The Unity Scoop – February 13

Dear Families of Unity,

I hope that you and your loved ones had a great week! It’s encouraging to see the temperatures outside slowly ticking up — a welcome sign as we move deeper into the semester.

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we’re excited to share highlights from across our community — including students and staff hard at work in classrooms, celebrations of our Students of the Month, and recognition of our PRIDE Point Leaders for modeling our 3Bs and Core Values each day. We also spotlight our efforts hosting prospective students and families, as well as celebrate our athletic teams for their recent accomplishments.

Wishing you a healthy, joyful, and restful February break! We look forward to welcoming students back on Monday, February 23rd.

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of February 13, 2026:

1. New – Highlights of Students and Their Teachers in Action This Week!: In the photo below, our 6th graders are hard at work in Ms. Sylvester’s class as they dive into The Outsiders, building annotation skills that strengthen comprehension, clarify genre, and prepare them for deeper discussion and analysis. Shoutout to our Exit Ticket Superstars for modeling focus and academic excellence!

In the second photo, our middle school teachers stepped into the learner seat during a dynamic professional development session led by Ms. Terry and Ms. Gibson — complete with exit tickets, success criteria, and real-time feedback. Experiencing the power of in-the-moment feedback firsthand reinforced a core belief at Unity: when teachers grow, students benefit.

2. New – Congrats to Unity’s Students of the Month!

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

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

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

4. New – Unity Hosts Prospective Students for the 2026–27 School Year!

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

5. Updated – Unity Athletics Are in Full Winter Mode!

We’re thrilled to share highlights of our high school athletics teams in action, along with team photos from the 2025–26 Middle School Winter Athletics season.  Congratulations to our Middle School Cheerleading Team, who placed 4th in their first competition of the year!

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

MS Girls Basketball Team

MS Boys Basketball Team

MS Table Tennis Team

MS Cheerleading Team

6. Recap – Unity Students on College Tours!

This week, our high school students had the opportunity to tour several college campuses, including Vassar College, Fordham University, and Long Island University.

During their visits, students explored college campuses, learned about academic programs and student life, and began to envision themselves in college settings. These experiences are an important part of building confidence, encouraging curiosity and questions, and helping students see what’s possible beyond high school.

7. Recap – Congratulations to Unity High’s College Now Students!

We are proud to celebrate our newest College Now students, who were accepted into this academically challenging program this past month. Through their participation in College Now, the students listed below are taking college-level courses at City Tech.

This incredible opportunity allows students to experience college life on a college campus while earning college credits toward their future academic goals—all while still in high school. We commend these students for challenging themselves and stepping outside their comfort zones, and we look forward to celebrating even more Unity students as they join the College Now program in the future!

8. Recap – Perfect Attendance from January!

The following lengthy list of students demonstrated a strong and consistent dedication to their education by showing stellar attendance this past month.  Kudos to these students – we love seeing you each and every day!  And, of course, we look forward to celebrating additional students at the end of this month!

9. Recap – Unity Wears Red in Support of Heart Health Awareness!

Kudos to our staff and students who wore red on Friday to show their support for heart health awareness and the fight against heart disease.  Learn more about this annual event as well as heart disease and how to reduce risks here.

10. Recap – Alumni Spotlight of the Month – Jada Wardlow, 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 Jada Wardlow ‘21!

11. Recap – Congratulations to Our January i-Ready Challenge Winners!

We are excited to recognize the winners of our January i-Ready Challenge! Throughout the month, students demonstrated #progress and #integrity as they worked to strengthen their academic skills.

Congratulations to all students highlighted below—we look forward to recognizing our February winners in just a few weeks!

12. Recap – February 2026 Schoolwide Calendar

For your family’s convenience, here is a schoolwide calendar of events for the month of February – 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.

13. Recap – Thank you for Taking Part in our Recent Family Ambassadors Meeting!

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

You can find the meeting agenda and slides linked here. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting on Thursday, February 26th!

14. Recap – 2025 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) Lottery

SYEP provides young people aged 14-24 with paid summer jobs in a variety of fields, from retail to government agencies to nonprofits. Teenagers living in NYC  aged 14-24 can make a difference in their communities through paid project-based activities. Any young person who resides in the 5 boroughs is eligible to apply. Apply by February 27th online or by calling DYCD Community Connect at (800) 246-4646.

15. Recap – Become a Unity Connector Today!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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