Upper Nyack Elementary School SCOOP

Safety at UNES

In these difficult times, I'd like to highlight some of the ways that we work to ensure the safety of our students. Supt. Yom recently sent out THIS LETTER - CLICK HERE highlighting some of the training that we have received from the district. Some families had asked about how to use the ANONYMOUS ALERTS SITE - CLICK HERE. It can be found on the district webpage under MORE.

In addition, we are training all of our teachers on the use of the TAP APP which allows all faculty and staff to be informed about and initiate an emergency response. We also have fire drills and lockdown drills regularly - both announced and unannounced.

We have a building safety team that meets monthly and discusses safety, health and wellness, and other items. Our team has been trained in our incident command structure and our reunification processes. I have also met personally with the Clarkstown PD and our reunification centers to discuss ways that they will support us if there is ever a need.

FOR PARENTS, it's important to know that we have new technology to ensure that VISITORS are safe and properly vetted by Mr. Harold (our security officer at UNES).

TO GAIN ENTRY TO UNES, ALL VISITORS MUST HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE OR GOVERNMENT ID WITH THEM WHICH WILL BE SCANNED. VISITORS WILL THEN RECEIVE A PRINTED VISITOR STICKER WHICH IS REQUIRED TO BE CLEARLY VISIBLE WHILE IN OUR SCHOOL. VISITORS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO ENTER AND EXIT ONLY THROUGH THE FRONT DOOR. PLEASE HELP MR. HAROLD TO KEEP US SAFE BY BEING PREPARED TO PROVIDE YOUR ID.

PTA IS SEEKING A FEW DEDICATED PARENTS

Calling all parents and caregivers!! The PTA’s two year term is finishing this year and all positions are open!!

Joining the PTA is a great way to get involved with the school and help build our community. Anyone interested- just click on the form and let us know. We will be gathering interest over the next few weeks and will introduce the new board at the last PTA meeting of the year in June.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FORM

DIVERSITY MURAL AT UNES

Upper Nyack has received a grant to have a MURAL FOCUSED ON DIVERSITY painted at our school in June!!! The artist is Joe Pimentel, who has worked with many schools throughout Westchester and Rockland. CLICK HERE TO SEE HIS PREVIOUS WORK.

To date, the faculty and staff has shared their insights about diversity and they are carving out time in class to talk to our kids so their voices can be heard. All of this information will be gathered and synthesized to create a vision for the mural. YOUR VOICES MATTER. I'm asking that families take some time to fill out this survey - CLICK HERE. It's even better if you can complete this one on one with your child!

Once we've gathered feedback, we'll boil it down to a few key ideas, and then the artist will design our mural. If you're going to complete the survey, please do so by April 10.

Neon Dance - FRIDAY, APRIL 14

Please mark your calendars for the UNES PTA NEON DANCE on April 14!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE NEON DANCE FLYER

All money raised will benefit our PTA and FIFTH GRADE COMMITTEE. Please join us for a fun evening!!

Car Pick Up Reminder - Idling at UNES

The Upper Nyack Green Committee came to me to ask for our school community's assistance in protecting the environment. They've requested that I remind our parents that idling in the car line can be quite detrimental to the environment and our health. In fact, Rockland County law actually prohibits idling in cars. CLICK HERE FOR THE LEGISLATION When you arrive early to school pick up, please turn off your car rather than keep it idling on the line.

Here's some interesting information that they provided:

US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY INFO ABOUT IDLING

If you'd like more information about the Upper Nyack Green Committee - CLICK HERE

UNES BROCHURES ARE COMING!

Thanks to the hard work of our new Family Resource Center Coordinator, Yessi Santana, we now have a faculty and staff contact brochure prepared and ready to send to families. Keep your eyes open right after break for a school brochure with faculty and staff names, emails, and office phone numbers (for non teaching staff). This will be sent in paper format in the red folders after the vacation.

This brochure is translated into Spanish and Haitian Creole, and teachers will direct translated copies, along with English copies, to families needing or wanting information in other languages. If you don't get the language you need, or if you need a second copy, please reach out to the teacher or main office, and we'll happily send it your way.

GRADES 1-2 CONCERT

Please note that the concert scheduled for Friday, May 12 will be held at 9:30am (not 8:30am as it was printed in the calendar). Please note the corrected time.

Nyack Black and Red Booster Club Apparel Sale

Our Nyack Black and Red Booster Club is selling apparel to support our sports programs and team. If you're in the market for Nyack gear, please check out this link - CLICK HERE.

Parent Teacher Conferences Coming in April

Friday, April 14 and Friday, April 21 are Elementary Early Dismissal Days. Students will be released at 11:45am. Parent Teacher Conferences will occur on these afternoons and you should soon be receiving a Google Form Signup directly from your child's teacher. These afternoon sessions (generally from 12:45-3:15pm) will be in person at UNES. On Thursday, April 20, we have EVENING PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES that are VIRTUAL ONLY.

The sign up forms for conferences should have all been sent to you by now. If you have not received this information yet, please reach out to your child's teacher for more assistance.

The schedule for dismissal on our half days for P/T Conferences is as follows:

11:30 am - Kindergarten Students

11:35 am - Walkers & Grades 1 - 5

11:40 am - Car Riders Grades K - 5

11:45 am - Bus Riders K - 5

NYS ELA and MATH EXAMS

The state exams are coming up soon. The NYS ELA EXAM is scheduled for April 19 & 20, while the NYS MATH EXAM is scheduled for May 2 & 3. The district will be providing more information as the dates comes closer, but the link below from NYS may provide some valuable information to some FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

CLICK HERE FOR NYS EXAM INFORMATION

ARCHIVES ON OUR WEBSITE

There are archives of my community newsletter on the UNES WEBSITE - CLICK HERE, as well as on the UNESPTA Website (coming soon). If you can't find the old newsletters and are looking for info - you can find that info in these two places.

Mark Your Calendars!

April 3-7 - Spring Recess (No School)
Tuesday, April 11 - Autism Awareness Presentation
Friday, April 14 - Early Dismissal / Parent Teacher Conferences / Neon Dance
April 19-20 - NYS ELA Exam
Thursday, April 20 - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences (VIRTUAL)
April 21 - Earth Day Celebration / Early Dismissal / Parent Teacher Conferences
May 2 & 3 - NYS Math Exam
Friday, May 5 - PTA Staff Appreciation Celebration (Please contact the PTA to donate or help out)