The Unity Scoop – December 20
Dear Families of Unity,
The festivities and holiday spirit continued this week with our annual Love Your Neighbor Day of Service and Holiday Hoopla event! Indeed, there is much to celebrate as we head into the December break and reflect back on the first four months of the school year. On behalf of our entire faculty and staff, we thank you for your continued partnership both at home and school. We look forward to continuing our collaboration in the New Year!
Have a wonderful holiday and we look forward to reconvening with students on Friday, January 3rd!
Warmest wishes,
Josh
Joshua Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder
Updates as of December 20, 2024:
1. New – Unity Engages in our Annual Love Your Neighbor Community Service Day!: In the spirit of giving, our school community engaged in a morning of community service. Students and staff volunteered their time and talents to over a dozen different service projects. Projects included partnering with a number of local nonprofit organizations, including The Campaign Against Hunger, Bedford Stuyvesant Early Childhood Center, CHiPS Soup Kitchen & Women’s Shelter, and Hope Gardens Senior Center. Enjoy the photos below!
2. New – Congrats to Unity High’s Students of the Month!: Kudos to our Students of the Month from November! We celebrate these students for showing exemplary scholarship and citizenship!
3. New – Congratulations to our Quarter I Honor Roll Students in Grades 9-12!: The following students earned Honor Roll status in the first quarter of the school year. Kudos to these students for their consistent hard work and dedication to their studies. I look forward to celebrating your efforts again at the end of Quarter 2!
4. New – Thank you, Families, for Taking Part in Last Night’s Family Ambassadors Meeting!: We are grateful to our families who participated in our Family Ambassadors meeting on Zoom last night. The meeting was productive, energizing, and, of course, fun! Here are the slides from the meeting. Contact Mr. Beckford with questions. Unity’s Family Ambassadors will meet again on Thursday, January 23rd, at 6pm – all families are encouraged to attend.
5. New – Unity Family Ambassador Spotlight of the Month!: We are thrilled to resume an exciting feature to the Unity Scoop, a monthly profile of our amazing Unity Family Ambassadors. This month, we are thrilled to profile Ms. Tiffany Rivers, the mother of Unity 6th grade scholar, Carter Lewis. The Unity Family Ambassadors are a group of caregivers who meet monthly and serve as thought partners for many of our school’s initiatives. If you are interested in learning more about or joining the Unity Family Ambassadors, please reach out to Mr. Beckford.
Ms. Tiffany Rivers (Mother of Carter Lewis, Unity 6th Grader)
Profession:
Supportive Housing Manager
Favorite Restaurant in Brooklyn?
Peaches
Your favorite self-care activity?
Pedicure
Why did you choose to send your child to Unity?
Mr. Beckford was a phenomenal advocate for the school. The website spoke volumes of cultivating academics, sports and community.
What is the best advice you could provide for an incoming caregiver?
Communicate with staff consistently! Please remember that middle school is the stepping stone of independence so work alongside the teachers and staff to see your scholar through their middle school years.
What is your favorite aspect of Unity?
Mr. Beckford!!!!!!!!!!! Principal Terry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What inspired you to ‘give back’ to our community by joining the Unity Family Ambassadors this year?
My voice/concerns/suggestions need to be heard!
6. New – Unity Engages in Winter Spirit Week with Gusto! Students and staff celebrated our Winter Spirit Week this past week. Spirit was on full display with ugly holiday sweaters, wacky pajamas, and all of the plaid one could ever want in life. See the photos below to fully appreciate the festivities – gotta love those ugly (and beautiful) sweaters!
7. Updated – Unity’s Basketball Teams Get Off to a Hot Start this Season!: Our Hoops teams were in full swing this past week. Congrats to all teams at the start of their seasons. Go Panthers, and enjoy the photos below of our teams in action!
8. Updated – Unity Continues in its Community Service with a Practical Care Drive and Toy Drive this Month!: Thank you to all families who participated in Community Service Drives over the past few weeks – your generosity brought joy to families in need this holiday season!
9. Updated – Unity’s Family Ambassadors and Basketball Teams Bring Movie Night to our Community, Friday, January 31st at 5:30pm: Unity’s Family Ambassadors and basketball teams are joining forces to bring our first Movie Night of the year to Unity. The event will take place in the auditorium of our middle school campus (432 Monroe Street). The featured film will be Coach Carter in honor of our basketball team’s upcoming seasons. Let’s go, Panthers! There is a modest admission fee of $3 at the door. Food and beverage concessions will be available for purchase. All proceeds will go to funding our teams’ success and development this season! RSVP here to reserve your seat in advance.
10. Recap – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Alicia Griffith, Unity’s Class of 2021: We are thrilled to share with our entire community the accomplishments of our alumni whenever we can. This month, we proudly provide an update on the postsecondary success of Alicia Griffith, proud graduate of SUNY Oneonta!
| This past Sunday, Alicia Griffith (Class of 2021) graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a BA in Philosophy. During her 3.5 years in college (yes, she graduated early), she worked five jobs, earned great grades, and led her college step team. As a first-generation college student, she credits Unity with providing the one-on-one support, deep connections to caring adults, and critical information that she needed to chart her path to and through college. |
11. Recap – Unity High Honor Roll Students for Quarter I Enjoy Virtual Skydiving at iFly!: Students earning Honor Roll status in Quarter I experienced skydiving and learned about the science of wind tunnels this past week in celebration of their achievements. Congratulations to these students and their families and enjoy the photos below!
12. Recap – Unity National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) Explore the Spyspace Museum!: Members of NJHS (7th & 8th graders) explored one of the city’s most interactive museums on Friday to exercise their mind and test their skills across the world of intelligence, special operations, AI, and STEM. Enjoy the photos below!
13. Recap – December 2024 Schoolwide Calendar: For your family’s convenience, here is an updated school-wide calendar of events for the month of December – 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. The calendar for January will be shared on January 3rd.
14. Recap – Refer a New Student to Unity Today!: Unity has a few seats available in grades 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11 for the 2024-25 school year. If you know of any interested families, please reach out to Mr. Beckford via email or cell (862-294-0219). For any families that refer a new family, both referring and enrolling families will be given a $100 Amazon gift card for school supplies.
15. Recap – 2024-25 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families: Calendars for the 2024-25 school year can be accessed using the links below. Note that we have two versions this year – one version for our middle school (grades 6-8) and another version for our high school (grades 9-12).
- Grades 6-8 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
- Grades 9-12 School Calendar of Key Events and Vacations for Families
