The Unity Scoop – May 8

Dear Families of Unity,

I want to begin by wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Unity mothers in our community. You are absolute superheroes and deserve hugs and appreciation each and every day of the year!

Congratulations to all of our high school students who completed their Advanced Placement (AP) exams this past week. We are immensely proud of you! To our AP students who have exams coming up, we are so excited for you to show off all that you have learned this year, with the opportunity to earn college credit even before stepping onto campus!

As we gear up for the week ahead, one important note that I want to reiterate: Unity will re-establish our mask requirement starting tomorrow, given the increase in cases throughout the city and within schools. The requirement will be in effect for a minimum of two weeks. We will provide updates during the week of May 16th based on our assessment of health and safety within our community.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I spotlight a number of recent events and accomplishments. In addition, details on a number of exciting opportunities for students this spring and summer are provided.

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of May 8, 2022:

1. Updated – May 2022 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of May – 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. Notable upcoming events include:

5/9-5/12: AP Exams at Unity High

2. New – Unity Celebrates Teacher Appreciation Week!: This past week, our community showed gratitude to amazing educators. Thank you to our families, students, and fellow staff for showing serious love to our teachers throughout the week!

3. New – Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity High’s College & Career Readiness Team: This time of year is typically marked by excitement – college admissions and career-training programs usually notify students in the spring and families then get to make some big decisions. Each week for the past few months, our students have received wonderful news about their college and career aspirations – they have been admitted to incredible schools and programs. Please join us in celebrating the impressive resilience and strength of our young people. It is truly inspirational. Here are few other updates from Mr. Gonzalez:

College Application and Admissions Updates: As of April, members of our senior class have been admitted to the following colleges and universities with scholarships totalling over $400,000: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, George Washington University, Skidmore College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Dickinson College, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, Vassar College, and Quinnipiac University.
Unity High Celebrates College Signing Day in Style: On Friday, April 29th, Unity celebrated “College Signing Day”. This tradition began by former First Lady Michelle Obama; it provides high schools the opportunity to honor seniors as they declare their postgraduate plans. In our ceremony – which was the first time Unity has been able to hold this event because of the pandemic – the entire school community and families of our seniors, gathered in our gym. Our culinary club cooked breakfast for seniors and their families. As you can tell from the photos, the space was filled with excitement and pride. Seniors each gave thanks to family members and staff who helped on their journey. As each senior announced where she/he would attend college, the entire gym erupted in applause. It was a beautiful event!

Co-op Tech Applications: NYC’s premier career-training program, Co-op Tech, has begin accepting applications for students who are interested in entering the building trades (carpenters, plumbers, HVAC, etc.), service industries (automotive repair, culinary arts, and cosmetology), IT (web design, computer networking, and advertising), and health careers (medical health careers, nurse assistants, and vision technology). In addition to having top-notch programs, Co-op Tech is free! Students who are interested in applying to Co-op Tech should make an appointment with Mr. Gonzalez immediately using this link.

Attention all Seniors: College Financial Aid Comparison Sheet: By now, you should have received financial aid packages from all the colleges that have accepted you. If you have not received aid packages yet, please see me immediately! You have approximately two-three weeks to decide the college in which you will enroll. To help you make this decision, please use this Financial Aid Comparison Tool. Follow these instructions to use the tool, take the following three steps:
1. Make a copy (“File -> Make a Copy”)
2. Enter information for each financial aid package into the “Net Cost” sheet.
3. Make an appointment with Mr. Gonzalez using this link.

4. New – Athletics Spotlight The Unity Panthers Middle School Track Team!: In this edition of the Scoop, Mr. Coleman would like to spotlight the student-athletes of our middle school track team. A congratulations on the first meet of the season is due to Coach Berkeley and the team! Continue to represent our school with sportsmanship and pride!

5. Updated – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

New – DOE’s Beyond Access Series Presents Self-Regulation Techniques: This workshop will provide parents, caregivers and students strategies for reducing stress and improving the ability to self-regulate, with simple routines and activities that reduce anxiety and reactivity and promote calm and happy students and families. Spanish and Mandarin interpretation available. Learn more and register here.
New – DOE’s Beyond Access Series Presents How to Access Supports for Students with Behavioral Challenges: This workshop covers the educational rights of students who face behavioral challenges in school, including different kinds of behavioral supports and interventions , along with the opportunity to share advocacy tips. Learn more and register here.
The Child Mind Institute offers great (free & remote) caregiver workshops on a seasonal basis! Take a moment to visit their site and appreciate their offerings.
The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:

6. Recap – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: We are thrilled to continue celebrating the hard work of our students as they engage in their learning each and every day. Last week, we spotlighted our middle school scientists-in-training. Sixth grade scientists have been exploring different body systems and their functions. Scholars are learning how these human body systems are all interconnected and dependent on one another. In the attached photo, Ms LaPlaca, Mr Thomas, and our scholars are playing a quick game of “Ms. LaPlaca says” to learn about the different muscles in the human body.

In other grades, our seventh grade scientists recently completed their “Stop the Shake” earthquake project, which required them to build an earthquake-proof structure using craft materials. Scholars first built their structures and presented their buildings to their peers. In doing so, scholars explained the choices they made in terms of building materials, base, the design process, etc. Finally, these structures were tested on a shake table representing a 5.0 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale.

Eighth grade scientists have been wrapping up their sexual health education unit. Next week, scholars will be learning about genetics and how scientists can predict what specific traits an offspring will most likely have by completing punnett squares! Scientists will also be completing three labs in preparation for the upcoming state test in science.

As a bonus, Ms. Diaz would like to bring the following opportunity to the attention of middle school scientists! The Black in Physics organization (https://www.blackinphysics.org) is running an essay contest in celebration of Juneteenth. The contest is open to students in 6-8th grade with the essay prompt: In 1,000 words or less, write about a notable Black physicist and explain how their contributions have helped to shape how you see yourself represented in STEM. You can find out more details about the contest by visiting their website. https://www.blackinphysics.org/juneteenth-essay-contest/

7. Recap – Congrats to our Middle School’s Students of the Month in April!: Kudos to our Students of Month for showing exemplary scholarship, citizenship, and growth – we are proud of you!

6^th Grade:

Scholarship: Zaeyah Rush

Citizenship: Ester Pollard

7^th Grade:

Scholarship: Nina Pitter

Citizenship: Kymani Pilgrim

Most Improved: Khaya Khan

8^th Grade:

Scholarship: Taylor Beckles

Citizenship: Naishae Wilson

Most Improved: Julissa Garban, Damani Green

8. Recap – Registration is now open! Summer School Rising – NYCDOE Summer School Programming for Grades K-8 & Summer Youth For High School Students: The 2022 Summer Rising application is now open for students currently in grades K-8 and Summer Youth Employment for high school students. Parents and students can find more information here: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/summer. Summer Rising is open to all NYC students. Families that participate in Summer Rising are expected to participate the entire duration of the program. Families that cannot regularly attend the full day or full 6- or 7- weeks of programming for any reason, including because they are participating in their charter school’s summer programming, should not apply for a Summer Rising seat.

9. Updated – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one!

Free Film Screening at Von King Park: Hold your Fire, Saturday, May 9th, 7pm: The screening will take place in Von King Park in Bed-Stuy, just blocks from the location of the historic events depicted in the film. Following the screening we will present a conversation with filmmaker Stefan Forbes, producer Fab 5 Freddy, and special guests. Details on the event can be found here.

10. Recap – Take Part in our Career Fair for Unity Middle School Students, Wednesday, May 25th, 11am-1pm!: We are excited for our middle school students to be inspired by the many career paths available to them in the not-so-distant future! We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters (see the flier below). Interested in learning more and potentially taking part? Contact Ms. Gillies (agillies@unityprep.org).

11. Recap – Helping Your Child to Continue their Learning This Summer: Ms. Eason, Academic Counselor, offers a presentation – Avoiding Summer Slide – that offers valuable links to paid internships, volunteer opportunities and other things your child can do over the summer to promote critical thinking and learning during the months of July and August. Click on the image below to see her presentation slides. Feel free to reach out to her with questions: leason@unityprep.org.

12. Recap – Full Calendar for the Remainder of the 2022-23 School Year: Here is a schoolwide calendar for March through June. As with the March calendar above, print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. We are now working on our calendar for the 2022-23 school year and plan to share it in late April.

