Week of June 5th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 36

Week of June 5th, 2017

This Week's Memories

This was a major week!  So many fantastic things happened!  Be prepared for a lengthy blog of celebration!

Senior Awards Night!  Our 5th annual Senior Awards Night was a wonderful affair.  Ms. Doris, with Starlet's assistance, created a memorable affair for our graduating class and their families.  In particular, Ms. Doris put her usual indelible touch on the event with many heartfelt and personal anecdotes for each of our young women.  Thank you Doris for your hard work and bringing such a wonderful event to life.  Many thanks to all the staff who were able to participate, too!

Springfest 2017.  This was our 11th annual Springfest, and with this graduating class being the last of our students who will have been born in the 90s, Girls Inc chose a 90s theme to celebrate.   Our entreprenuers, actors, dancers, and designers celebrated their achievements along with our honor roll students.  Many thanks to all staff who were able to join in the celebration!

Middle School Cultural Day.  Ms. Natalie and the 8th graders had a beautiful celebration of culture and food! The 8th graders presented and shared great food, and their teachers (Cherry, Christina, Kristina, and Meaghan) all turned out to help Natalie and the girls have a wonderful time with their families.  Great work everyone!

8th Grade BBQ.  Ms. Tracy coordinated the first annual 8th grade BBQ to celebrate the stepping up Class of 2017.  The girls had a wonderful time, and it was a very special event coordinated by their wonderful teachers.  Thank you Ms. Tracy and the 8th-grade team for creating such a special memory for our girls!

Final Assembly of the Year.  The Class of 2017 proudly displayed their future colleges and performed original (self-choreographed) dance pieces for our final assembly of the year.   In addition, our middle school dance troupe wowed the crowd with an amazing piece that set the crowd cheering. It was a beautiful expression of the sisterhood and support that makes UAI special.  Many thanks to Ms. Jen for working hard to coordinate this spectacular end to a series of inspiring assemblies!

Same as Me.  Mr. Erick and our after school theater club staged their first play.  It was an original script performed in their very own pop up theater (aka 409).  Mr. Erick and his club did an amazing job transforming their classroom into a performance space, and our young thespians acted their hearts out last Thursday!  Many congrats to Erick and our girls!

To Do's for this Week

[Monday, 05JUN17] Science Written Exam.  Our 8th graders will be taking the written portion of the Science Exam on Monday.  Joanna has already shared the schedule.  Please take a moment to review it again by clicking HERE.  Also, to help our 8th graders have the best testing environment, I'm asking that all other middle school teachers make sure to be present in the halls to ensure quiet and orderly transitions tomorrow morning.

[Wednesday, 07JUN17] Early Dismissal.  As a reminder, students will have a rapid dismissal on Wednesday, 07JUN17 at the end of 5th period (12:10).  Students participating in Girls Inc After School will begin right after dismissal.  Staff attending the retreat will be released to travel to Tarrytown.  Staff not attending the retreat will be provided with alternate assignments.  Please click here for directions to Tarrytown.

[Thursday, 08JUN17] UAI Staff Retreat and Brooklyn-Queens Day.  Please review the updated agendas below

WED	June 7th
3-3:30PM	Arrival to Tarrytown
	The hotel has shifted our check in time to 3 PM.  So please check in, get settled and be ready to meet by 3:30 PM in the Henry Hudson Room.
3:30-5PM	UAI Staff Meeting in Henry Hudson Room
	Please plan to be ready to meet by 3:30 PM in the Henry Hudson Room.
	The staff meeting will focus on reflecting on this years' goals, objectives for the retreat, and looking ahead to next year (click here for the agenda)
5-6:00PM	Hotel Check in and Break
	If you missed the earlier, check in, this will be your 2nd chance.  Also, all have a chance to take a break before dinner.
6-7:00PM	Dinner
	Dinner will be a buffet of yumminess (yes there are vegan and veggie options!)
7-8:00PM	UAI Staff Happy Hour
	Just downstairs in Cellar 49, we will have our annual year-end staff celebration

