP4.  MP4 is the final marking period of the year, making it one of the most important.  Outreach and clear communication this marking period is incredibly important and critical.  to prepare for that, we're going to modify our Huddle time this month to set up prepare for outreach for each of these three categories of students during your weekly 55 minutes of outreach and your in-person communication with kids in your classes.

We'll be reviewing these expectations in PD on Monday, and then you'll have time to work on putting together the information and planning your outreach for MP4.  We'll be using THIS DOCUMENT for Outreach tracking in MP4.

As a reminder, this year, each marking period stands alone and then all four marking periods are averaged together for the final annualized grade that will go on student transcripts.  This MP, outreach will center on the following categories of kiddos.

• Celebrating the 80+ winners! -   There are kiddos who have been doing so good all year long that even if they tanked MP4, they would still meet the goal of >80 (but of course, we won't let them tank!!).  So, make sure to call home and express your pride & joy in their achievement and work, and share with the home the specifics about what their achievements have been and why they are so impressive.  Make sure to center our school values of Rigor, Joy, Equity, and Power as you articulate their success!!
  
  
• Pushing to 80 - Next are the kiddos who could still get there.  If they buckle down and really apply themselves and get the help and support they need for MP4, these kiddos could make the school goal of earning >80 in your class.  BUT, they need to know what to do = specifically and explicitly.  You have to meet with them and talk with their families and together, we can all collectively make a unified push to get these kids to land successfully at the school wide goal!
  
  
• Tracking those in danger of failing - Finally, there are kids who have stumbled and had their share of missteps.  We need to have special eyes on these little ones.  Be super clear now with both them and their families about what needs to be done in order to minimally pass for the year (65).  Whatever students fail to complete on this list will be what they are assigned to complete in summer school. 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

• NHS Mental Health Awareness Week (Guest Post from NHS & Amanda/Sue)
  The National Honor Society is excited to be hosting Mental Health Awareness Week from May 12 to May 16, culminating with our participation in the NAMIWalks NYC + Mental Health Street Fest on Sunday May 18th, the nation's largest mental health event. 
  
  We'd love your help in making it a meaningful, engaging, and uplifting experience for our students. Each day of the week will feature fun, low-cost activities that promote self-care, mental health awareness, and connection among students. We’re planning lots of activities for the week, including a gratitude wall, make-your-own stress balls, and a raffle on Friday!
  
  To help make this week a success, we are kindly asking for support in a few key ways:
  
  We need a few people who are willing to host/supervise students during middle school and high school lunches this week for some activities (like a quiet/relaxation space, a board game lounge, a movie room, etc). If you're open to hosting, we’ll coordinate setup, supplies, and location – you just provide the supervision.
  
  We’re also trying to source supplies from our community as budgets have closed. We’re mainly looking for: 
  
  
• Photo booth props (fun glasses, signs, boas, etc.)
• Stress ball materials (balloons, flour/rice, funnels)
• Painting or art materials (markers, paper, paint, brushes)

One of the main ways we will be raising money is through a raffle held at the end of the week. We are looking for donations of all sizes for the raffle, things like gift cards, small self-care items, snacks, school spirit gear…anything! I will be using this as an opportunity to clear out some new, never-opened puzzles from a bygone puzzle phase, so anything students may enjoy is welcome! 

 

We’d also love your support. We will be walking on May 18th as a team and would love anyone who is available to come join us in person. Learn more about the walk here. We have a fundraising goal of $500 and would also appreciate your support in helping us meet (and exceed!) our goal. You can donate here!  

 

If you’re able to help with hosting or donating any of the above, please fill out this quick Google Form by Thursday April 23nd,  so we can organize everything smoothly. We truly appreciate your support in promoting mental wellness in our school community.

Thank you for all that you do!

Amanda & Sue

PER SESSION POSTINGS

FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS:  You must apply by completing THIS FORM

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 30APR.  We still have openings - so go ahead and apply if interested!

Week of April 7th

UAI Staff News

Volume XII

Issue 27

April 7th, 2025

Take time to understand the wins!  We've almost made it to Spring break!  The long grind of March is behind us and Spring break and the run up to summer lies just ahead

For so many of our kids, they have made some good choices, taken risks, and are seeing the fruits of their efforts.  Their attendance is up, their ideas and class contributions are sharper and more insightful, and their grades are reflecting great growth.  Make sure you pause to celebrate those kids.  We too often overlook the ones who thrive because we make the assumption in thinking that they don't need to hear it. But it turns out - we ALL need to hear it!  So, prioritize your thrivers for outreach this week!  They are the ones who are doing ANY one or combination of the following...They are realizing our school goals.

• Rigor
• Meeting our school wide goal of earning an 80 or higher in your class
• Scoring an 80 or higher on your benchmark
• Being present and on time 90% or more in your class
• Asking questions and take intellectual risks because they want to learn more
• Studying!
• Learning from their mistakes and trying to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it.
• Equity 
• Lifting up and celebrate classmates to help strengthen the community
• Apologizing for saying or doing the wrong thing and are trying to correct their actions and words to be better next time.
• Joy
• Connecting to your content and showing real curiosity and a desire to know more!
• Laughing, smiling, and having fun in class
• Talking & learning from their peers and friends
• Power
• Challenging themselves to be better and to do better each day.
• Advocating for their peers or themselves to get chances at improving their performance and understanding in your class.