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

2021-22 School Year Vacation Calendar for Students and other Key Dates: So that you may make plans for the year, with our school schedule in mind, the table below provides the vacation dates for students and families for the 2021-22 school year. Students will not report to school on these dates. Moreover, here are a few important notes regarding next year’s calendar:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

COVID-19 Vaccines: Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized three COVID-19 vaccines: the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccines. The vaccine can prevent COVID-19 symptoms and severe COVID-19 illness. People 5 and older are eligible for the vaccine. Those who are fully vaccinated can more safely gather with friends and enjoy other benefits of vaccination. Many vaccination sites in the city no longer require appointments.

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Mental Health Counseling and Social Work Services at Unity: If you would like to speak to a social worker about your child’s mental health or if you would like your child to receive support from a social worker in school, please reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio via phone or text (347-688-9107) or email (tdelpurgatorio@unityprep.org).

Unity social workers can also be of assistance in providing information regarding social services (for example: housing, immigration, access to community mental health services & referrals to mental health providers, food security / access to food, public assistance, crisis intervention, etc.).

If your child or family member is experiencing a mental health crisis, NYC Well is available 24 hours a day and can be accessed by phone (1-888-NYC-WELL) or text (text WELL to 65173) or by internet chat via their website: https://nycwell.cityofnewyork.us/en/.

Discounts on Home Internet Services Available: If your household is struggling to afford internet service during the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be eligible for a monthly service discount through the Emergency Broadband Benefit. Please visit this information page or call 833-511-0311 for more information.

The Unity Scoop – May 1

Dear Families of Unity,

It felt great to be back in action as a school community this week. I want to congratulate our middle school students for showing off all of the math skills they have developed this year during this week’s state math exams. Kudos to our talented middle school math teachers for fully preparing our students to confidently show off all that they have learned as mathematicians this year.

I would also like to congratulate our 12th graders who officially announced their intentions to enroll in the colleges and universities of their choice during Friday’s College Signing Day festivities at Unity High. It was a glorious event, and made possible by the incredible work of our entire community, including Mr. Gonzalez, our founding Director of College & Career Readiness, and his team. Kudos to the families of our seniors – be immensely proud of your children. We look forward to celebrating their graduation in June alongside you!

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I offer a host of acknowledgements of students achieving great things. In addition, the details on a number of exciting opportunities for students this spring and summer are provided.

This coming week, I am excited to celebrate our educators during National Teacher Appreciation Week as well as our leaders during Principal Appreciation Day!

As a reminder, note that we do have school tomorrow!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of May 1, 2022:

1. New – Unity High Celebrates College Signing Day in Style: On Friday, we honored our 12th graders as they announced their college and career intentions. It was a festive affair with families, staff, and students in attendance. We are overwhelmingly proud of our seniors, as they have empowered themselves with numerous post-graduate options available to them after Unity. A big shout-out to Mr. Gonzalez and his team for organizing the event!

2. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: We are thrilled to continue celebrating the hard work of our students as they engage in their learning each and every day. This week, we spotlight our middle school scientists-in-training. Sixth grade scientists have been exploring different body systems and their functions. Scholars are learning how these human body systems are all interconnected and dependent on one another. In the attached photo, Ms LaPlaca, Mr Thomas, and our scholars are playing a quick game of “Ms. LaPlaca says” to learn about the different muscles in the human body.

3. New – May 2022 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of May – 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. Notable upcoming events include:

5/2: Classes are in session
5/2-5/6: AP Exams at Unity High
5/1: Principal Appreciation Day
5/2-5/6: Teacher Appreciation Week

4. New – Congrats to our Middle School’s Students of the Month in April!: Kudos to our Students of Month for showing exemplary scholarship, citizenship, and growth – we are proud of you!

6^th Grade:

Scholarship: Zaeyah Rush

Citizenship: Ester Pollard

7^th Grade:

Scholarship: Nina Pitter

Citizenship: Kymani Pilgrim

Most Improved: Khaya Khan

8^th Grade:

Scholarship: Taylor Beckles

Citizenship: Naishae Wilson

Most Improved: Julissa Garban, Damani Green

5. New – Athletics Spotlight The Unity Panthers Middle School Baseball Team!: In this edition of the Scoop, Mr. Coleman would like to spotlight the student-athletes of our middle school baseball team. Congrats on your recent win, team! And continue to represent our school with sportsmanship and pride this season!

6. New – Registration is now open! Summer School Rising – NYCDOE Summer School Programming for Grades K-8 & Summer Youth For High School Students: The 2022 Summer Rising application is now open for students currently in grades K-8 and Summer Youth Employment for high school students. Parents and students can find more information here: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/enrollment/summer. Summer Rising is open to all NYC students. Families that participate in Summer Rising are expected to participate the entire duration of the program. Families that cannot regularly attend the full day or full 6- or 7- weeks of programming for any reason, including because they are participating in their charter school’s summer programming, should not apply for a Summer Rising seat.

7. New – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one!

8. Recap – Take Part in our Career Fair for Unity Middle School Students, Wednesday, May 25th, 11am-1pm!: We are excited for our middle school students to be inspired by the many career paths available to them in the not-so-distant future! We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters (see the flier below). Interested in learning more and potentially taking part? Contact Ms. Gillies (agillies@unityprep.org).

9. Recap – Helping Your Child to Continue their Learning This Summer: Ms. Eason, Academic Counselor, offers a presentation – Avoiding Summer Slide – that offers valuable links to paid internships, volunteer opportunities and other things your child can do over the summer to promote critical thinking and learning during the months of July and August. Click on the image below to see her presentation slides. Feel free to reach out to her with questions: leason@unityprep.org.

10. Recap – Attention All High School Students: Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s College & Career Readiness Team: It is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity! In addition, we have a number of students who are now in the process of applying for career training programs and jobs. It is exhilarating to collaborate with our seniors and their families in making concrete plans for the coming year! Here are few other updates from Mr. Gonzalez:

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
1. As of April, members of our senior class have been admitted to the following colleges and universities: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, George Washington University, Skidmore College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.
Three Seniors Make Trip to SUNY Fredonia: Over the weekend of March 25th, three Unity seniors (Kenny Ramos, Shanice McBean, and Jonathan Belton) who earned admission to SUNY Fredonia traveled upstate to take part in the school’s Mutli-Cultural Student Weekend (see attached photo). They observed classes, took part in on-campus events, and met current Fredonia students. This visit is helping them, just like many other seniors, get ready to decide where they will ultimately enroll. As always, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Ramjan want to help seniors and their families make this decision – please contact them at egonzalez@unityprep.org and nramjan@unityprep.org.
Personal Statement Writing Workshop Series: Ten juniors demonstrated amazing initiative during March by joining a workshop series led by Mr. Gonzalez. The three-part series was designed to help them get a head start on their personal statements, the most important part of their college applications. Please join us in congratulating Antonie Robinson, Maya Moore, Mamadou Diop, Kevin Jimbo, Dominiq Small, Nnaemeka Omeruo, Giuliano Saico-Falconi, Danille Howard, Ashlee Deslandes, and Mekhi Herring! Keep up the great work!
Attention all Seniors: College Financial Aid Comparison Sheet: By now, you should have received financial aid packages from all the colleges that have accepted you. If you have not received aid packages yet, please see me immediately! You have approximately two-three weeks to decide the college in which you will enroll. To help you make this decision, please use this Financial Aid Comparison Tool. Follow these instructions to use the tool, take the following three steps:
1. Make a copy (“File -> Make a Copy”)
2. Enter information for each financial aid package into the “Net Cost” sheet.
3. Make an appointment with Mr. Gonzalez to review your aid packages: calendly.com/mr-gonzalez

11. Recap – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

New – The Child Mind Institute offers great (free & remote) caregiver workshops on a seasonal basis! Take a moment to visit their site and appreciate their offerings.
The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

Update on P-EBT Benefits for Families: New York State is providing Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) food benefits to all households with children who are eligible to receive free school lunch under the National School Lunch Act and whose school was closed or operating with reduced in-school attendance due to COVID-19 during the 2020-2021 academic year. Issuance of the food benefit will continue for several months, due to the large number of eligible children and schools participating in the National School Lunch Program across the state. For additional information visit NYSOTDA P-EBT Benefits Information Page.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

NYC Rental Assistance Program – The New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) is a new program that will provide significant economic relief to help low and moderate-income households at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability by providing rental arrears, temporary rental assistance and utility arrears assistance. If you know of somebody who might be eligible for the program, please encourage them to learn more or apply here.

The Unity Scoop – April 14

Dear Families of Unity,

It has been a short but productive week. Thank you to our high school families who participated in conferences last night and today. It was valuable to connect with family members and students to discuss progress this year and how we can best collaborate in closing out the school year as strongly as possible.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I offer a few student highlights from the past week. Please take five minutes to review and enjoy! The next edition of The Scoop will be disseminated on Friday, April 29th.

