District News

The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District is thrilled to be celebrating our Centennial School Year! We invite all members of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District community to be part of our exciting Centennial celebrations throughout the year.

Save the date for the UCFSD Centennial Gala! The gala will take place at Longwood Gardens on Saturday, April 13 from 7pm to 11pm. We hope you will join us as we celebrate 100 years of excellence in education at this grand event! Proceeds and silent auction to benefit the UCF Education Foundation and the UCF Community Scholarship. Stay tuned for ticket information. If you would like to be a Centennial Sponsor, click here to learn more.

The UCFSD School Board held its annual reorganization meeting on Monday, December 4. During the meeting, six School Board Directors were sworn into office by Judge Al Iacocca - three for a first term and three for a second term.

Congratulations to our new School Board Directors Ms. Mary Kate Loomis from Region B, Mr. Brian Schartz from Region C, and Mr. Jody Allen from Region C. Congratulations to the three incumbent School Board Directors who received a second term - Dr. Victoria Baratta from Region B, Dr. Rashi Akki from Region A, and Ms. Erin Talbert from Region C. Additionally, Dr. Baratta and Ms. Talbert were re-elected as Board President and Vice President respectively.

Being a School Board Director is a huge commitment and we are grateful to all nine of our School Board Directors for all they do for UCF students, families, and the community.

Unionville High School Technology and Engineering students recently constructed two benches for the Kennett Square YMCA in memory of late classmate Emma Hill.

Unionville High School senior and Hill family neighbor Courtney Brennan was the student lead on this project. She coordinated with the family, created the designs, developed a bill of materials, and led her classmates through the construction project.

Unionville High School has been named an International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) 2023-24 STEM School of Excellence. UHS joins an outstanding group of schools that are impacting and making a significant difference in the lives of their students and Integrative STEM (I-STEM) literacy. Thank you to our students, staff, and community members who continue to promote and support STEM programming at UHS!

ITEEA’s STEM School of Excellence Award recognizes superior K-12 and Post-Secondary STEM programs from schools all around the world. These schools show outstanding commitment to providing a robust Integrative experience through STEM programs. They are providing a meaningful STEM education experience for students and inspire others to learn effective best practices and instructional strategies to enhance their own programs. These schools serve as a model and inspiration to their communities. They are leaders in their region, province, or state as proponents of advancing STEM education for all.

On Saturday, December 16, Green Lemons FTC Robotics team competed in the South Central Qualifier in York, PA. Due to their performance this season, the team ranked first entering the competition. They partnered with The Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM from Baden, PA in the Semifinals and Finals. The alliance won both SemiFinals and Finals in the best of three format.

Green Lemons concluded the competition as the Winning Alliance Captain and awarded the Control Award (2nd Place), Inspired Award (2nd Place), and Think Award (1st Place). Click here to learn more about the FTC award system. Among 146 FTC Robotics teams registered in Pennsylvania this season, the Green Lemons are one of the first two teams advancing to the PA FTC Championship to be held in Hellertown, PA in March 2024. Congratulations to the Green Lemons FTC Robotics team!

Below is a picture taken at the Qualifier of the 12 students on the Green Lemons:

Jeremy Hsu, Derrick Han, Alan Yu, Grant DeWilde, Ivory Qi, Shailen Patel, Lincoln Farkas, Charlie Nagle, Ameya Masuraha, Eric Zhang, Brandon Hsu, Declan Moores

On December 11, the Unionville High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the annual Regional Leadership Conference (RLC). Congratulations to the following students for placing first in their respective events:

Felicity Chen & Adhavan Satish Business Ethics - Team

April Chou - Help Desk

Ian Coutinho - Computer Problem Solving

Rohan Gandhi - Business Calculations

Cooper Hanigan - Business Law

Brian Lee & Dylan Stone - Social Media Strategies - Team

Ayaan Mohapatra - Introduction to Financial Math

Ethan Ruslim - Introduction to Business Communication

Anne Zhu - Advertising

Well done to all the UHS FBLA members who competed! Read more about the UHS FBLA’s latest achievement here: tinyurl.com/UHSFBLAClubPlaceFirst

(Not pictured: April Chou and Felicity Chen)

Unionville High School is starting an official American Statistical Association (ASA) student chapter led by Mr. Long and UHS student Shivam Maheshwari. The new "Statistics Club" kickoff meeting was held Wednesday, December 6 during Lunch and Learn. During the meeting, the club hosted Mr. Robert DiRico and Mr. Tristan Nolte as guest speakers. Both work as actuaries for Resolution Life Insurance Company. They presented on a variety of topics including:

1) What is an actuary?

2) What kind of things do actuaries do daily?

3) How do actuaries use statistics in their jobs?

4) What kind of education (formal degrees and certifications) do you need to become an actuary?

5) What kind of salaries do actuaries make?

6) How available are jobs in this field, how do you go about getting a job?

This was a great opportunity for UHS students to learn about potential career fields of interest and how they can relate to their current coursework!

A combined 5th Grade Chorus from Pocopson, Unionville, and Hillendale Elementary Schools under the direction of Steve and Eileen Jennings performed at the sold-out Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center in West Chester on December 19 with the "Cartoon Christmas Trio," a professional jazz group.

Since its inception in 1995, The Cartoon Christmas Trio has been the premier interpreter of the classic soundtracks of holiday cartoon music, especially the music of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” This was an incredible opportunity for our students to perform with such a prestigious group in a professional setting!

Unionville Elementary is honoring a century of educational excellence at the beloved elementary school with this special anniversary bench! The bench was created by Eco Plastics and is made entirely from recycled plastic. Cheers to 100 years of laughter, learning, and lasting memories!

Watch some of UHS's finest staff and students compete against each other on Fox 29's The ClassH-Room!

The episode airs on Wednesday, January 3 at 7 pm. Friends and family can watch it live on TV by downloading the FOX LOCAL app for Apple TV, Amazon FireTV, Google Android TV, and Roku.

Fox 29 will show the episode again on Wednesday, January 10th, at 6:30 pm. Stream it at https://www.fox29.com/live, or watch it later on FOX 29 YouTube page, https://www.youtube.com/c/theclasshroom. For more information, visit fox29.com/fox-local

Do you know a teacher who goes above and beyond?

Nominate them for the 2023 Citadel Heart of Learning Award. The award recognizes local teachers who make a difference in our community, support students beyond the call of duty, and encourage their full potential.