UAI Staff News
Volume XII
Issue 20
February 10th, 2025
Black History Month. This morning while scrolling through my phone, I came across a real showing the white house press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, saying, "As far as I know, this White House certainly still intends to celebrate, and we will continue to celebrate American history and the contributions that all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed, have made to our great country. And America is back." This was her response to a reporter's question, "As we’re dealing with anti-DEI, anti-woke efforts, we understand this administration could — is thinking about celebrating Black History Month. Have you got any word on that? Anything that you can offer to us?"
Then, I did a little googling to try to figure out what was happening, and found President Trump's official proclamation of February 2025 as National Black History Month.
Frankly, it's all confusing and more than a little messed up. But when things get crazy like this, that is the time when we most need to cling to what is right and what is good for our kids and families.
Black History is American history, and is part of the American Identity more than just the 28 short days in February. Black History is permanent, pervasive, and powerful. History books highlight the George Washingtons, John F. Kennedys, and George Bushes (either one), and right alongside those men's achievements were the achievements of Frederick Douglasses, Martine Luther King, Jrs., and Barack Obamas. The problem with "celebrating 'all Americans'" is that it usually is never "regardless of race". Historically, it has been focused on a single race (and gender), but just because that's where the focus is (or has been), it doesn't mean that there weren't always many folks of many races and identities achieving amazing things in our collective American story.
The stories of Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Stacey Abrams illustrate the power of people who strive to change America for the better for all Americans. The work and achievements of the Katherine Johnsons, the Thurgood Marshalls, and the Shirley Chisholm of our history has done just as much if not more to push forward the progress of our American society than those who make it into the history books and newspaper articles. When we turn the spotlight to examine their work and their achievements, it's not being "woke", it is simply understanding a broader, truer, and more realistic perspective on our world today.
As we continue through our month of celebrating Black History this week, please make it a point to draw back the curtain and broaden the spotlights for our students. Being able to see reflections of themselves in the fabric of the greatness that really is America is key to their own sense of power and belonging, and that power is critical to their success.
When the world gets cray cray (or even cray-cray-ier...as it will), our job is to be the anchor and light for our kids and families (and each other). Our charge is to lift up the strength and power from our shared histories, and provide the mirrors they need to see in order to see themselves as essential, innovative, and powerful pieces of this American puzzle that we all call home.
Someone else can only define our reality if we allow it. We are the definers of what greatness in American truly is. We help the future understand how the world could be, and we equip them with the skills, knowledge, and passion to realize those dreams of a better, stronger, future. Never forget your power in this, and always remember your work is the work that brings about a brighter future!
UPCOMING DATES
- FRI 14FEB -
- Valentine's Day & Senior Snow Tubing Trip &
- Rapid Dismissal at 2:30PM
- Upcoming Staff Appreciation Dates
- 01APR-04APR - Paraprofessional Appreciation Week
- 07APR-11APR - Assistant Principal Appreciation Week
- 21APR-25APR - Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week
- 05MAY-09MAY - Teacher Appreciation Week
TO DO THIS WEEK
- Prepare to Pivot to Remote. DOE Central folks seem to think that the snow that is coming may trigger a snow day ... or as it is now known...a remote day for all. To prepare...
- Check to ensure that ALL students know how to access your Google Classroom
- Please announce (on Google Classroom and in Person) that students will be required to log in and submit attendance for your class and complete assigned work.
- For this first remote snow day, please assign asynchronous work. Your attendance can be a simple google form, but you will need to enter period attendance into GAMA.
- Conference Interest Forms. Thank you for completing the ASU/GSV Conference Interest Form. I'll be reviewing the responses over the break and working with UA to confirm final participant list. You can expect to hear back from me after the break!
This has spurred interest in other conferences. When fiscally possible, I do try to put aside some funds to support staff attending conferences like the ASU/GSV. That said, without UA's help, we wouldn't be able to go to ASU/GSV at all. However, if there are conferences that you are interested in attending, please complete THIS FORM. They will have to be for conferences that are NEXT year. The way the budget deadlines are structured with school budgets means that budgets are closing down in the next couple of weeks, and we are pretty much finalized for the 2024-25 school year. 24-25 Budgets close on March 14th for the roll over to 25-26, and we actually start planning for 25-26 budgets in April. So, it's too late to go to a conference this year, but not too late for next year.