As you know, we are off tomorrow and next week. Have a terrific spring break and we look forward to reuniting on Monday, April 25th!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of April 14, 2022:

1. Updated – April 2022 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of April – 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. Notable upcoming events include:

4/15-4/22: No school for students (spring break)
4/25: Regular classes for all students resume
4/27-4/28: Mathematics state exams administered for all middle school students

2. New – Take Part in our Career Fair for Unity Middle School Students, Wednesday, May 25th, 11am-1pm!: We are excited for our middle school students to be inspired by the many career paths available to them in the not-so-distant future! We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters (see the flyer below). Interested in learning more and potentially taking part? Contact Ms. Gillies (agillies@unityprep.org).

3. New – Athletics Spotlight: The Unity Panther’s Middle School Volleyball Team!: In this edition of the Scoop, Mr. Coleman would like to spotlight the student-athletes of our middle school volleyball team. Represent our school with pride this season, team!

4. New – Unity Middle School Students Take Part is Sip & Paint with Ms. Griffin!: Students had the opportunity this past week to enjoy time with one another and teachers while letting their artistic talents shine!

5. Recap – Congratulations to our High School Semester 2 Awardees: Thank you to our families who attended last night’s Awards Ceremony. Over 100 middle school students were recognized for their achievements in Semester 2. In case you missed the event, here are the slides. Again, congrats to our awardees – we are proud of you!

6. Recap – New Student Welcome Reception – Earlier this month, Unity Middle School staff invited newly accepted students – our rising sixth graders – and their families to tour the building and learn more about all that Unity offers. Welcome Unity High School Class of 2029!

7. Recap – Helping Your Child to Continue their Learning This Summer: Ms. Eason, Academic Counselor, offers a presentation – Avoiding Summer Slide – that offers valuable links to paid internships, volunteer opportunities and other things your child can do over the summer to promote critical thinking and learning during the months of July and August. Click on the image below to see her presentation slides. Feel free to reach out to her with questions: leason@unityprep.org.

8. Recap – Summer Opportunity for Girls in Grades 8 and 9 to Engage in Science!: The Intrepid Museum’s GOALS for Girls Summer Intensive 2022 is a FREE six-week summer program for 8^th and 9^th grade girls in New York City.

The program is designed to immerse participants in a variety of STEM topics over the six weeks as a way of combating the drop-off of females in STEM and provide STEM opportunities for the demographic populations that are most underrepresented in STEM fields (especially black and Latina girls). Over the six weeks, participants will learn about aviation, space science, marine/earth science, computer programming, engineering and many more topics. The web link to the online application is here. The application deadline is April 22nd.

9. Recap – Unity Middle Celebrates its Trimester 2 Honor Roll Students!: This past week, our middle school community recognized our students earning honor roll status based on their academic achievements in classes during Trimester 2. Congrats to our awardees and enjoy the photos below of students being celebrated during grade-level community meetings this past week!

10. Recap – Attention All High School Students: Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s College & Career Readiness Team: It is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity! As of this week, over 80% of our 12th graders have applied to college with a vast majority already earning administration to at least one of the colleges for which they applied. In addition, we have a number of students who are now in the process of applying for career training programs and jobs. It is exhilarating to collaborate with our seniors and their families in making concrete plans for the coming year! Here are few other updates from Mr. Gonzalez:

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
1. As of April, members of our senior class have been admitted to the following colleges and universities: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, George Washington University, Skidmore College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.
Three Seniors Make Trip to SUNY Fredonia: Over the weekend of March 25th, three Unity seniors (Kenny Ramos, Shanice McBean, and Jonathan Belton) who earned admission to SUNY Fredonia traveled upstate to take part in the school’s Mutli-Cultural Student Weekend (see attached photo). They observed classes, took part in on-campus events, and met current Fredonia students. This visit is helping them, just like many other seniors, get ready to decide where they will ultimately enroll. As always, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Ramjan want to help seniors and their families make this decision – please contact them at egonzalez@unityprep.org and nramjan@unityprep.org.
Personal Statement Writing Workshop Series: Ten juniors demonstrated amazing initiative during March by joining a workshop series led by Mr. Gonzalez. The three-part series was designed to help them get a head start on their personal statements, the most important part of their college applications. Please join us in congratulating Antonie Robinson, Maya Moore, Mamadou Diop, Kevin Jimbo, Dominiq Small, Nnaemeka Omeruo, Giuliano Saico-Falconi, Danille Howard, Ashlee Deslandes, and Mekhi Herring! Keep up the great work!
Attention all Seniors: College Financial Aid Comparison Sheet: By now, you should have received financial aid packages from all the colleges that have accepted you. If you have not received aid packages yet, please see me immediately! You have approximately two-three weeks to decide the college in which you will enroll. To help you make this decision, please use this Financial Aid Comparison Tool. Follow these instructions to use the tool, take the following three steps:
1. Make a copy (“File -> Make a Copy”)
2. Enter information for each financial aid package into the “Net Cost” sheet.
3. Make an appointment with Mr. Gonzalez to review your aid packages: calendly.com/mr-gonzalez

11. Recap – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one!

DTBK Presents: BAMkids SpringFest, Saturday, 4/23, 10:30-4pm: Take part in a day of performances, interactive activities, and showcases of local talent, celebrating the spirit of spring and themes related to environmental advocacy and care. Co-curated by the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle.

12. Recap – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

New – The Child Mind Institute offers great (free & remote) caregiver workshops on a seasonal basis! Take a moment to visit their site and appreciate their offerings.
The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

13. Recap – Update to Unity’s Mask Policy: Per a letter that was sent out to families today, we will move to adopting the NYCDOE policy of having masks be optional inside our building (the full letter is here). As you know, we decided to continue to require all community members to wear masks inside our school building in March. During this time, we said that we would review data from the city schools that removed the mask requirement and share an update by month’s end.

Having taken this prudent step, we now believe that we can safely move forward with adopting the NYCDOE policy of having masks be optional inside our building. This step aligns with CDC guidance, which we have adhered to throughout the pandemic. This April, both sites will transition to all students and staff having the option of wearing a mask over the course of the school day.

The change in policy took effect on Monday, April 4th at our high school with students learning about the reasons that community members may choose to continue wearing a mask versus not continuing to wear a mask.
Due to state exams being administered at our middle school this past week, the policy change at our middle school will take effect on Monday, April 11th, in order to effectively prepare for the transition.

Note that we will not hesitate to reactivate our mask requirement if conditions change such that safety is at risk if masks are not worn. As we have done throughout the pandemic, we will follow the guidance of health experts when making decisions here.

With this change in policy, I am cautiously optimistic as we move into the spring season and look forward to continuing in our path to engaging with one another as a community as we did prior to the pandemic. At the same time (and also in line with the guidance of health experts and CDC), I continue to strongly encourage you to have your child fully vaccinated if you have not already done so. This is the best step you can take in preventing COVID-19 from negatively impacting your child’s ability to experience school in the best and safest way possible.

14. Recap – Full Calendar for the Remainder of the 2022-23 School Year: Here is a schoolwide calendar for March through June. As with the March calendar above, print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. We are now working on our calendar for the 2022-23 school year and plan to share it in late April.

15. Recap – Congratulations to our Middle School Trimester 2 Awardees: Thank you to our families who attended last night’s Awards Ceremony. Over 100 middle school students were recognized for their achievements in Trimester 2. In case you missed the event, here is the recording. We look forward to celebrating our students’ accomplishments in Trimester 3 with you in the coming months!

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

The Unity Scoop – April 9

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the week has been good to you and your loved ones. I want to shout-out those who participated in yesterday’s high school awards ceremony and congratulate our awardees! And a hearty thank you to Ms. Gutierrez and so many other team members for contributing to the event.

As we close out this week and look ahead to next week, the coming week is a short but eventful one. Here is a summary of the week by site:

Middle School:
- regular classes Monday-Thursday
- no school on Friday
High School:
- regular classes Monday-Wednesday
- virtual conferences Wednesday evening
- daytime virtual conferences on Thursday
- no classes on Thursday-Friday

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I offer a host of updates, events, and noteworthy moments over the course of the past week. Please take five minutes to review and appreciate all that is happening in support of students and their education! The next edition of The Scoop will be disseminated on Thursday, April 14th.

Best wishes this weekend!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of April 9, 2022:

1. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: This week, we spotlight our middle school mathematicians as hone their skills in preparation for the coming state math exam. In the first photo below, 7th grade students in Ms. Boadu’s math class are working together in small-group stations. Working in stations allow students to get individualized attention from their teacher while also collaborating with and support one another.

