District News

We are now accepting nominations for the 2023 Wall of Honor!

Do you know alumni who have attained a high level of achievement in their personal and/or professional life since graduating from Unionville High School? Do you know alumni who have made a significant impact on their community? Do you know alumni who are excellent examples of the district's Portrait of a Graduate? Consider nominating them for the UCF Wall of Honor. The deadline for submissions is May 30, 2023.

The purpose of this prestigious award is to recognize UCFSD alumni for their lifetime of achievements and contributions made to the world after graduation, celebrate the District’s tradition of excellence, and inspire current UCFSD students.

For more information, visit https://www.ucfsd.org/about/alumni/wall-of-honor-program

Michele Showalter, a third grade teacher at Pocopson Elementary School, is a recipient of the Citadel Heart of Learning Award! Pocopson held a surprise assembly on April 11 where Citadel presented Mrs. Showalter with a glass trophy and $1,000 to be used towards her classroom. During the assembly, Mrs. Showalter’s amazing work was highlighted through a slideshow presentation and remarks shared by students, parents, and colleagues. The Citadel Heart of Learning Award recognizes educators who go above and beyond both in and out of the classroom. Congratulations, Mrs. Showalter!

Congratulations to our Unionville High School students who have been recognized for the U.S. Presidential Scholarship!

Aryan Abbaraju

Clifford Han

Ria Saxena

Maggie Liu

Jyotsna Venkatesh

The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. It is one of the nation's highest honors for high school students. We are so proud of our seniors!

Students from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District attended the 2023 PMEA District 12 5th and 6th Grade String Fest at ET Richardson Middle School on March 8. Congratulations to Jayden, Yelaine, Aitana, Selina from Chadds Ford Elementary and Chanumi and Alexander from Patton Middle School!

These students were joined by over 100 string players from schools in Delaware and Chester counties. They rehearsed throughout the day leading up to an amazing performance later that night. Bravo to our talented students on this outstanding musical achievement!

The Unionville High School chapter of the Technology Student Association competed in its regional conference on January 28 at Colonial Middle School. The conference consisted of competitions related to current technology topics and trends.

Congratulations to the following students who qualified to compete in the state-wide competition April 19-22:

Stella Tucker (1st Place in Extemporaneous Speaking)

Ishita Saxena (1st Place in Essays on Technology)

John Kinsley and Eric Steuber (1st Place in Technology Problem Solving)

Ishita Saxena, Megan Aversa, Ellie Day, Navya Nadkarni (4th Place in Board Game Design)

Grant DeWilde and Gareth Liu (5th Place in Technology Problem Solving)

Sophie Li, Emma Li, Lorya Xu, Angelina Zhang (5th Place in Children’s Stories)

Ivory Qi and Maggie Zhang (6th Place in Children’s Stories)

On March 26, UCFSD fourth graders took to the ice for the annual Fourth Grade Skating Party! All the fourth graders in the district were invited and 195 were in attendance. The elementary school mascots also made an appearance! Everyone had a great time skating, playing games, and enjoying snacks at the rink. This event was organized by the four elementary school PTOs and was a great opportunity for the students to make new friends that they will see again in middle school!

Congratulations to the UHS Indoor Percussion Ensemble and UHS Color Guard for competing in the WGI World Championships Showcase!

UHS Indoor Percussion Ensemble competed in the Mid-Atlantic Percussion Society Championship event at Coatesville High School on Saturday, April 15. They finished in second out of 22 schools in the PSA division with a score of 91.05! On April 20 to April 21, they will compete in the WGI World Championships in Dayton, Ohio! All events will be broadcast on Flomarching.com. Unionville's prelims performance is on Thursday at 9:54am at Hobart Arena. Pending advancement to semi-finals and finals, their finals performance will be broadcast live from the Dayton Arena on Flomarching.com Friday night between 7:55pm and 10:08pm. Tune in to support our amazing Indoor Percussion Ensemble!

The UHS Color Guard competed at the WGI Championships in Dayton, Ohio April 13 to April 15. This was the first time the guard competed at a national level in four years and they put on a spectacular performance. This season they placed amongst the top groups on the East Coast. Well done UHS Color Guard!

Twelve UHS Speech and Debate Team students competed at the PA State Championships (PHSSL) at Bloomsburg University in March. The Policy Debate team of Phillis Wan and Akash Patel reached the final round and placed 2nd in Policy Debate at this state tournament (after a 3-2 decision against Fox Chapel Area HS in Pittsburgh). In the Persuasive Speaking competition, Felicity Chen and Melissa Griswold both advanced to the semi-final round, placing 10th and 13th in this state tournament, respectively.

Other UHS students who qualified to compete in the state tournament included Darena Ho, Easha Gundecha, Courtney Brennan, and Vedha Masuraha in Duo Interpretation; Noori Choudhary in Extemp; Ian Coutinho in Extemporaneous Debate; and Angelina Zhang and Jennifer Ding in Public Forum Debate.