THU	June 8th
8-9:00AM	Breakfast
	Breakfast will be in the same place as dinner (another yummy buffet with vegan and veggie options)
	Please check out before workshops begin.
9-12:00PM	Workshop Breakouts
	School Culture and Social Emotional Learning with Annie in the Nassau Room (click for agenda)-                     Shawn (new hire), Brandon, Lauren M., Jennifer JR, Martine, Ilyana, Meaghan, Elena, James
	Unit Planning and Lesson Design with Colleen in the Lyndhurst Room (click for agenda) -                              Alison, Matthew, Cherry - Grade 6 math   Danielle, Jamie - Alg I   Mike - Alg II   Lauren, Phillan - Grade 6 ELA   Kristina, Christina, Marsha - Grade 8 ELA   Rebecca, Cassandra, Michelle - Grade 9 ELA   Kerry, Tiffany, Diana (new hire) - Grade 10 ELA   Mike, Brodie, Kelly (new hire) - Grade 9 US   Natalie - Grade 7/8 US   Suzannah - Global   Tom, Paula, James - Environmental Science
	Operational Development with Val in the Belvedere Room (click for agenda) -                                                 Carol, Del, Nancy, Joanna
12-1:00PM	Lunch
	Lunch will be in the same place as breakfast and dinner
1-2:00PM	Workshop Wrap Up
	School Culture and Social Emotional Learning with Annie in the Nassau Room
	Unit Planning and Lesson Design with Colleen in the Lyndhurst Room
	Operational Development with Val in the Belvedere Room
2-3:00PM	Final UAI Full Staff Meeting
	Final full staff meeting in Henry Hudson Room.

[Monday, 12JUN17] Night of Stars!  For those staff who could not make either Senior Awards Night or Springfest, please plan to attend Night of Stars on Monday as a means to fulfill the spring parent outreach requirement.  Additionally, anyone who would like to join our welcome of incoming students is more than encouraged to attend! 

Upcoming Important Dates

• [Friday, 09JUN17 and Monday 12JUN17] High School Final Exams.
• [Monday 12JUN17] Marking Period 6 Ends.
• [Tuesday, 13JUN17] Regents Week Begins.
• [Thursday, 15JUN17] Final Grades Due.
• [Thursday 22JUN17 and Friday 23JUN17] Middle School Final Exams.
• [Friday 23JUN17] 8th Grade Stepping Up
• [Monday 26JUN17] EID Al Fitr - NO SCHOOL
• [Tuesday 27JUN17] High School Graduation, Early Release for Middle School
• [Wednesday 28JUN17] Last Day of School

SEL Updates

No updates this week

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

No New Posts for this week

Week of May 30th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 35

Week of May 30th, 2017

This Week's Memories

    

Urban Assembly SEL Symposium.  On Friday, Jen JR, Jen C, and Lauren presented the work we've done this year around Social Emotional Learning.  Jen C & Lauren, along with 6th graders Suke, Fatou, and Shanice shared our SEL systems and structures and led the audience through a sample School Connect activity called Cross the Line.  Jen JR led an afternoon panel discussing how to use the DESSA to set IEP counseling and monitor progress throughout the year.  People from around the country joined the symposium to learn about the work we are doing with the Urban Assembly, and our team and students represented beautifully!  Nicely done!!

To Do's for this Week

[Tuesday, 30MAY17] Senior Awards Night!  This Tuesday is our Annual Senior Awards Night. Please join us at 5:30 in the gym to celebrate their wonderful achievements!

[Thursday, 01JUN17] June is Here!  This Thursday is June 1st.  We've officially reached the last month of school.  Your hard work and perseverance throughout the year have brought you and your students to this point.  We have a few days left before High School Final exams and a couple of weeks before Middle School Final exams.  Use this time to make your final preparations and judgments with students.  You should make it a point to meet with all your students to provide them with end-of-the-year feedback on their growth and progress.  Make sure to prioritize students who will not pass your course.  They need to hear from you in-person (1) that they are failing, and (2) why they have not yet mastered the grade standards for your subject.  Please make sure to complete all of these conferences (at the very least, meet with all potentially failing students) prior to final exams.

[Friday, 02JUN17] College Commitments.  On Friday, we will have our final assembly celebrating our seniors' college acceptances.  We are incredibly proud of the Class of 2017 (FYI next week's blog will celebrate our 8th graders!).  Here are some points to celebrate for the Class of 2017.  