In addition, our entire community has been especially mindful this year in providing support to one another as we grapple with the hardships faced over the past two years. In the photo below, Ms. Vela offers her 7th graders small, yet powerful tips on how to maintain a healthy mind and being when feeling stressed.

2. New – Congratulations to our High School Semester 2 Awardees: Thank you to our families who attended last night’s Awards Ceremony. Over 100 middle school students were recognized for their achievements in Semester 2. In case you missed the event, here are the slides. Again, congrats to our awardees – we are proud of you!

3. New – New Student Welcome Reception – On Thursday night, Unity Middle School staff invited newly accepted students – our rising sixth graders – and their families to tour the building and learn more about all that Unity offers. Welcome Unity High School Class of 2029!

4. New – April 2022 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of April – 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. Notable upcoming events include:

4/11-4/14: Regular classes for all middle school students
4/11-4/13: Regular classes for all high school students
4/14: For high school students only, family conferences (no classes)
4/15-4/22: No school for students (spring break)
4/25: Regular classes for all students resume
4/27-4/28: Mathematics state exams administered for all middle school students

5. New – Helping Your Child to Continue their Learning This Summer: Ms. Eason, Academic Counselor, offers a presentation – Avoiding Summer Slide – that offers valuable links to paid internships, volunteer opportunities and other things your child can do over the summer to promote critical thinking and learning during the months of July and August. Click on the image below to see her presentation slides. Feel free to reach out to her with questions: leason@unityprep.org.

6. New – Summer Opportunity for Girls in Grades 8 and 9 to Engage in Science!: The Intrepid Museum’s GOALS for Girls Summer Intensive 2022 is a FREE six-week summer program for 8^th and 9^th grade girls in New York City.

7. New – Unity Middle Celebrates its Trimester 2 Honor Roll Students!: This past week, our middle school community recognized our students earning honor roll status based on their academic achievements in classes during Trimester 2. Congrats to our awardees and enjoy the photos below of students being celebrated during grade-level community meetings this past week!

8. New – Attention All High School Students: Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s College & Career Readiness Team: It is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity! As of this week, over 80% of our 12th graders have applied to college with a vast majority already earning administration to at least one of the colleges for which they applied. In addition, we have a number of students who are now in the process of applying for career training programs and jobs. It is exhilarating to collaborate with our seniors and their families in making concrete plans for the coming year! Here are few other updates from Mr. Gonzalez:

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
1. As of April, members of our senior class have been admitted to the following colleges and universities: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, George Washington University, Skidmore College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.
Three Seniors Make Trip to SUNY Fredonia: Over the weekend of March 25th, three Unity seniors (Kenny Ramos, Shanice McBean, and Jonathan Belton) who earned admission to SUNY Fredonia traveled upstate to take part in the school’s Mutli-Cultural Student Weekend (see attached photo). They observed classes, took part in on-campus events, and met current Fredonia students. This visit is helping them, just like many other seniors, get ready to decide where they will ultimately enroll. As always, Mr. Gonzalez and Ms. Ramjan want to help seniors and their families make this decision – please contact them at egonzalez@unityprep.org and nramjan@unityprep.org.
Personal Statement Writing Workshop Series: Ten juniors demonstrated amazing initiative during March by joining a workshop series led by Mr. Gonzalez. The three-part series was designed to help them get a head start on their personal statements, the most important part of their college applications. Please join us in congratulating Antonie Robinson, Maya Moore, Mamadou Diop, Kevin Jimbo, Dominiq Small, Nnaemeka Omeruo, Giuliano Saico-Falconi, Danille Howard, Ashlee Deslandes, and Mekhi Herring! Keep up the great work!
Attention all Seniors: College Financial Aid Comparison Sheet: By now, you should have received financial aid packages from all the colleges that have accepted you. If you have not received aid packages yet, please see me immediately! You have approximately two-three weeks to decide the college in which you will enroll. To help you make this decision, please use this Financial Aid Comparison Tool. Follow these instructions to use the tool, take the following three steps:
1. Make a copy (“File -> Make a Copy”)
2. Enter information for each financial aid package into the “Net Cost” sheet.
3. Make an appointment with Mr. Gonzalez to review your aid packages: calendly.com/mr-gonzalez

9. New – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one!

DTBK Presents: BAMkids SpringFest, Saturday, 4/23, 10:30-4pm: Take part in a day of performances, interactive activities, and showcases of local talent, celebrating the spirit of spring and themes related to environmental advocacy and care. Co-curated by the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle.

10. New – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

New – The Child Mind Institute offers great (free & remote) caregiver workshops on a seasonal basis! Take a moment to visit their site and appreciate their offerings.
The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

11. Recap – Update to Unity’s Mask Policy: Per a letter that was sent out to families today, we will move to adopting the NYCDOE policy of having masks be optional inside our building (the full letter is here). As you know, we decided to continue to require all community members to wear masks inside our school building in March. During this time, we said that we would review data from the city schools that removed the mask requirement and share an update by month’s end.

The change in policy took effect on Monday, April 4th at our high school with students learning about the reasons that community members may choose to continue wearing a mask versus not continuing to wear a mask.
Due to state exams being administered at our middle school this past week, the policy change at our middle school will take effect on Monday, April 11th, in order to effectively prepare for the transition.

13. Recap – Congratulations to our Middle School Trimester 2 Awardees: Thank you to our families who attended last night’s Awards Ceremony. Over 100 middle school students were recognized for their achievements in Trimester 2. In case you missed the event, here is the recording. We look forward to celebrating our students’ accomplishments in Trimester 3 with you in the coming months!

14. Recap – Unity High Students Holds its 6th Annual Career Fair!: Unity’s longest standing tradition – our Annual Career Fair – took place on March 25th. We welcomed 32 professionals from careers ranging from legal services to real estate development, and fashion to medical research, as they shared stories and information with Unity High students about their lives, career paths, and current work. Amongst the guest speakers was Horatio Johnson, from Unity’s Class of 2020. He is now working as an Emergency Medical Technician and completing his degree at CUNY John Jay College. This year’s Career Fair brought back wonderful memories of years past, and helped remind us that such experiences are key to helping connect students with powerful, meaningful engagement with the community.

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

The Unity Scoop – April 2

Dear Families of Unity,

It’s been an eventful week at Unity! I commend our middle school students and staff on completing the state exams in English Language Arts. And I was delighted by the skating trip and awards ceremony that took place yesterday. Congratulations to our awardees and thank you to our families who took part!

I also commend our high school students for resuming regular classes following last weeks’ midterm exams. And I am excited for our students who took part in our college trips yesterday and the inspiration and reflection they provided for our participating students. A special thank you to Mr. Gonzalez for organizing the trip and to our staff chaperones for supporting our students in the experience!

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I offer an abundance of updates, events, and noteworthy moments over the course of the past week. Please take five minutes to review and appreciate all that is happening in support of students and their education!

Best wishes this weekend!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of April 2, 2022:

1. New – Congratulations to our Middle School Trimester 2 Awardees: Thank you to our families who attended last night’s Awards Ceremony. Over 100 middle school students were recognized for their achievements in Trimester 2. In case you missed the event, here is the recording. We look forward to celebrating our students’ accomplishments in Trimester 3 with you in the coming months!

2. New – Unity Middle School Students Enjoy Some Skating in Prospect Park!: After completing their ELA state exams this week, students celebrated in style by ice skating in Prospect Park!

3. New – Unity High Students Holds its 6th Annual Career Fair!: Unity’s longest standing tradition – our Annual Career Fair – took place on March 25th. We welcomed 32 professionals from careers ranging from legal services to real estate development, and fashion to medical research, as they shared stories and information with Unity High students about their lives, career paths, and current work. Amongst the guest speakers was Horatio Johnson, from Unity’s Class of 2020. He is now working as an Emergency Medical Technician and completing his degree at CUNY John Jay College. This year’s Career Fair brought back wonderful memories of years past, and helped remind us that such experiences are key to helping connect students with powerful, meaningful engagement with the community.

4. New – Unity High Students Take Part is Sip & Paint with Ms. Jaquez!: Students had the opportunity this past week to enjoy time with one another and teachers while letting their artistic talents shine!

5. New – Unity High Students Travel to Philadelphia to Tour Two College Campuses!: Approximately 40 of our high school students traveled to Philadelphia this past week to visit Villanova University and Lehigh University. Thank you to Mr. Gonzalez for organizing and to our staff who served as chaperones!

6. New – Update to Unity’s Mask Policy: Per a letter that was sent out to families today, we will move to adopting the NYCDOE policy of having masks be optional inside our building (the full letter is here). As you know, we decided to continue to require all community members to wear masks inside our school building in March. During this time, we said that we would review data from the city schools that removed the mask requirement and share an update by month’s end.

