The Unity Scoop – January 30

Dear Families of Unity,

Congratulations to our middle school students and educators on the successful completion of this week’s math mock exams!  Additionally, we celebrate all students and staff for reaching the milestone of completing the first semester of the school year.  As always, thank you, families, for your ongoing support and encouragement at home – it truly makes a difference!

In this edition of The Unity Scoop, we’re excited to share our full February calendar along with details on upcoming events. You’ll also find important information about applying to the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) for this summer. Finally, we’re proud to recognize and celebrate our middle school student-athletes who are participating in our winter sports teams.

As you review the calendar, you’ll see that our community is honoring Black History Month with a variety of meaningful events and celebrations.  At Unity, we take pride in recognizing, celebrating, and learning about Black history every day.  February serves as a special opportunity to deepen our appreciation and pay tribute through engaging activities within our school and beyond.

Important Reminder: Unity students will not have school on Wednesday, February 4th, as our staff will be engaged in training and planning following the recent exams.  Any homework assigned for that day will be communicated by teachers.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and a great week ahead!

In unity,
Josh

Josh Beauregard
Executive Director / Co-founder

Updates as of January 30, 2026:

1. New – 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.

2. New – Unity Wears Red in Support of Heart Health Awareness!: On Friday, February 6th, Unity staff and students are invited to wear red to show their support for heart health awareness and the fight against heart disease.  We encourage all to take part!  Learn more about this annual event as well as heart disease and how to reduce risks here.

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

We’re thrilled to share our team photos from the 2025–26 Middle School Winter Athletics season!

MS Girls Basketball Team

MS Boys Basketball Team

MS Table Tennis Team

MS Cheerleading Team

Astra Cabrera – Table Tennis

• Student-Athlete’s response to earning the honor: “I am very excited and grateful!”
• Coach’s praise of the student-athlete: “Astra deserves this honor because of her perseverance and honesty.”

Leon Frasier – Boys Basketball

• Student-Athlete’s response to earning the honor: “I feel happy and grateful to be on the team.”
• Coach’s praise of the student-athlete: “He has humbly led our varsity boys basketball team this school year. He also set a school record, scoring 41 points against the Brooklyn defending champions.”

Taylor Tibbs – Girls Basketball

• Student-Athlete’s response to earning the honor: “I feel very 6, 7 Alpha.”
• Coach’s praise of the student-athlete: “Taylor Tibbs is my choice for Student-Athlete of the Month for her outstanding academic performance—earning four A+ grades, one A-, and no grade lower than a B+—while also having the fewest missing assignments on the team. On the court, she has been putting in extra work, always the last to leave the gym after practice, taking shots. Very coachable, with bright energy and a willingness to learn and improve.”

Kahmora Reid – Cheerleading

• Student-Athlete’s response to earning the honor: “I feel happy because in my old school, I was never an athlete, and sports weren’t my thing.”
• Coach’s praise of the student-athlete: “Kahmora has maintained a 3.8 GPA throughout the entire season while also being a proud member of Student Government (SGA). She comes to practice every day determined to grow, remains focused, and consistently encourages her peers to put their best foot forward. Her hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed.”

4. New – 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.

5. Updated – 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!

6. Recap – Thank You, Unity Families, for your Feedback!

Thank you to all of our families who took the time to complete our recent Family Feedback Survey. We greatly appreciate your thoughtful responses and are proud of the positive feedback shared. Your input helps guide our work, and we look forward to acting on what we heard.

We held a brief discussion of the survey findings during this week’s Family Ambassadors meeting and will continue the conversation at our next meeting on February 26th. Families may access the slides from this week’s discussion here.

7. Recap – Kudos to our P.R.I.D.E. Leaders as of the Month of December!

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 December, 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.

8. 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.

9. Recap – Congratulations to Our December i-Ready Challenge Winners!

We are excited to recognize the winners of our November i-Ready Challenge! Throughout the month, students demonstrated #progress and #integrity as they worked to strengthen their academic skills. All students who completed 100 minutes or more of i-Ready practice in December will be recognized on our 7th-grade hallway bulletin board—stop by to see our hardworking learners being celebrated!

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

Congratulations to our winning students for Reading

6th Grade: Nerri Sutton, 276 minutes

7th Grade: Maya Wilson, 229 minutes

8th Grade: Caela McClean, 137 minutes

Congratulations to our winning students for Math

6th Grade: Omari Wilson, 168 minutes

7th Grade: Ja’zier Baker, 179 minutes

8th Grade: Miranda Lam, 287 minutes

10. Recap – Teen Night at the Brooklyn Museum Returns This Month!

As we occasionally do, we’re excited to share a broader community event that may be of interest to our students and families: the return of Teen Night at the Brooklyn Museum, a free citywide program open to all teens with registration.

11. 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.

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

13. 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

14. 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!

15. Recap – Join our New Unit 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!