• 91% of the senior class has committed to their colleges 
• 75% of graduates are enrolling into 4-year colleges
• This year's schools include Williams College (MA), SUNY Stonybrook, Baruch, Hunter, NY City Tech, and Franklin & Marshall College (PA)

[Monday, 05JUN17] 8th Grade Science Test (Written). 8th Graders will complete the final portion of the science exam.  This is the written portion which will take place on Monday.  

[Wednesday, 07JUN17] Early Dismissal.  Students will have a rapid dismissal on Wednesday, 07JUN17 at the end of 5th period (12:10).  Students participating in Girls Inc After School will begin right after dismissal.  Staff attending the retreat will be released to travel to Tarrytown.  Staff not attending the retreat will be provided with alternate assignments.

[Thursday, 08JUN17] UAI Staff Retreat and Brooklyn-Queens Day.  Next Wednesday and Thursday will be our first annual UAI Staff Retreat at the Tarrytown House and Estate.  Detailed agendas will follow this week, but here's the logistics and overview for the Retreat:

Upcoming Important Dates

• [Friday, 09JUN17 and Monday 12JUN17] High School Final Exams.
• [Monday 12JUN17] Marking Period 6 Ends.
• [Tuesday, 13JUN17] Regents Week Begins.
• [Thursday, 15JUN17] Final Grades Due.
• [Thursday 22JUN17 and Friday 23JUN17] Middle School Final Exams.
• [Friday 23JUN17] 8th Grade Stepping Up
• [Monday 26JUN17] EID Al Fitr - NO SCHOOL
• [Tuesday 27JUN17] High School Graduation
• [Wednesday 28JUN17] Last Day of School

SEL Updates

Please remember to complete your DESSA evaluations this week!

No updates this week

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

No New Posts for this week

Week of May 22nd

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 34

Week of May 22nd, 2017

This Week's Memories

Class of 2017.  This past weekend Maya Spiers (on the right) graduated from Trinity Washington University!  Maya joined UAI in 2006 as part of the founding class of 6th graders, and is an alumna of our first graduating class in 2013.  Maya's class if our first group of alumna who are graduating from college.  In these last few weeks of school, we can get fatigued in the day-to-day grind towards the end.  Remember our mission - we get up and push hard each day so that we help young women, like Maya, fulfill their dreams and begin to make the world a better, brighter, and more powerful place to be.  Congratulations Maya!  You have turned the tables and now are the one who inspires us!

To Do's for this Week

[Thursday, 25MAY17] School Culture Committees.  We'd like to invite all middle school teachers to engage in the process of problem identification around school culture in order to collaborate toward solutions. In service of this work, we are creating a middle school-specific and high school-specific School Culture Committees which will meet weekly on Thursday's from 3-4pm. The middle school committee will meet in room 303 and the high school committee will meet in room 403.  Have opinions/ideas about improving culture? Join us at our first meeting this Thursday!

SEL Updates

Please remember to complete your DESSA evaluations this week!

6th, 9th, and 10th grades this week will be focused on dealing with gossip. Students will learn to apply the "test of four" to determine whether information should be passed along to another student: 

• 1) is it true? 
• 2) is it something positive? 
• 3) is it useful (e.g., does it have to do with safety?) 
• 4) would you want it passed on if it had to do with you? 

9th and 10th graders will also continue discussing the problem-solving strategy known as "S.O.L.V.E.", while 6th graders, who have learned S.O.L.V.E. already, will explore how to find "win-win" solutions when faced with peer conflict.

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

No New Posts for this week

Week of May 15th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 33

Week of May 16th, 2017

This Week's Memories

 

 

Honor Roll.  Despite major subway delays, we celebrated our 11th annual Honor Roll breakfast, honoring the young ladies with the top averages in their class.  This year we will honor all honor roll students at our annual Springfest on May 31st, so please make sure to encourage students who didn't get invited to the breakfast to attend Springfest!  Many shout outs to Carol and her team of students who organized a brilliant and beautiful event!

 

UAI Summer Bash.  Our 8th Grade Class of 2017 and The Class of 2018 celebrated their final school dance.  With beautiful decoration, a DJ of their choosing, and some major ticket sales, these two Classes of 2018 orchestrated a beautiful event.  Many thanks to Ms. Tracy (8th grade advisor) and all the chaperones.  Extra thanks to Ms. Jen who went the extra mile to help the girls get the event off the ground!