The change in policy will take effect on Monday, April 4th, at our high school with students learning about the reasons that community members may choose to continue wearing a mask versus not continuing to wear a mask.
Due to state exams being administered at our middle school this past week, the policy change at our middle school will take effect on Monday, April 11th, in order to effectively prepare for the transition.

7. New – Unity’s Athletic Team Members Awarded with New Sneakers!: Through its partnership with Good Sports, Unity’s Athletic Department recently received free sneakers for our athletic teams, including our volleyball, basketball, and baseball teams. The student-athletes are excited to put the sneakers to good use!

8. New – April 2022 School-wide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of April – 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. Notable upcoming events include:

4/7: Middle School Accepted Students Welcome Reception
4/7: High School Quarter 3 Awards Ceremony
4/8:
- Grades 6-8: Regular day of classes for middle school students
- Grades 9-12: No classes for high school students (workshop day for staff)

9. Recap – Full Calendar for the Remainder of the 2022-23 School Year: Here is a schoolwide calendar for March through June. As with the March calendar above, print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. We are now working on our calendar for the 2022-23 school year and plan to share it in late April.

10. Recap – Unity’s Step Team Takes 1st Place!: The Unity Queen Steppers earned first place in a competition earlier this month. They beat out four other teams with a score of 370 (just 2 points shy of Grand Champion). Enjoy this short clip of the team as they accept their 1st place trophy! We wish the team well as they now prepare for their next competition in Houston, Texas on March 26th. Continue to make us proud, team!

11. Recap – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

The Unity Scoop – March 27

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the past week has been good to you and loved ones. I want to congratulate our high school students for completing their third quarter interim assessments this week. We are proud of our students’ efforts and are excited to continue to engage students in their coursework in powerful ways.

I would also like to celebrate our middle school students and team for their hard work in preparing for next week’s state ELA exams. We are excited for our students to show off the reading and writing skills they have developed this year during these exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please show your children much love and encouragement over the coming week. And, of course, be sure that they are well-rested, well-nourished, and feeling happy, healthy, proud, and confident as they arrive at school fully ready to give 100%.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I highlight the recent work of our middle school students in their science courses. Information on our upcoming Trimester II Awards Ceremony for students in grades 6-8 is also provided.

Have a terrific weekend!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of March 27, 2022:

1. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: This week, we spotlight our middle school scientists-in-training as they create, simulate, explore, design, and experiment!

Ms. LaPlaca supports her 6th grade scholars as they learn about different body systems. In this lab, scholars created a model of the digestive system. They simulated the process of mechanical and chemical digestion and explored the route that food takes through the digestive tract.

Ms. McPerson has her 7th grade scholars simulating seismic waves (waves produced by earthquakes) using slinkies. In the previous lesson, students learned the vocabulary behind the simulation and how these waves are produced in real life. This activity is leading up to a final project in which students will design and engineer earthquake-proof structures that will be tested at a 5.0 magnitude on a shake table.

2. New – Upcoming Tri-2 Awards Ceremony for Grades 6-8 via Zoom!: Unity MS will be presenting Trimester 2 awards in a virtual ceremony on Thursday, March 31st, at 6:00 PM via Zoom. During the ceremony, we will recognize students for honor roll, high honor roll, academic excellence, academic progress, attendance, and other areas of distinction. Please see the flyer below for more information–we look forward to seeing you all there!

3. Updated – March 2022 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. Notable upcoming events include:

Middle state ELA exam on 3/29-3/30
Various athletic events and trips
End of 3rd academic quarter at the High School on 4/1

4. Recap – Full Calendar for the Remainder of the 2022-23 School Year: Here is a schoolwide calendar for March through June. As with the March calendar above, print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. We are now working on our calendar for the 2022-23 school year and plan to share it in late April.

5. Recap – Unity’s Step Team Takes 1st Place!: The Unity Queen Steppers earned first place in a competition earlier this month. They beat out four other teams with a score of 370 (just 2 points shy of Grand Champion). Enjoy this short clip of the team as they accept their 1st place trophy! We wish the team well as they now prepare for their next competition in Houston, Texas on March 26th. Continue to make us proud, team!

6. Recap – Attention All High School Students: Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s College & Career Readiness Team: It is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity!

Celebrating Two of Unity’s Seniors! – For the past three years, Kenny Ramos and Sincere Baptiste have been participants in Summer Search, a multi-year program designed to expose students to leadership and adventure through travel and internships. Unity partnered with Summer Search five years ago. Kenny and Sincere attended Summer Search’s annual gala on Tuesday March 8th, and spoke about their experiences with the organization with hundreds of people in attendance. Check out the attached photo to see them – they look sharp!

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
- As of March 10th, 81% of seniors have applied to college!
- As of March 10th, 60% of seniors have been admitted to at least one college! As we get into spring, more seniors should hear about acceptances, especially from CUNY and private colleges across the country. So far, Unity seniors have earned admission to: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.

FAFSA and TAP deadlines are coming up! Applications for FAFSA (free money from the federal government) and TAP (free money from New York State government) must be submitted immediately! Please contact Mr. Gonzalez (egonzalez@unityprep.org) to make an appointment to apply for this free money for college!

Career Path Applications – congratulations to these two students in taking steps to realize their career aspirations!
- Kaylan Mosley is on track to become a welder! She applied to and has earned admission to San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas! This will be the farthest any Unity student has traveled for post-secondary training. We are proud of her accomplishment and the maturity and strength she has demonstrated throughout the college exploration process.
- Michael Downes has applied to a pre-apprenticeship program to become a carpenter! In earning admission to several different colleges, Michael has worked to set up vocational opportunities for himself – he has many options to choose from for next year. Congratulations to him and his family!
Upcoming CCR Events: Again, it is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity!
- Best Fit Workshops – This session will help seniors identify which colleges or career training options best fit them for next year. Sign up with Naseeba Ramjan, Unity’s Alumni Success Counselor, via email (nramjan@unityprep.org).
- Accepted Student Weekend @ SUNY Fredonia – On March 25th, over a dozen Unity seniors who have earned admission to SUNY Fredonia will travel to the school for the weekend. They will stay on campus for the weekend and take part in SUNY Fredonia’s Multicultural Student Weekend, during which they will check out classes, dining options, and school culture. We are excited for them to experience this opportunity and learn more about college life!
- Our Sixth Annual Career Fair is on Friday March 25th, from 12:00pm to 2:05pm (details provided in the flyer below). We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters. If you are able to take part, please complete this survey of interest. Thank you!

7. Recap – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

The Unity Scoop – March 20

Dear Families of Unity,

I want to thank our middle school families who participated in conferences this past Thursday and Friday. It was valuable to connect with family members and students to discuss progress this year and how we can best collaborate moving forward. Our collective goal is for students to get the most out of their experiences at Unity. Conferences with our high school families will take place on April 13th and 14th.

This coming week, our high school students will engage in their third quarter interim assessments. I am thankful for our teachers and administration, as they have worked diligently to prepare our students for these exams. And congrats to our students for putting forth their best effort on these assessments and showing off all that they have learned this year.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I highlight the recent work of our students in their history courses. A calendar of the remainder of the 2022-23 school year is provided. Finally, we congratulate our high school step team for placing 1st in their competition last weekend.

Well wishes to all in the coming week.

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of March 20, 2022:

1. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: This week, we spotlight our young historians as they collaborate, research, present their findings, and shine. Students in grades 6-8 this week presented their recent research projects in class. Research topics included provocative historical questions, such as: whether the American Revolution was indeed revolutionary, to what extent was Reconstruction era a success, and how WWII should be remembered. In the first photo below, Christopher M. takes a moment to pose for a quick photo op before presenting his research. In addition, the middle school history department recently celebrated the academic accomplishments of a number of students – the second photo shows Azzahra M. and Melody B. accepting their awards as “Top Historian” and “Historian on the Rise,” respectively.

Meanwhile, our high school historians engaged in rich and rigorous discourse this past week. In Mr. Pakter’s World History class (first photo below), 9th grade students discussed and deepened their understanding of how post-classical civilizations evolved over time. In Ms. Tartan’s AP Government course (second photo below), 12th grade students debated and stretched their thinking on the degree to which the core values of America are represented in the United States Constitution.

