Dear UASPA Students and Families,
“Relinquish your attachment to the known,
step into the unknown,
and you will step into the field of all possibilities.”
As we enter a completely unprecedented and “unknown” school year, which can cause much anxiety and worry for students, parents/guardians and educators, it is also a time to find hope in the “field of possibilities” ahead of us to continue to provide a high quality education for our students that prepares them as independent learners and artists for agency. Our vision for this school year reads,
At UASPA, students are known well and are cultivated as INDEPENDENT LEARNERS & ARTISTS FOR AGENCY*. Students are prepared to graduate as change agents who are college and career ready both academically and social-emotionally. Students are prepared by engaging in historically responsive education** and by having high expectations with the social emotional learning supports to achieve those expectations.
* Zaretta Hammond **Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
And although this start to our school year is like none other, on behalf of our staff I can’t tell you how excited we all are to welcome our students back for a brand new school year! In true UASPA fashion, we will kick off our year at a Community Welcome on Friday morning at 10:00 (this year remote…).
We officially “reopen” remotely on Wednesday. You can find the full schedule for the week HERE.
In addition, below is important information on:
- This week’s student orientations
- This week’s Back to School Family Zooms
- This week’s Back to School Arts Meetings by Grade
- Student Programs
- Google Classroom Invitations
- Updated cell phone policy
- Updated information on family communication
Please take good care and as always, “Education equals options!”
Best,
Mrs. McMahon
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Student Orientations. Student orientations will be held this week in advisories and according to which cohort day students are scheduled for (A, B, or C). If you do not know which Cohort Day your student is in, please use this tool to look up that information.
- A Day Orientation will be held on Wednesday, 9/16 @ 12pm
- B Day Orientation will be held on Thursday, 9/17 @ 12pm
- C Day Orientation will be held on Friday, 9/18 @ 12pm
Our entire orientation schedule and Zoom links for events can be found in the Schedule for Orientation Days.
The schedule of Cohort Days (A, B, C) can be found HERE (please note that this calendar is subject to change based on DOE scheduling. We will notify you of any changes in advance.)
Back to School Family Zooms will be held this week by our Guidance Team. Links will be sent by Guidance Counselors this week and can also be found in the Schedule for this week.
- Cohort Z (9th Grade): Wednesday, 9/16 @ 4pm
- Cohort Y (10th Grade): Wednesday, 9/16 @ 6:30pm
- Cohort X (11th Grade): Thursday, 9/17 @ 4pm
- Cohort W (12th Grade): Thursday, 9/17 @ 6:30pm
Back to School Arts Meetings by Grade will be held this week by our Arts teachers. Links are included in the Schedule for this week and posted in all Arts Google Classrooms.
- Cohort Z (9th Grade): Wednesday, 9/16 @ 2:30pm
- Cohort Y (10th Grade): Wednesday, 9/17 @ 2:30pm
- Cohort X (11th Grade): Thursday, 9/17 @ 10:00am
- Cohort W (12th Grade): Thursday, 9/18 @ 2:30pm
Student programs are available in Pupilpath. If you do not have access to Pupilpath, please contact your student’s guidance counselor:
9th Grade: Mr. Sealey ([email protected])
10th Grade: Ms. Marquette ([email protected])
11th Grade: Mrs. Guzman ([email protected])
12th Grade: Mr. Brown ([email protected])
Google Classroom invitations have gone out from your student’s teachers. Students must log into their uaperformingarts.org account to access Google Classroom. If your child has not received links or cannot login to their UA gmail account, please reach out to our guidance team:
9th Grade: Mr. Sealey ([email protected])
10th Grade: Ms. Marquette ([email protected])
11th Grade: Mrs. Guzman ([email protected])
12th Grade: Mr. Brown ([email protected])
Cell Phones: We will not be collecting cell phones this year, but students will be required to turn off their phone and secure it in a Yondr pouch this year until they are dismissed for the day. Attached is a letter that explains a little more about the Yondr system.
Family Communication: In an effort to minimize the amount of paper that we are transferring from person to person, we will be moving to a digital platform that allows us to communicate with parents very quickly and collect forms from you electronically. The system is called Operoo. You will receive an email this week about how to set it up on your phone or computer, but in the meantime here is an introduction letter to the platform.