UNLESS U NEWS UPDATES​
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Unless U Wish List
We are often asked "what do you need?" - you've asked and we've listened. If you are interested in donating items to Unless U, please click here to view our teachers' wish list.
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Meet Your Unless U Teachers and Staff
In case you missed it on Brightwheel, we would love to introduce (or re-introduce) you to our teachers and staff. Click here to meet the 2024-25 Unless U staff!
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Spring 2025 Curriculum
Click here to view our curriculum for this spring semester. If you have any questions please reach out to Mr. Ethan.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!
We are excited to announce some changes to our much beloved birthday celebrations at Unless U. As our student enrollment has grown, so have the amount of cupcakes, cookie cakes, and the sweetest treats you can imagine! We love celebrating our students and will continue to do so - but we also want to ensure we are being good stewards of all our celebrations and make sure everyone is able to be celebrated. This will also allow us to be mindful of everyone's health and that no one is left out of having the opportunity to celebrate with their friends. So, with this in mind, we have a few changes we would like to announce:
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What's Changing?
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Monthly Birthday Celebrations will take the place of individual birthday parties. There will be a monthly celebration for all students and staff with birthdays that month. This means the celebrations will be bigger than ever!
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Celebration Days: These parties will be held once a month for each enrollment group (M/W/F and T/R)
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Treat Contributions: Students with birthdays that month can bring a small amount of a treat to share (about 1 dozen), creating a variety of snacks for everyone. Any shortage will be supplemented with popsicles or ice cream we have on hand. As a frame of reference, we typically have around 60 students and staff each day, so hopefully this number will help you plan accordingly. It also means since everyone is sharing the load, you won't need to send 60 cupcakes for your student, which we hope will make things easier for parents as well.
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Birthday Calendar: A calendar with all birthdays and scheduled celebration days will be shared and reminders will be sent out via the parent newsletter and Brightwheel.
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What's Staying the Same?
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Individual Recognition: On or near a student's actual birthday, they will still receive compliments, a birthday crown, and singing from their friends. We still want each student to feel like royalty!
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HOT LUNCH PROGRAM
We are so glad you all are enjoying the hot lunches provided to our students in partnership with Vestavia Hills Methodist Church! Below is the order form for this month's hot lunches.
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APRIL LUNCH ORDERS ARE CLOSED​
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The order submission deadline has passed.
The cost per meal is $5 for the 2024–2025 school year. Once you submit your order for the month, a charge for the number of meals you ordered that month will be added to your student’s Brightwheel account. We will maintain a list of which students ordered on each day, and we can only provide lunches if you sign up in advance. You will receive an email copy of your lunch order and we ask that you keep up with which days your student has ordered lunches and which days you choose to bring lunch from home.
Due to needing to order everything in advance, we will not be able to give refunds if your student does not attend on a day you have ordered lunch.
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SCOOPS UPDATE
​Students who are not part of the Scoops Job Training Program may be able to work in Scoops, but the opportunities will be more limited, and will primarily be during the after school hours and for Scoops Cart events. Students who are new to Unless U will need to wait until we open admission for the 2025-2026 Scoops Job Training Cohort before they are able to work in Scoops.
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Please reach out to Ethan (ethan.smith@unlessu.org) or Libby (libby.faucett@unlessu.org) with any questions.
We encourage you to continue to visit and support Scoops and the students working there. The best way to grow in skill is to serve lots of customers!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
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Trinity Care Pharmacy
Trinity Care Pharmacy is a new group in Birmingham offering medical opportunities specifically for our students and the elderly community. Trinity will deliver medications to your home, but you must currently have Medicare or Medicaid to qualify. For more information, click here.
UAB Down Syndrome and Sleep Opportunity
Dr. Caroline G. Richter and her colleagues Dr. S. Justin Thomas and Dr. Sylvie Mrug are recruiting 12 to 30 year-olds with Down Syndrome for an exciting new project seeking to improve sleep and quality of life through an adapted Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Insomnia (MBTI) intervention program.
They are also organizing a virtual free event featuring experts discussing sleep-related topics for individuals with Down syndrome, including sleep apnea, cognitive-behavioral strategies, and mindfulness for better sleep. This event is ideal for caregivers and practitioners (see flyer attached): Saturday, April 19th, from 9 AM to 12 PM CDT.
They are happy to set up a time for a short zoom meeting to share details and answer questions if you would like. Please feel free to contact them anytime via email (CAS-SleepDS@uab.edu) or phone (205-934-9897).
DROP IN DAY REQUEST
Please complete the forms below to let us know which days in the month (starting in the fall semester) you will need for drop-in. The drop-in rate is $60 a day. If you also need Early & After care, this will be an additional $10 for that day. This charge will be added to your Brightwheel account once your request has been approved.
Drop-in days will be approved based on availability and processed in the order they are received. We will process all submissions on the 25th of the month preceding the request. For example, if you requested a day in October we will not process that submission until the 25th of September. We cannot guarantee approval of any dates. The only way to guarantee specific dates is to be enrolled for those days for the semester. Please know that we will do our best to accommodate all drop-in day requests.
2025-26 UNLESS U CALENDAR