2. Updated – March 2022 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. Notable upcoming events include:

High School Regents/Mock exams on 3/22-3/24
High School Career Fair on 3/25
Various athletic events and trips
Middle state ELA exam on 3/29-3/30
End of 3rd academic quarter at the High School on 4/1

3. New – Full Calendar for the Remainder of the 2022-23 School Year: Here is a schoolwide calendar for March through June. As with the March calendar above, print it out and throw it on the refrigerator door! An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. We are now working on our calendar for the 2022-23 school year and plan to share it in late April.

4. New – Unity’s Step Team Takes 1st Place!: The Unity Queen Steppers earned first place in a competition last weekend. They beat out four other teams with a score of 370 (just 2 points shy of Grand Champion). Enjoy this short clip of the team as they accept their 1st place trophy! We wish the team well as they now prepare for their next competition in Houston, Texas on March 26th. Continue to make us proud, team!

5. Recap – Kudos to our Middle School Students Who are Demonstrating our Core Values!: We are excited to promote and celebrate moments when our students are demonstrating our P.R.I.D.E. values: Progress, Respect for All, Integrity, Discovery, and Empathy. Below, we recognize our P.R.I.D.E. leaders for each grade level. Kudos to these students! Keep it up!

Name	Grade	Total Pride Shout-outs!
Jamari P.	6	315
Hattie M.	6	285
Steven T.	6	275
Mekhi C.	6	256
Jason S.	6	251
Keyshonte B.	6	248
Keianna M.	8	242
NaKeira B.	6	238
Tenajah R.	6	233
Dacota P.	7	231
London K.	6	229
Salif O.	6	226
Madison G.	6	225
Melody B.	6	224
Kylee A.	6	223
Ester P.	6	222
Amiyah B.	7	221
Elijah K.	6	218
Zaeyah R.	6	215
Loic L.	6	214
Brooke T.	6	213
Makayla V.	6	212
Sariah W.	6	212
Jencarlos H.	6	211
Zy’eare S.	6	211
Jaylene H.	6	210
Nahla S.	6	209
Azzahra M.	6	208
Jonathan F.	6	207
Corey W.	6	207
Damilola A.	6	206
Sasha E.	7	206
Blessing F.	6	206
Keilani T.	7	206
Triniece B.	8	203
Eliza C.	8	203
Tygene W.	7	201

Celebrating Two of Unity’s Seniors! – For the past three years, Kenny Ramos and Sincere Baptiste have been participants in Summer Search, a multi-year program designed to expose students to leadership and adventure through travel and internships. Unity partnered with Summer Search five years ago. Kenny and Sincere attended Summer Search’s annual gala on Tuesday March 8th, and spoke about their experiences with the organization with hundreds of people in attendance. Check out the attached photo to see them – they look sharp!

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
- As of March 10th, 81% of seniors have applied to college!
- As of March 10th, 60% of seniors have been admitted to at least one college! As we get into spring, more seniors should hear about acceptances, especially from CUNY and private colleges across the country. So far, Unity seniors have earned admission to: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.

FAFSA and TAP deadlines are coming up! Applications for FAFSA (free money from the federal government) and TAP (free money from New York State government) must be submitted immediately! Please contact Mr. Gonzalez (egonzalez@unityprep.org) to make an appointment to apply for this free money for college!

Career Path Applications – congratulations to these two students in taking steps to realize their career aspirations!
- Kaylan Mosley is on track to become a welder! She applied to and has earned admission to San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas! This will be the farthest any Unity student has traveled for post-secondary training. We are proud of her accomplishment and the maturity and strength she has demonstrated throughout the college exploration process.
- Michael Downes has applied to a pre-apprenticeship program to become a carpenter! In earning admission to several different colleges, Michael has worked to set up vocational opportunities for himself – he has many options to choose from for next year. Congratulations to him and his family!
Upcoming CCR Events: Again, it is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity!
- Best Fit Workshops – This session will help seniors identify which colleges or career training options best fit them for next year. Sign up with Naseeba Ramjan, Unity’s Alumni Success Counselor, via email (nramjan@unityprep.org).
- Accepted Student Weekend @ SUNY Fredonia – On March 25th, over a dozen Unity seniors who have earned admission to SUNY Fredonia will travel to the school for the weekend. They will stay on campus for the weekend and take part in SUNY Fredonia’s Multicultural Student Weekend, during which they will check out classes, dining options, and school culture. We are excited for them to experience this opportunity and learn more about college life!
- Our Sixth Annual Career Fair is on Friday March 25th, from 12:00pm to 2:05pm (details provided in the flyer below). We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters. If you are able to take part, please complete this survey of interest. Thank you!

College Field Trips: On Thursday, March 31st, select students from grades 9, 10, and 11 will visit one of the following universities: Lehigh University or Villanova University. Each trip is capped at 45 students. Permission slips will be distributed to students on Monday, March 7th. The first 45 to submit their paperwork for either trip will be able to attend. Information on chaperones will be forthcoming.

The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

The Unity Scoop – March 11

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that the week has been good to you and loved ones. Before jumping into highlights and updates of all things Unity, I want to provide a huge shout-out to our middle school students and staff for their impressive efforts in preparing the upcoming state exams in ELA and mathematics. The effort, focus, and support is noteworthy and bodes well for students as they show off all of the new skills that they have learned this year! I want to thank you for your thoughtful responses to our survey earlier this week; we reviewed all of the responses and took the needs and preferences of both our families and our staff into consideration in this decision. Unity will take the following actions regarding masks in March:

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I highlight a number of upcoming events along with some notable recent student achievements. Scroll down to take in the many updates and offerings brought to you by Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s Director of College & Career Readiness team!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of March 11, 2022:

1. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: This week, we spotlight our young high school mathematicians deep in thought alongside their teachers. In the first photo below, Ms. West is offering some individualized support to one of her students during after-school tutoring hours. In the second photo, Ms. Terry and Ms. Moore have their students collaborating in small groups as they practice graphing algebraic inequalities.

2. Updated – March 2022 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. Notable events this coming week include:

Virtual middle school conferences on 3/17 and 3/18
Remote learning day on 3/18 for both school sites
High School Regents/Mock exams on 3/22-3/24
High School Career Fair on 3/25
Various athletic events

3. Updated – Middle School Trimester-2 Conferences Next Week! (March 17-18th): We have our second round of family conferences next week! On Thursday, 3/17 (evening hours, 5pm-8pm) and Friday, 3/18 (daytime hours, 9am-1pm), advisors will be hosting these very important meetings with parents, guardians, and families via Zoom (remote only). Advisors have been reaching out to families to begin scheduling conferences. Please be on the lookout for a Jupiter message with a link to appointment options and reply at your earliest convenience. Our goal is that all students have at least one adult family representative attending conferences. If you have not received a request to sign up for conferences or if you have any questions or need additional support, please reach out to Ms. Charles (dcharles@unityprep.org) or call Unity’s main office at (718) 455-5046.

4. New – Kudos to our Middle School Students Who are Demonstrating our Core Values!: We are excited to promote and celebrate moments when our students are demonstrating our P.R.I.D.E. values: Progress, Respect for All, Integrity, Discovery, and Empathy. Below, we recognize our P.R.I.D.E. leaders for each grade level. Kudos to these students! Keep it up!

Name	Grade	Total Pride Shout-outs!
Jamari P.	6	315
Hattie M.	6	285
Steven T.	6	275
Mekhi C.	6	256
Jason S.	6	251
Keyshonte B.	6	248
Keianna M.	8	242
NaKeira B.	6	238
Tenajah R.	6	233
Dacota P.	7	231
London K.	6	229
Salif O.	6	226
Madison G.	6	225
Melody B.	6	224
Kylee A.	6	223
Ester P.	6	222
Amiyah B.	7	221
Elijah K.	6	218
Zaeyah R.	6	215
Loic L.	6	214
Brooke T.	6	213
Makayla V.	6	212
Sariah W.	6	212
Jencarlos H.	6	211
Zy’eare S.	6	211
Jaylene H.	6	210
Nahla S.	6	209
Azzahra M.	6	208
Jonathan F.	6	207
Corey W.	6	207
Damilola A.	6	206
Sasha E.	7	206
Blessing F.	6	206
Keilani T.	7	206
Triniece B.	8	203
Eliza C.	8	203
Tygene W.	7	201

5. New – Attention All High School Students: Updates from Mr. Gonzalez and Unity’s College & Career Readiness Team: It is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity!

Celebrating Two of Unity’s Seniors! – For the past three years, Kenny Ramos and Sincere Baptiste have been participants in Summer Search, a multi-year program designed to expose students to leadership and adventure through travel and internships. Unity partnered with Summer Search five years ago. Kenny and Sincere attended Summer Search’s annual gala on Tuesday March 8th, and spoke about their experiences with the organization with hundreds of people in attendance. Check out the attached photo to see them – they look sharp!