Because we would be using school funds to support conference attendance and travel, conferences and subsequent work must be tied to furthering the work towards our CEP goals. Please review the CEP goals thoroughly in order to complete THIS FORM for your conference request.
- LAST WEEK to Complete your teacher preference form. Please take a few minutes to submit your preference sheet for the 2025-26 school year. The form is due at 3PM on Friday 14FEB.
As a reminder, you are submitting your preferences. Preferences do not guarantee placement. Student needs drive the program, and the best match to student programs drive placement. One of the things that makes the best match is teacher preference, so we prioritize matching folks to their choices as much as possible. That said, there are times when we cannot match everyone to their first choice. So, many thanks and appreciation in advance for you understanding! - School Leadership Opportunities. There are a number of committees in which folks are invited to apply to take on more of a leadership role within the school. Some are funded with per session and some are funded with increased salary differentials (e.g. teacher leadership positions). Here are the teacher leadership positions open to folks right now:
- ILT - Instructional Leadership Team. These are comprised of 5 team leaders that Kiri & Annie select. They are invited to apply to the teacher leadership positions and are provided a period reduction and extra compensation as per contract. They are also expected to work increased hours before school starts. Their main mission is to provide teachers with support needed to develop and reach school instructional CEP goals. Kiri & Annie lead this team.
- Student Activities & Student Government. These are per session positions posted at the beginning of this year. The main mission of this work is to plan, design, and execute activities and experiences that enrich the student experience and elevate student voice at UAI so that our school culture and community is strengthened and trust, belonging, and safety is elevated (as demonstrated on LES survey data). FYI - folks can still join if interested! Just send Kiri an email! Marsha & Shan lead this team.
- RPET - Restorative Practices and Equity Team. These are per session positions posted at the beginning of the year (and yes, you can still join - just email Kiri). The main mission of the RPET is to uplift our schools' core value of Equity and celebrate cultural diversity and inclusion. Sue (& Kelly while she's out) lead this team.
- Individual Staff Leadership. There have been folks who have launched incredible opportunities for our kids and are single-handedly managing the work load. These are per session positions, and they include
- All The CLUBS and Extra Curricular Activities. Theater, Badminton, Dance, Step, D&D, Green Team, Farm To Table, National Honor Society, YLC, Woodworking, and sooooo many more!! Thank you ALL for stepping up this year to lead these activities. ALWAYS there is opportunity to do more. So, if you're interested, just shoot Kiri an email!
- Coordinators. Testing Coordinator, Programing & Scheduling Lead, AMNH Coordinator, NYU Tandon Partnership, Girls Inc Liaison and College Board Coordinator are two positions that we have this year. They are pretty skill specific and also not super popular positions, so I cannot express how appreciative I am to Liza, Tiffany, Jen and Sue for stepping into these roles
- SST - Student Support Team. The student support team currently consists of our counselors and deans. They currently meet during the day and review the academic and social-emotional needs of students. The main mission of this team is to create a robust safety net for our neediest students. Annie leads this team.
NEW LEADERSHIP OPTION ->. I want to expand the work of the SST to take over Huddle Management. I'm opening up positions for teachers and paraprofessionals to join this committee to engage in the work needed to track and follow up on student progress. This means keeping a close eye on academic progress, attendance, and behavioral outcomes. It also means taking on the work of working closely with students and families to pivot choices to stronger ones and keep kids moving on positive trajectories. This will be a per session opportunity and if you are interested, please email Annie and complete THIS PER SESSION interest form. - NEW LEADERSHIP OPTION ->.
Teacher Development Facilitator with AMNH. As part of our partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, we are opening up five new teacher leadership positions. AMNH is joining the DOE in rolling our the new Empire Teacher Residency Grant and we are making tweaks to the program to meet Grant requirements. One of these tweaks is creating a TDF role for each mentor.
These are specific to our science team (that's the nature of the partnership), but each member of the team who applies and is accepted will receive $3000 in additional compensation. I'm still hammering out the final details with AMNH, but the requirements for being selected in this role are - MUST have completed 3 years of Effective or Highly Effective teaching by September 2025.