To Do's for this Week

[THIS WEEK].  Attendance Reminders.  Attendance taking in Skedula is not good this year.  To remedy this, the main office will be making announcements during 3rd period and 6th period so that teachers take attendance both on the official ATS rosters and in Skedula.  We rely on this data to track student attendance.  Please follow through on this professional responsibility.  If you habitually forget to take attendance, please use these reminders to help you.  

[THIS WEEK].  Benchmarks, MOSL, and DRP.  Michael shared the Mock Regents Room Assignments and Mock Regents Teacher Schedule last week.  Joanna should be sharing the middle school MOSL schedule shortly.  Here's the overview for both Middle and High School testing:

Middle School MOSL/DRP

• Thursday, 18MAY17 - Full testing day - Math MOSL (120 min) and DRP (90 min)
• 8:30-9:00 - Extended Advisory 
• 9:00-11:00 - Math MOSL (students will receive testing accommodation if needed)
• 11:02 - 11:52 - Lunch
• 11:54 - 2:50 - DRP 

• Friday, 19MAY17 - Half testing day - ELA MOSL (120 min) and Grading
• 8:30-9:00 - Extended Advisory 
• 9:00-11:00 - ELA MOSL  (students will receive testing accommodation if needed)
• 11:00-11:40 - Lunch and Early Dismissal for Students
• 11:40-2:50 - Grading 
• All MS teachers report to room 409 for Grading Instructions

HS schedule - Mock Regents/DRP 

• Wednesday, 17MAY17 - full day for students
• 9th grade has regular classes with DRP testing in ELA classes
• 10th Grade - Mock Global in AM 8:40-11:40 and Mock Earth Sci in the PM 12:10-2:50PM
• 11th grade - regular classes - with DRP testing in Brodie & Mike's classes
• 12th grade - senior BBQ (those needing to take Earth Sci or Global will sit for exam)

• Thursday, 18MAY17 - half day for students
• 8:40-11:40AM - All students will sit for the Mock Regent in either Living Env., US History, or ELA
• Teachers not assigned to proctor must report to room 145 for Grading Directions
• 11:40-12:10PM - Lunch
• 12:10-2:50PM - Grading
• All HS teachers report to 409 for Grading Instructions at 12:10PM

• Friday, 19MAY17 - half day for students
• 8:40-11:40AM - All students will sit for the Mock Regent in either CC Alg. I, CC Geo, or CC Alg. II
• 11:40-12:10PM - Lunch
• 12:10-2:50PM - Grading
• All HS teachers report to 409 for Grading Instructions at 12:10PM

[REMINDER].   Calls Home for Failing Students.  For all students who failed the 5th marking period, please make verbal contact with the student.  If you cannot make contact, please reach out to Carol and/or call home with the student.  Log the contact in Skedula to record the outcome of the conversation.  We will be following up in Skedula to check that calls were made. Please make sure to log your conversations there.

SEL Updates

6th graders have been examining various ways to respond to bullying and drama, developing their understanding that there is no one-size-fits-all way to respond when issues related to bullying and drama arise. This past week, we practiced quick responses to interpersonal conflict ranging from "ignoring it and walking away" to "immediately notifying an adult." You may have noticed some of their ideas posted throughout the hallways- please continue prompting them to identify their own solutions when they complain of drama or gossip, even referring to these posters as needed.

9th and 10th graders have been developing their self and social awareness by exploring differences between introverts and extroverts as well as myths about men and women. This week, the girls will be delving into interpersonal conflict resolution and practicing the S. and O. of the S.O.L.V.E. strategy- Stop and think, Objectively state the problem, List possible solutions, Voice your solution choice and act on it, and Evaluate whether the solution was successful. 

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

No New Posts for this week

Week of May 8th

UAI Staff News

Volume IV

Issue 32

Week of May 8th, 2017

This Week's Memories

Alumni Pride.  On June 2nd will will have our final assembly of the year, celebrating the Class of 2017 and their college acceptances.  This is just the first step in their long and exciting futures away from us.  We are in the final marking period of the year.  Here are some highlights to help encourage and inspire all of our students to end-of-the-year success.


