Before UAMA ever opened its doors to students, the school’s planning team identified James Baldwin’s, “The Fire Next Time,” as a grounding text that exemplified our school’s missions and would serve as a touchstone for all of our students over their course of study at UAMA. Excerpts of Baldwin’s novels, plays, and essays are literally printed on the walls at UAMA and reverberate through all aspects of our curriculum.
In the tradition of artistic collaboration that UAMA works to foster with our students, in the Fall of 2016, Principal Paul Thompson was invited to join a collective of artists, poets, writes and musicians in a musical theatrical tribute to James Baldwin. “Can I Get a Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin,” created by 11-time Grammy nominated musician Meshell Ndegeocello, debuted in December 2016 at the Harlem Stage in Harlem, New York and was subsequently adapted in 2018 as, “No More Water | The Fire Next Time”, for the Park Avenue Armory and in 2019 as part of a group exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in New York, entitled, “God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin,” by writer Hilton Als.
In the Fall of 2020 the Fisher Center at Bard along with UCLA’s Center For The Art of Performance, The Museum Of Contemporary Art Chicago, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, and Festival De Marseille, commissioned a multi- media interpretation of the piece, “Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin”, as a 21st century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times caused by political unrest and the world-wide pandemic. Chapter & Verse includes audio, video, and print components which have engaged audiences around the world and provide a lens for confronting the painful, complex societal challenges we face today.
As we have worked to meet the challenges of supporting our students through remote instruction, our staff have used these works as direct inspiration to drive instruction and as a vehicle to what is possible as we design student deliverables. We encourage you to explore, “Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin”.
We are currently finalizing our student schedules for the upcoming school year. Students will be scheduled based on the remote learning preferences families filled out over the summer. Students will be assigned to 3 Groups that determine what their schedules will be.
Group A students will have in-person days on Monday, and Tuesdays. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will be remote days.
Group B students will have in-person days on Thursday and Friday. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be remote days.
Group D will be remote-only.
The graph below will show this more clearly:
Groups
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Group A
In-Person
In-Person
Remote
Remote
Remote
Group B
Remote
Remote
Remote
In-Person
In-Person
Group D
Remote
Remote
Remote
Remote
Remote
We also need parents to fill out a Hybrid Learning Dismissal Form. By filling out this form, parents will be giving students permission to go home unaccompanied by an adult in the event a student arrives on a day they are not scheduled for. If this form is not filled out, parents will need to pick up the their children at the school before the child can be dismissed.
Emails were sent out to students and parents detailing what group they have been assigned to.
If you have not received an email, or would like to change your remote learning preference, please contact our the parent coordinator Ms. Copeland at copeland1@uamusicandart.org.
A quick update to summer school. Classes begins tomorrow. Emails went out to parents and students containing the classes students will have to make up. Classes start at 8:30AM and end at 12:30PM. The times for specific classes are still not known. This information will be provided via email and the website as soon as it’s available.
A separate email went out last week containing information on how students can activate their nycstudents.net accounts, which will be necessary to access their classes on the TeachHub Portal. From there, students can reach the iLearn platform where they can see their classes and learning content. A link to the TeachHub Portal is provided in this posting, as well as in the sidebar.
We have also created a Google Classroom. This classroom has to be accessed via the TeachHub Portal. It is called UAMA Summer School Check-In, and students will have to submit a daily Engagement CheckIn for the day.
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and administration, I am excited to welcome you to UAMA for the 2016-2017 school year! We have a great many things planned for you for the upcoming school year—activities in and out of the classroom that will challenge and excite you academically and socially. Below you will find links to our welcome letter that you will be receiving in the mail very soon, and a copy of our 2016-17 Student Handbook.
The welcome letter outlines what the first two days (Thursday, September 8th & Friday, September 9th) will look like for students. The Student Handbook details important information that students and parents should have concerning school policy, scheduling, important dates, rules, and so on. It will also receive occasional updates to reflect new additions in the school year.
The Application for the 2016 Summer Bridge Application is closed. We will let parents and students know when the 2017 Summer Bridge Program is beginning in the near future. Thank you!
This summer we are very excited to be offering a Summer Bridge Language & Thinking program at UAMA. The program runs from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. from Monday July 25 through Friday, August 12, 2016. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
The Summer Program is designed to provide you with an opportunity to improve your academic skills in Literacy, Writing, Critical Thinking, and to earn a high school credit before you begin in the fall of 2016. Research shows that surpassing 11 credits by the end of 9th grade in an important target to stay on track for high school success and on-time graduation, as well as to be better prepared for college. The goal of this program is not only to develop your academic skills but also to have fun learning, build relationships, and help you transition into high school.
What can this program do for you?
It will give you the opportunity to:
· Increase your college awareness through classes and extra-curricular activities
· Explore the importance of the arts in education
· Strengthen your literacy skills and
· Increase the effectiveness of your argument formation
· Build confidence and practice in the communication of ideas
· Develop critical and imaginative thinking; and
· Earn a high school credit
Seats are limited, and will be given on a first come, first serve basis.
This will be updated for the coming school year soon!
Open House Information
Thank you for being patient as we navigate the enrollment process during the pandemic. Dates for upcoming open houses will be available soon. Please see our recruitment page for an overview of our program. Please feel free to reach out to our parent coordinator, Cierra Copeland, at copeland1@uamusicandart.org with any questions or concerns.