Congratulations to all the members of the UHS Speech and Debate Team on their accomplishments!

The Science in the Bag club at UHS distributed their first round of science bags to some of our elementary school students! This club promotes STEM exploration within young students in an interactive and accessible way. They take household items that can be used to conduct simple experiments or demonstrations and package them into science bags to be distributed. These bags contain everything the elementary school students need to complete their STEM experiments. The Science in the Bag club plans on hosting a few STEM events at the elementary schools in mid to late May. At these events, in addition to distributing the science bags, the club members will be there to perform more fun demonstrations and prepare more collaborative STEM challenges for the students to do. Way to go Science in the Bag students!

Kindergarteners at Chadds Ford Elementary School and Pocopson Elementary School had special visits rom the Unionville Community Fair Queen, Ella Troiano and Queen Alternate, Faith Mousaw. They helped the kindergarten classes plant pumpkin seeds and discussed how the kindergarteners could enter the pumpkins they planted in the Community Fair next year!

The Hillendale Huskies had their afternoon Oldies assembly on Friday March 10! At the assembly, groups of 5th graders lip synced to classic songs in costume for the whole school. The big UCFSD Oldies dance took place later that night with groups of 5th graders from all four schools in the district!

The Fifth Grade classes from Chadds Ford, Hillendale, Pocopson, and Unionville Elementary Schools held their Oldies Dance on March 10 to raise money for UTHON and Kennett Area Community Service (KACS). It raised $3,100! They will donate $1,000 of the proceeds to UTHON and $2,100 of the proceeds to KACS ($1,000 of the KACS proceeds was donated by one family).

This event was the first time all 5th graders in the district gathered together as the class of 2030. The event consisted of lip synced performances and dance contests to raise money for a great cause! Amazing job 5th graders!

A special thank you to the staff, parents, and volunteers for making this amazing event happen!

Unionville Elementary students wrapped up their rollerblading unit in their physical education classes in March. The unit consisted of six lessons, two on carpet in the auditorium and four in the gymnasium. During this time, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders learned the basic skills and safety of rollerblading. They increased their cardiovascular endurance, muscle tone, and greatly improved their balance and agility. While some new skaters were nervous in the beginning, they ended the unit feeling confident knowing that they accomplished a great feat. It was the highlight of the year in physical education at UES!

In collaboration for National Athletic Training Month and National Nutrition Month, Ms. Lampert, our nutrition coordinator, gave two 30 minute presentations to UHS student athletes. The presentations included information on how to eat properly to enhance athletic performance and general well-being. A big focus in the presentation was to raise awareness about the misconceptions that are spread on social media about nutrition. This was a great opportunity to educate student athletes on fueling their body properly for their active lifestyles!

The 7th Grade Nonfiction Writing classes at Patton Middle School hosted their Bloom’s Taxonomy Museum on Friday March 17. The museum showcased interactive exhibits based on the students’ topics of interest. Students created research questions for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, performed research to answer those questions, and created original artifacts. This day highlighted the hard work Patton’s 7th graders have put into learning to be effective researchers, creative thinkers, and credible experts of information. Awesome job 7th graders!

Patton eighth graders were treated to wellness activities during hawk time on March 20, which included basketball, dodgeball, dancing, chess, nature walking, cooking and playing with puppies, piglets, and baby goats. This was a great opportunity for eighth graders to enjoy a break and unwind at the end of the school day. Thank you to the administration and staff for planning an exciting afternoon of wellness for our students!

Are you looking for a fulfilling career where you can make a difference in the lives of others? The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District is seeking dedicated individuals to join the team and shape the future of our students. With competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and opportunities for growth, a career in public education is the perfect choice for those passionate about making a positive impact in their community. Current openings include:

Transportation Drivers

• The field of public education provides the opportunity to do rewarding work while also having the flexibility to try new things and grow.
  

Special Education Paraprofessionals (Instructional Assistants) through CCRES Educational Services

• In a classroom support role, you will provide the opportunity to make a positive impact on students' lives and be a part of their educational journey.

Custodians

• Become a UCFSD Custodian and help create a clean, safe and comfortable learning environment for our students and community.
  

There’s a place for you in education! Go to work every day knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of our students and our community! To view the job opportunities available UCFSD, click here.

For more information about working for schools in Chester County visit www.chestercountyschooljobs.org

Come out for Pocopson Elementary School's First Annual "PocopSUN FEST!"

This event is Pocopson PTO's biggest fundraiser of the year. There will be games, prizes, face painting, crafts, inflatables, food, raffles, silent auction, and much more!

The event is open to the entire UCFSD community.

Saturday April 29

10am to 3pm

Pocopson Elementary School

1105 Pocopson Rd, West Chester, PA 19382