College Application and Admissions Updates: Two exciting updates here!
- As of March 10th, 81% of seniors have applied to college!
- As of March 10th, 60% of seniors have been admitted to at least one college! As we get into spring, more seniors should hear about acceptances, especially from CUNY and private colleges across the country. So far, Unity seniors have earned admission to: CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Hunter College, CUNY Hostos Community College, CUNY Kingsborough Community College, CUNY Guttman Community College, CUNY LaGuardia Community College, CUNY College of Staten Island, CUNY John Jay College, CUNY City Tech, CUNY Queensborough Community College, CUNY Medgar Evers College, SUNY Albany, SUNY Purchase, SUNY Buffalo State College, SUNY Cortland, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY University at Buffalo, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY New Paltz, Clark University, Penn State University, St. Francis College, Spelman College, Marist College, Hampton University, Howard University, Hofstra University, Ithaca College, Long Island University, Temple University, and Quinnipiac University.

FAFSA and TAP deadlines are coming up! Applications for FAFSA (free money from the federal government) and TAP (free money from New York State government) must be submitted immediately! Please contact Mr. Gonzalez (egonzalez@unityprep.org) to make an appointment to apply for this free money for college!

Career Path Applications – congratulations to these two students in taking steps to realize their career aspirations!
- Kaylan Mosley is on track to become a welder! She applied to and has earned admission to San Jacinto College in Houston, Texas! This will be the farthest any Unity student has traveled for post-secondary training. We are proud of her accomplishment and the maturity and strength she has demonstrated throughout the college exploration process.
- Michael Downes has applied to a pre-apprenticeship program to become a carpenter! In earning admission to several different colleges, Michael has worked to set up vocational opportunities for himself – he has many options to choose from for next year. Congratulations to him and his family!
Upcoming CCR Events: Again, it is a busy time in the exciting world of college & career readiness at Unity!
- Best Fit Workshops – This session will help seniors identify which colleges or career training options best fit them for next year. Sign up with Naseeba Ramjan, Unity’s Alumni Success Counselor, via email (nramjan@unityprep.org).
- Personal Statement Writing Workshops on March 2nd, 9th, and 16th! Nine juniors have already begun to write their personal statements, the most critical part of their college applications! Please join us in celebrating them: Ashlee Deslandes, Mamadou Diop, Mekhi Herring, Danielle Howard, Kevin Jimbo, Nnaemeka Omeruo, Antonique Robinson, Giulian Saico-Falconi, and Dominiq Small.
- Accepted Student Weekend @ SUNY Fredonia – On March 25th, over a dozen Unity seniors who have earned admission to SUNY Fredonia will travel to the school for the weekend. They will stay on campus for the weekend and take part in SUNY Fredonia’s Multicultural Student Weekend, during which they will check out classes, dining options, and school culture. We are excited for them to experience this opportunity and learn more about college life!
- Our Sixth Annual Career Fair is on Friday March 25th, from 12:00pm to 2:05pm (details provided in the flyer below). We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters. If you are able to take part, please complete this survey of interest. Thank you!

College Field Trips: On Thursday, March 31st, select students from grades 9, 10, and 11 will visit one of the following universities: Lehigh University or Villanova University. Each trip is capped at 45 students. Permission slips will be distributed to students on Monday, March 7th. The first 45 to submit their paperwork for either trip will be able to attend. Information on chaperones will be forthcoming.

6. Recap – Congrats to our Middle School’s Students of the Month in February!: Kudos to our Students of Month for showing exemplary scholarship, citizenship, and growth – we are proud of you!

6th Grade

Citizenship: Steven Trivedi

Scholarship: Anaya Wilson

7th Grade

Scholarship: Sasha Elysee

Citizenship: Abilene Brown

Most Improved: Amiyah Parker

8th Grade

Scholarship: Adriana Pollard

Citizenship: Kester Floyd

Most Improved: Mekaliah Doyley, Erick Llivicura, Saniyah Habersham, Bryan Santo

7. Recap – Recent Happenings with Athletics, Physical Education, and Health at Unity: This week, we highlight two upcoming events, celebrate our Student-Athletes of the Month, and offer details on an upcoming health initiative at our high school.

The Unity Queen High School Steppers’ next competition is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th, at 2 pm. Details are provided on the flyer below.

Unity’s Student-Athletes of the Month for February! Congrats to Sariah W. (6th grade) and Maykayla S. (9th grade) – we are proud of you!
- Sariah boasts a 3.5 GPA, and is widely regarded as one of the kindest and most respectful students in school. Sariah recently was named the Most Valuable Player of the Pink Classic Basketball Tournament, as she led her team to win the championship. As a 6th grader, she was named one of the team captains for her leadership style and work ethic. Sariah is consistently positive and upbeat in her classrooms as well as on the basketball court.

Makayla is the epitome of a Unity scholar-athlete. Makayla currently maintains a 4.0 GPA, and is widely regarded as one of the kindest and most respectful students in school. She shows up to school everyday with a smile and positive attitude. She brings so much joy to all her peers and teachers. On the court, Makayla is one of our most well-rounded competitors. She has been appropriately given the nickname of “Mighty Mouse” for her fierce and aggressive style of play. Makayla was one of our top defenders and despite only being a freshman, she was a huge reason for our Unity Panthers’ successful season.

8. Recap – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

9. Recap – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight a number of fun upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one happening this coming Sunday!

Illuminating Lewis Latimer’s Brooklyn History: A Conversation on Latimer’s Life + Work in 19th Century Brooklyn [Virtual] Sunday 3/6, 2pm: Join Beam Center to celebrate public art sculpture BEACON and pay tribute to pioneer electrical engineer and Brooklyn resident, Lewis Howard Latimer. BEACON artist, Shervone Neckles; Brooklyn historian and scholar, Prathibha Kanakamedala; Lewis Latimer House Museum Director, Ran Yan; and Beam Center Director, Brian Cohen together explore Latimer’s life, work, and activism in Brooklyn during the turn of the 19th century.

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.

NOTICE OF MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES – 3/15/22

NOTICE OF MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

UNITY PREPARATORY CHARTER SCHOOL OF BROOKLYN

Notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the Board of Trustees of
Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn on Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 7:00pm.

Members of the public may attend the meeting at the
following locations:

584 Driggs Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211

70 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003

902 Broadway

New York, NY 10010

611 Kosciuszko Street
Brooklyn, NY 11221

715 E. Passyunk Ave, Unit 2
Philadelphia, PA 19147

387 Park South
New York, NY 10016

11 Walnut Court
New City, NY

41-43 Brook Street
London W1K 4HR
United Kingdom

Members of the public may also view a livestream of the meeting by using the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRhkGzAEcDA0SHn3W1tthSg/live

The Unity Scoop – March 4

Dear Families of Unity,

I want to begin by applauding our school community on a strong return to school this week following the February break. I am optimistic about the health and safety of our community and our ability to conduct school in ways that mirror our approach pre-pandemic. To this end, I want to provide an update to families regarding our mask requirement policies given the updates from the CDC, New York State, and New York City.

I want to thank you for your thoughtful responses to our survey earlier this week; we reviewed all of the responses and took the needs and preferences of both our families and our staff into consideration in this decision. Unity will take the following actions regarding masks in March:

Unity will continue to require all community members to wear masks inside of our school building through at least March 31st.
Beginning Monday, March 7th, Unity community members do not need to wear masks when they are outside (e.g., at recess).
Unity leadership will review data from the city and schools that remove the mask requirement over the next several weeks, and we will share another update by March 31st.

Our rationale for this decision is anchored in our shared vision from last summer:

We will continue to offer the best possible educational experience for all of our students – with our mission of student empowerment and student fulfillment being realized.
For the 2021-22 school year, we shifted to in-person learning for all and doing so with safety and well-being at the forefront of our minds. This also means being adaptive to the needs and interests of our stakeholders based on the best information we have on hand.
We will continue to lean on our strengths of being responsive, nimble, and collaborative with our families as we experience the 2021-22 school year as one. In Unity, there is strength!

A letter with the full rationale of our decision was sent out via Jupiter this afternoon and can be accessed here. Once again, thank you for your thoughtful responses to our survey earlier this week, and for all of the work that you do every day to support our students during this challenging year.

On a final and separate note, we honor Unity’s social workers as a part of School Social Workers Week this coming week. On behalf of our community, I would like to thank Ms. Del Purgatorio, Ms. Rivera, Ms. Brookins, and Ms. Saunders for your dedication, advocacy, and support of our students, families, and community. We are especially blessed to have your talents and expertise supporting our community. Thank you for being such a tremendous support for all of us.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, I highlight a number of academic and extracurricular accomplishments among our students. Moreover, I bring to you a number of upcoming events, including information on middle school conferences.