Class of 2013 alum, Sydney Johnson,  was one of a select group of students who were celebrated at SUNY Buffalo State's annual Honors Convocation.  Sydney was one a member of the first NYU Poly cohort. Sydney was also a member of the founding cohort of UAI.  Sydney struggled with math and science and at first didn't want to be in the Poly cohort.  With the support of her teachers and Poly professors, she persisted and today, Sydney continues to shine at Buffalo state.  Sydney is majoring in early childhood education.

Class of 2014 alum, Awo Akwetey-Aboagye, originally enrolled in a two-year university.  Her grades at UAI and SAT scores limited her choices to two-year options for her initial college experience. However, Awo knocked it out of the park for those two years and this year was accepted as a transfer student to SUNY Oswego.  Awo intends to major in political science.

Class of 2015 alum Belle Legrand was one of UAI's first Posse Scholar.  In the Fall of 2015, Belle enrolled in Lafayette College.  At UAI, Belle was the star of the Lady Eagles team leading them through the Playoffs.  Belle also excelled socially, being a mentor, beloved peer, and lead MC for our assemblies.  At UAI Belle was certainly one of the bigger fishes in our tiny pond.  At the ocean of Lafayette, Belle struggled to adjust to a wildly different environment.  As a UAI alum, Belle has grit! After struggling through the first year, Belle doubled down and made connections and continues to thrive at Lafayette.

Class of 2016 alum, Ayshia Nash is finishing her first year at SUNY Oswego.  She returns this summer to UAI to sheppard the Class of 2017 through their final college processes as our Bridge to College mentor.  In her senior year, Ayshia spearheaded a student-run Regents Prep lunch study that helped many of her peers overcome the final hurdles and make it to graduation. Her compassion and strong encouragement will be a necessary source of support for our newest graduates.

To Do's for this Week

[TUES 09MAY17].  Fire Drill.  Cross your fingers, but it looks like the weather will hold and we'll finally get to do our last Fire Drill of the year at 10:15 on Tuesday.

[FRI 12MAY17].  Chaperones Needed.  The final UAI dance of the year will be this Friday.  This will be the junior class's first foray into fundraising and taking over the UAI social activities.  So far, only two people have volunteered to chaperone.  PLEASE help out!  Per Session is available.

[THIS WEEK].  Advisory Attendance Calls Home. Currently, we have the lowest attendance rate we have ever had (85%), and this coincides with the lowest completion of advisor phone calls home that have ever happened.  Jen & Val are going to launch a pilot program for all students who have <90% attendance, but until that gets off the ground, all advisors need to make calls to all of their own advisory students who do not make it to advisory on time this week.  Teenagers make mistakes because they don't know any better.  Our job is to teach them why they messed up and to help them learn not to mess up again  Having bad attendance is one of the biggest mess ups a kid can have.  Please help our girls learn from this mistake by helping them figure out how to come to school.  Call home and in classes, make sure they have your attention and care to catch up.  The calls are one necessary step of communication, but it is the human connection that you make with them in the classroom that keeps them coming.

[THIS WEEK].  Calls Home for Failing Students.  For all students who failed the 5th marking period, please make verbal contact with the student.  If you cannot make contact, please reach out to Carol and/or call home with the student.  Log the contact in Skedula to record the outcome of the conversation.  When students are in danger of failing your course, they are in danger of not promoting and/or attending summer school.  Families need to know from teachers that students are failing and why.  Please help them understand what they can do at home to best support their child in order to turn around the failure and push for passing by the end of June. 

[NEXT WEEK].  Final Benchmarks and MOSLs.  Next week will be our final high school benchmarks and middle school MOSLs.  For Middle School staff, these MOSLs will be used as a part of your official rating, so please make sure that you coach students to understand that these exams will included as part of their grade.  Students need to have accountability for these exams if they are to take them seriously and accurately reflect their performance and achievement.  For High School staff, these benchmarks will be full Regent Exams. This year, we are using a new tool that will allow teachers to quickly identify areas/topics of study that require the most review for students.  

SEL Updates

No updates this week!

Add this calendar to your own!  See that little "+" sign in the bottom right hand corner?  Click on it to have it show up in your personal google calendar!

Per Session Posting

No New Posts for this week