Step into the shoes of your thrivers for a minute.  Look through their eyes, and learn about their choices, motivations, and support network.  What do they do outside of class that leads to their success inside of class?  How do they make the most of those choices and activities to keep motivated when things get hard?

Some of this you can get from talking to them directly.  I always love learning from our kids about themselves.  Some can also be learned from talking with their families!  Nothing brings families more joy than when you call home to celebrate their child and then show curiosity about what their families think is the key to their child's success. 

So..as we run up to the Spring Break and Report Card Distribution - think deeply about what's working.  When we return on the flip side of the break, we'll need this to help those kids who are not yet there!

UPCOMING DATES

• Mon 07APR.  Last Day of HS Benchmarks (No MS Benchmarks this round)
  
• Mon 07APR - ELA
  
  
• Monday, 07APR - MP4 (final marking period) begins
  
  
• Wednesday, 09APR - MP3 Grades are due IN GAMA by 3PM
  
  
• Friday, 11APR - MP3 Report Cards Distributed during 7th period.
  
• Friday, 11APR - @ 2:20PM - Rapid Dismissal for the Spring Break
                              (Girls Inc After School is still ON!
  
  
• Mon 14APR - Fri 18APR - Spring Break - No School
  
  
• Monday 21APR-Friday 25APR - Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week
  
  
• Monday 28APR-Friday 02MAY - Assistant Principal Appreciation Week

• Upcoming Staff Appreciation Dates
• 05MAY-09MAY - Teacher Appreciation Week

TO DO THIS WEEK

Lifting Up Your Leaders.  The ASU/GSV AI Conference is this week. Annie & I will be at the conference with Judy, Liza, Patricia & Kelly.  Marsha & Phillan will be stepping in my an Annie's shoes to support the school. This is their first foray into solo leadership and they will need the support of the entire team to succeed.  Tom Patterson, from our District Office, will be onsite as the "official" administrator on site, but Marsha & Phillan are from our community and they know what you need, what our kids need, and how best to get everyone what they need as soon as possible!

This week, please check in with them and find ways to help and lift them up.  The first time anyone does anything will be hard - especially stepping into the leadership seats.  Undoubtedly, there will be some things that go wrong, but there will also be many, many things that go right . Make sure to stop by 301 or down in the basement to let Marsha & Phillan know! The feedback is critical for growth AND persistence!  

A million thanks and infinite appreciation for Marsha & Phillan agreeing to step up!  They are even hosting a visit on Thursday!! SOLO!!  They are hosting the Reach Foundation with SLJ.  They are going to share our work with Project Cafe, and Shared Campus Programming.    I couldn't be more proud and excited for them!

SO UAI - I'm calling on your amazing community strength to circle around these two amazing, powerful women and give them the support and encouragement to overcome the inevitable anxiety that comes with the chair & responsibility and to develop the confidence (that I have in them but they need to also find in themselves!) to thrive!

MP4 Grades are Due.  MP4 Grades are due at 3PM on Wednesday 09APR25.  Please make sure you have synched with GAMA from your Google Classrooms.  STARS, the DOE report card system, will automatically pull from GAMA at 3PM.  Report cards will be printed and handed out 7th period on Friday.  Please make sure to distribute the report cards before the rapid dismissal! 


Monday PD.  This time will be given to grading time for everyone.  Please use OPW and PD time to grade benchmarks and or enter grades for MP4.  Yes it can be remote work!


ELA is the Last HS Benchmark.  Monday is the last HS Benchmark.  This benchmark will be run out of room 301 which is a change.  Marsha will be coordinating the test from there.

REPOST --->>>>. Did you visit anyone last week?  Did you see SEL or Academic Strategies in Action?  If yes - you go YOU!!!  Try to do one more visit before the spring break if you can!!   If no, really push yourselves to try the SEL strategies and visit one another's classrooms to see those strats (or others!!) in play.  These intervisitations are not going to fall naturally into your hierarchy of tasks.  So please, make sure you make it a priority in your to-do list this week to get in there to see a colleague.  

The face-to-face connectivity is a critical piece of glue that will bring our community more tightly together.  It is 10 minutes out of your week for such an incredible impact on our school and on your own practice & experience at the school.  It's is well worth the effort - just this little bit will go a loooooog way.  So, please make sure to get in there this week if you haven't already done so already!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

REPOST --->>>>. In your classes this week.  Please read the following to your students this week. Also, please print and share the flyer. and please post to your Google Classrooms.

• "Hello students! UAI is starting peer mediation. You will see this flyer [pictured here] around the school in which you can request a peer mediation. Peer mediation will be conducted by students who were trained to mediate. This is designed to support smaller conflicts that can be resolved by peers instead of adults, however there will always be an adult in the room. Deans and counselors will determine if students will mediate OR if the mediation will be run by deans and counselors, as usual. If you have any questions please ask Ms. Sue."
  
  

  
  

PER SESSION POSTINGS

FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS:  You must apply by completing THIS FORM

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 11APR.  We still have openings - so go ahead and apply if interested!