- Preference given to science teachers who have already hosted AMNH residents in the past (which is basically all of the science folks)
- Commitment to fulfill all AMNH mentor requirements
- Commitment to fulfill all of the expectations as a mentor of new science teachers.
So basically - Liza, Sarah R, Tom W, Cam & Thomas - this one's for you! - NEW LEADERSHIP OPTION ->.
School Based Professional Learning Committee. On the agenda for this week's Consultation Committee Meeting is an School-Based Staff Development Committee (or an SDC). According to the MOA signed by the DOE in 2020, this committee "serves as an instructional leadership team in consultation with the Principal. Such committee will include the Chapter Leader and consist of equal number of committee members selected by the Chapter Leader and the Principal, respectively.
Principal Selections will be the ILT (Instructional Leadership team), and the Chapter Chair (Laura) is charged with selecting an equal number (5) UFT members for the committee.
Also per the MOA, "the Principal shall review the committee’s work and shall have final approval", so this committee's role is an advisory role.
Because (as per the MOA) "committee members must be given sufficient time during the day to meet", this committee will meet on the First Monday of the month during OPW time. Because it is written into the MOA that meeting time occur during the day, there is no extra remuneration for this committee.
Because we are starting this advisory committee late, membership on this committee will extend into the 25-26 school year.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Black History Month Week TWO. Thank you to everyone who pitched in to make last week's activities a real success! This week's events promise to be equally or maybe even MORE exciting and awesome. Check out the flier here. Here's what on the docket for this week:
- MON 10FEB:
A Celebration of Black Music: Staff and Student Karaoke Party (Cafeteria 3:00-3:30PM) - THU 13FEB:
HBCU Banner Decorating Party & A Different World S1 Ep. 1 (4th Period - Room 509) - FRI 14FEB:
BHM Lunch Movie Series Part 2: Remember the Titans (4th Period - Room 509)
Also - Please bring some snacks to share. We'll make it an impromptu Snack Luck PD and Survey Completion day!
School Visits. The Regents' Visit on Tuesday to see Project Cafe went exceedingly well. Many thanks to Patricia, Judy, Liza, Kelly, Fatima and Marsha for sharing their work with Regents Dr. Lester Young and Hosani Pratts. They were extremely impressed with the work that we are doing and are excited to continue learning more. Congrats!! As a reminder, here are the remaining school visits scheduled thus far.
- Project Cafe Visits. Folks are super interested in what we're doing the the AI-Powered Video Enabled teacher feedback system that leverages the CLASS rubrics to accelerate teacher growth.
- Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) Visits on Friday 14MAR
- School Site Visits. CUNY/UA Affinity (our District) is super interested in the work we are doing in teacher preparation & development, special education and co-teaching, and in math. Here are those dates
- Principal Lever Visit - Tuesday, 18MAR (Teacher Prep & Development)
- IM Math Visit - Exact day and focus still TBD - but March is the target
- ICT Think Tank Visit - Exact day and focus still TBD - but Spring Term!
Intervention Group Updates. All 8/9 and 6/7 groups have been adjusted to start on Monday 03FEB. Kelly, Marsha and Jennifer (thanks for the assist!!) are working on the 10-12 groups (look for those this week), and we'll push to start those on Monday after the break. Look at the UAI schedule (find link on Google classroom) to see the complete lists (which will be there by Monday AM)
PER SESSION POSTINGS
FOR ALL PER SESSION JOBS: You must apply by completing THIS FORM
NEW LEADERSHIP OPTION ->. I want to expand the work of the SST to take over Huddle Management. I'm opening up positions for teachers and paraprofessionals to join this committee to engage in the work needed to track and follow up on student progress. This means keeping a close eye on academic progress, attendance, and behavioral outcomes. It also means taking on the work of working closely with students and families to pivot choices to stronger ones and keep kids moving on positive trajectories. This will be a per session opportunity and if you are interested, please email Annie and complete THIS PER SESSION interest form.
REPOST: Hiring Committee. It's that time again! We're looking for folks to join our Hiring Committee. We're looking for a team of 6-10 folks to participate in Hiring Activities. Hours will range. There will be meetings as the committee to norm on expectations and review outcomes. Committee members will be tapped to participate in demo lessons and debriefs. Committee members must be available for zoom hiring events in the evenings and weekends. If interested, please complete 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 14FEB.
