Dear Families of Unity,

I hope you and your loved ones had a restful February break and a strong first week back. It felt wonderful to return to the rhythm and energy of our learning community!

This past week was filled with highlights worth celebrating, including our joyful Black History Month celebration, a Family Ambassadors meeting, and several exciting athletic events — including basketball playoff games!

Looking ahead, we have another exciting week on deck. We will kick off our celebration of Women’s History Month, host our Semester I Academic Awards Ceremony at the middle school, welcome new high school families for a special dinner, and cheer on our high school basketball and cheer teams in upcoming competitions.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we share a major achievement for our school, fun clips from Thursday night’s Dare to Be Bold assembly, our March calendar, and important updates, highlights, and recaps from across our campuses.

Enjoy your Sunday!

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of March 1, 2026:

1. New – Unity Middle Rated Excellent by NYC Public Schools!

We are proud to share that Unity Middle was one of just two middle schools in our district to be rated Excellent in Instruction and Performance by NYC Public Schools. This distinction reflects the dedication of our teachers, the partnership of our families, and the hard work and growth of our students. Congratulations to our entire Unity community on this outstanding achievement!

2. New – Unity Students’ Talents Shine during our Annual Dare to be Bold Celebration!

Unity students proudly and boldly took to the stage this past week to showcase their talents and honor Black History Month! From our Cheer Team, Step Team, Drumline, and Dance students to our individual performing artists, an abundance of talent, pride, and Panther spirit was on full display.

3. New – Highlights of Students and Their Teachers in Action This Week!

Our UPMS 8th grade scholars brought history to life during Friday’s Live Museum, embodying influential Black and African American trailblazers through powerful research-based speeches. Families and community members joined us as the audience, witnessing students step into the voices of leaders such as Mae Jemison, Thurgood Marshall, Malcolm X, and Shirley Chisholm. The pride in the room was undeniable as scholars honored the legacy, courage, and brilliance of Black excellence.

4. New – March 2026 Schoolwide Calendar

For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of March – print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door!  It is possible that events could change and new events could be added.  An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website.

5. New – Middle School Spring Family Conferences, March 12th-13th!

We are excited to hold our middle school spring family conferences on Thursday, March 12th (in-person evening hours, 4-7pm) and Friday, March 13th (virtual hours on Zoom, 3-6pm).  Advisors are in the process of reaching out to families to schedule appointments.  A Jupiter message with a link to appointment options has also been disseminated.  Our goal is that all students have at least one adult family representative attending conferences. All students whose families participate in conferences will be awarded 10 Pride Points.  If you have any questions or need additional support, call Unity’s main office at 718-455-5046.

6. New – Unity’s Celebrates the Restoration of our High School Gym with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!

We are proud to share that we have officially completed the restoration of our high school gym following the damage caused by heavy rain and flooding this fall. Just before February break, students, staff, families, and supporters gathered to commemorate this important milestone and celebrate the reopening of a space that means so much to our community.

We applaud our entire Unity community for rallying in support of this effort — truly, there is Strength in Unity.

7. Updated – Unity Athletics in the Final Stretch of the Winter Season!

Congratulations to our winter athletic teams as they wrap up their seasons! And best of luck to our Panthers competing in their conference playoffs — go Panthers!

Click here to see Alex’s “And-One” Dunk against Eagle Academy.

MS Girls Basketball Team

MS Boys Basketball Team

MS Table Tennis Team

MS Cheerleading Team

8. New – Our March i-Ready Challenge is On!

We encourage all of our middle school students to practice like champions over the course of March.

We look forward to recognizing our February winners in next week’s Scoop!

9. New – Thank you for Taking Part in our Recent Family Ambassadors Meeting!

We’re so grateful to all of the families who joined us for our recent Family Ambassadors Meeting. As always, the gathering was productive, energizing, and filled with great conversation and community spirit!

You can find the meeting agenda and slides linked here. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on Thursday, March 19th!

10. Recap – Congrats to Unity’s Students of the Month!

Kudos to our Students of the Month for January!  We celebrate these students for showing exemplary scholarship and citizenship!

11. Recap – Kudos to our P.R.I.D.E. Leaders as of the Month: Our P.R.I.D.E. Core Values of Progress, Respect for All, Integrity, Discovery, and Empathy represent qualities that we covet as a school community.  They also represent qualities that we believe empower our students to lead fulfilling lives and, therefore, qualities that we have a responsibility to actively teach and positively reinforce.

The students listed below are our leaders from the month of January, being recognized by their teachers for demonstrating our Core Values.  On behalf of our school community, we are proud of these students, and look forward to continuing to shout out all of our students when they demonstrate P.R.I.D.E. in our community.

12. Recap – Unity Hosts Prospective Students for the 2026–27 School Year!

This week, we were excited to welcome prospective students from La Cima and Hyde as part of our ongoing outreach for the 2026–27 school year. Visitors had the chance to learn about our course programming and extracurricular offerings, meet students and staff, and get a feel for the energy and community that makes Unity special. We’re grateful for the opportunity to connect with future Panthers and their families!

13. Recap – Become a Unity Connector Today!

Help our small and mighty Unity family grow — and earn rewards while you do!  When you refer a new family who applies for the 2026–27 school year, you’ll earn Unity Connector Rewards like Unity swag, gift cards, and special recognition at Unity events.

Your voice matters — share your Unity experience with friends, neighbors, and families from your child’s former school community. Together, we’ll help more students belong, believe, and become!

Learn more about the program with our UnityConnect one-pager here and submit your referrals here.

14. Recap – Parent Workshops: A Resource for Unity Families!

Unity families are invited to take advantage of free, online parent workshops offered by Marble Health, shared as a helpful resource by our Director of Social Work, Ms. Del Purgatorio. These workshops are developed by clinician and researcher Annie Graham and are held via Zoom, with live captioning available in 35 languages, including Spanish, Mandarin, French, and Russian, to ensure broad accessibility for our families.

15. Recap – Unity’s 2025-26 Student & Family Handbook is Available Here!

16. Recap – 2025-26 School Year Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families Calendars for the 2025-26 school year are available below. Note that we have two versions this year – one version for our middle school (grades 6-8) and another version for our high school (grades 9-12).

• Grades 6-8 2025-26 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
• Grades 9-12 2025-26 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families

17. Recap – Help Us Welcome New Panthers to Unity Prep!

Unity has a few limited seats available for the 2025–26 school year – and we’re looking to fill them with amazing families like yours!

Finding the right school can be a big decision, and our current families are our best ambassadors. If you know a family who would thrive in our small, caring, college-prep community, please connect them with Mr. Beckford via email or (862) 294-0219.

As a thank-you, both your family and the new family will receive a $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies when they enroll. Let’s keep building our small and mighty community—one Panther at a time!

18. Recap – Join our New Unity Prep Instagram (IG) Account Today!

We recently launched our new grades 6-12 IG account to bring our entire community together – @unityprepcharterschool.  Don’t miss out – follow us now!