Enjoy the spring-is-almost-here weather this weekend!

Best regards,

Josh Beauregard

Head of School / Co-founder

Updates as of March 4, 2022:

1. New – Students and Teachers in Action this Week: This week, we spotlight our young middle school mathematicians deep in thought. Below are a few photos from our middle school test-prep tutoring, which takes place after school Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students are in small groups with their teachers getting more hands-on, individualized support. Teachers are focusing on clarifying misconceptions and giving students more “at-bats” on the content they have not mastered, yet!

2. Updated – March 2022 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/or new events could be added. An up-to-date events calendar can always be accessed on our website. Notable events this coming week include:

National School Social Worker Appreciation Week, 3/7-3/11
Virtual middle school conferences on 3/17 and 3/18
High School Regents/Mock exams on 3/22-3/24
High School Career Fair on 3/25
Star reading and math assessments for all high school students
Various athletic events

3. New – Congrats to our Middle School’s Students of the Month in February!: Kudos to our Students of Month for showing exemplary scholarship, citizenship, and growth – we are proud of you!

6th Grade

Citizenship: Steven Trivedi

Scholarship: Anaya Wilson

7th Grade

Scholarship: Sasha Elysee

Citizenship: Abilene Brown

Most Improved: Amiyah Parker

8th Grade

Scholarship: Adriana Pollard

Citizenship: Kester Floyd

Most Improved: Mekaliah Doyley, Erick Llivicura, Saniyah Habersham, Bryan Santo

4. New – Middle School Trimester-2 Conferences, March 17-18th: We have our second round of family conferences upcoming on Thursday, 3/17 (evening hours, 5pm-8pm) and Friday, 3/18 (day time hours, 9am-1pm). Advisors will be reaching out to families on Monday of this coming week to begin scheduling conferences. Please be on the lookout for a Jupiter message with a link to appointment options. Our goal is that all students have at least one adult family representative attending conferences. If you have any questions or need additional support, please reach out to Ms. Charles (dcharles@unityprep.org) or call Unity’s main office (718-455-5046).

5. New – Recent Happenings with Athletics, Physical Education, and Health at Unity: This week, we highlight two upcoming events, celebrate our Student-Athletes of the Month, and offer details on an upcoming health initiative at our high school.

Spring Athletics Tryouts for all middle school teams will take place on Tuesday, March 8th and Thursday March 10th. This spring, Mr. Coleman is excited to offer the following sports: Girls Middle School Volleyball, Boys Middle School Basketball, Coed Middle School Baseball and Coed Middle School Track. Permission slips are located in the main office (room 311). Once signed, forms may be returned to the main office.

The Unity Queen High School Steppers’ next competition is scheduled for Saturday, March 12th, at 2 pm. Details are provided on the flyer below.

Unity’s Student-Athletes of the Month for February! Congrats to Sariah W. (6th grade) and Maykayla S. (9th grade) – we are proud of you!
- Sariah boasts a 3.5 GPA, and is widely regarded as one of the kindest and most respectful students in school. Sariah recently was named the Most Valuable Player of the Pink Classic Basketball Tournament, as she led her team to win the championship. As a 6th grader, she was named one of the team captains for her leadership style and work ethic. Sariah is consistently positive and upbeat in her classrooms as well as on the basketball court.

Makayla is the epitome of a Unity scholar-athlete. Makayla currently maintains a 4.0 GPA, and is widely regarded as one of the kindest and most respectful students in school. She shows up to school everyday with a smile and positive attitude. She brings so much joy to all her peers and teachers. On the court, Makayla is one of our most well-rounded competitors. She has been appropriately given the nickname of “Mighty Mouse” for her fierce and aggressive style of play. Makayla was one of our top defenders and despite only being a freshman, she was a huge reason for our Unity Panthers’ successful season.

Unity High’s Health Initiative regarding social media and digital communication as a tool for positivity begins this Monday. See Mr. Martinez’s flyer below for details.

6. New – Attention All High School Students: Information on Two Exciting Events from Mr. Gonzalez: See the updates below from our College & Career Readiness Team!

Our Sixth Annual Career Fair is on Friday March 25th, from 12:00pm to 2:05pm (details provided in the flyer below). We would love to have family members of our students participating as presenters. If you are able to take part, please complete this survey of interest. Thank you!

Upcoming College Field Trips: On Thursday, March 31st, select students from grades 9, 10, and 11 will visit one of the following universities: Lehigh University or Villanova University. Each trip is capped at 45 students. Permission slips will be distributed to students on Monday, March 7th. The first 45 to submit their paperwork for either trip will be able to attend. Information on chaperones will be forthcoming.

7. New – Free Resources for Unity Families: Unity’s social work team is always looking for resources that may be helpful and of interest to our families. Three such resources are provided below. Reach out to Ms. Del Purgatorio, Unity’s Director of Social Work, with questions.

The recent events in Ukraine may be a source of stress and anxiety for some children. Below are four resources that may be helpful for families:
- Helping Kids Cope with Frightening News from Child Mind Institute
- How to Talk to Kids About War from verywellfamily.com
- How to Navigate Difficult Conversations with Children from The Relation Station
- How to Talk to Children about War: An Age-by-Age Guide from Today.com
Below are flyers for lists of low-cost dental providers in each borough:
Free Child Nutrition Webinar Series: Register for the “An Alarming Rise in Excess Weight and Diabetes in Children: Strategies and Solutions” webinar on Monday, March 7th. The webinar is presented by French-American Aid for Children as part of the new Child Nutrition Webinar series. Parents and educators will learn about practical nutrition tips and accessible information to encourage children to adopt good eating habits in school—and at home—through an interactive dialogue between Dr. Juliana Cohen, nutrition epidemiologist and associate professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Dr. Ileana Vargas-Rodriguez, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of New York. A Q&A session will follow the webinar. Check out previous recordings of past webinars, including:
- Engaging Children in their own Nutritional Journey
- Smart Summer Shopping and Cooking
- Nutrition’s Powerful Impact on Children’s Physical and Mental Health

8. Updated – Upcoming Events of Interest to Unity Families!: Brought to you by Mr. Beckford, we are happy to highlight a number of fun upcoming events across Brooklyn for our families. Here is one happening this coming Sunday!

Illuminating Lewis Latimer’s Brooklyn History: A Conversation on Latimer’s Life + Work in 19th Century Brooklyn [Virtual] Sunday 3/6, 2pm: Join Beam Center to celebrate public art sculpture BEACON and pay tribute to pioneer electrical engineer and Brooklyn resident, Lewis Howard Latimer. BEACON artist, Shervone Neckles; Brooklyn historian and scholar, Prathibha Kanakamedala; Lewis Latimer House Museum Director, Ran Yan; and Beam Center Director, Brian Cohen together explore Latimer’s life, work, and activism in Brooklyn during the turn of the 19th century.

Relevant Information from Past Editions of The Scoop:

Date	Day of Week	Event
September 8	Wednesday	First day of school for students
October 11	Monday	Indigenous People’s Day, school closed
November 2	Tuesday	Election day, remote school day
November 11	Thursday	Veteran’s Day, school closed
November 24 – 26	Wednesday – Friday	Thanksgiving Recess, school closed
December 24 – January 3	Friday – Monday	Winter Recess, school closed
January 17	Monday	Monday Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, school closed
February 21 – 25	Monday – Friday	Midwinter Recess, school closed
April 15 – 22	Friday – Friday	Spring Recess, school closed
May 30	Monday	Memorial Day, school closed
June 20	Monday	Juneteenth (observed), school closed
June 27	Monday	Last day of school for students

See a list of sites where you can get a walk-up vaccination today. To find a vaccination site near you, including those that take appointments, use the City’s Vaccine Finder.
Note, people who are 12 to 17 years old can only receive the Pfizer vaccine.

If your child(ren) is eligible and has not received P-EBT benefit by November 2021, you may fill out the P-EBT Information Form.
If you have misplaced a P-EBT Food Benefit card issued to your child[ren), you may order a replacement card by calling 1-888-328-6399. If your child(ren) received P-EBT benefits on a Medicaid card and you need to order a replacement NYS Medicaid card or select a PIN, go to otda.ny.gov/SNAP-COVID-19/P-EBT-Medicaid-Card-PIN-Instructions.asp for more information.
Once you have set up a PIN to access your P-EBT food benefits, you can check your family’s P-EBT food benefits balance by visiting www.connectebt.com or by calling 1-888-328-6399.