Students will return from summer break on Wednesday, Aug. 5, and the Union County School System has some important information parents will want to know prior to the first day.
Before students head back to the classroom, families will have a chance to meet teachers on Monday, Aug. 3, from 4-6 p.m. at Union County High, Middle and Elementary Schools, and from 2-6 p.m. at Woody Gap School in Suches. Union County Primary School meetings will be by appointment only that same day.
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One of the biggest changes this school year is one that Superintendent Dr. John Hill said should “help increase safety and help make peoples’ lives a little bit easier.”
He said the district is rolling out a new state-required student identification system that will allow students to scan on and off school buses. Once the system is fully implemented, parents will be able to track their child’s school bus in real time.
“It should be a good tool for parents to utilize to ensure that they’re at the bus stop at the same time as the bus,” Hill explained. “That will be a learning process; any time we implement something like that, it doesn’t work as advertised initially.”
Hill said the student ID cards likely won’t be available on the first day of school, but every student will eventually receive one as required by the state.
Another state-mandated policy returning this year is the district’s cellphone ban, under which students cannot access their personal electronic devices during the school day. The policy was introduced last year and will remain in place this school year.
As always, Hill asked that families have patience during the first few days of school, especially during morning and afternoon traffic.
“Every year, it’s tough. The traffic (is) a challenge,” Hill said. “If everybody will just bring their patience … it always smooths out. We’re getting traffic patterns right, and we’ll make any necessary adjustments to help make it easier on the parents.”
For morning car riders, Hill said parents with children attending multiple schools can continue using the district’s round-trip bus service, which allows all of a family’s children to be dropped off at the youngest child’s school, from which older students are transported to the appropriate campus.
The shuttle is available for morning drop-off only, and parents interested in using the service can contact either the primary or elementary school office for more details.
As for school-specific goals, Union County High Principal Josh Davis said one of the biggest additions will be a new aviation pathway through the school’s Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Program.
Through partnerships with the local community, participating students will travel to the Blairsville Municipal Airport for instruction in pilot training and aviation maintenance.
“There’s very high demands in both those areas nationwide,” Davis said, adding that the school’s community partners will provide most of the training while the district will be responsible for transporting students to and from the airport.
He shared that the high school was also recently named an Economic Development Partnership School by the Georgia Department of Education, an award that recognizes the district’s collaboration with the Union County Chamber of Commerce and local industry partners.
“We’re excited,” Davis said. “We’ve got school ready.”
At Union County Middle School, Principal Casey Jones said staff members are also excited to welcome students back. In the meantime, construction is ongoing to expand the school’s parking lot using fill dirt from the Georgia 515 project.
According to Hill, district employees are completing much of the grading work themselves, and the project is expected to take about three months depending on weather conditions. During that time, he said construction will cause no changes to school traffic patterns.
As Union County Elementary School enters its second year in a new building, Principal Jerry Bavero said staff is also looking forward to welcoming back students. Also in its second year, Bavero said the construction specials class will be returning after a successful trial last year.
“That was a big hit. Students really seemed to enjoy that, so we’re looking forward to another year of that,” Bavero said. “We’re just ready to get back to doing what we do best, which is teaching and learning.”
At Union County Primary School, Principal Debby Decubellis said she is “excited to get our staff back and, of course, our students.” She said the school will also be housing approximately 60 Head Start students this year for the first time, as well as 25 babies in the district daycare.
“We’re super excited to have them,” she said.
As for Woody Gap School, Principal Kenneth Garland said he is excited to join both the school and the community this year. He said Woody Gap is bringing back middle school agriculture while continuing its WIN, or “What I Need,” program, which provides individualized support to students based on their needs.
While each school across the system has set its own goals for the coming year, administrators said the Leader in Me initiative introduced last year will continue across the entire district. The program encourages students to take active leadership roles throughout their respective schools.
At Union County High, this means students are beginning to organize their own action teams to help plan events like homecoming, prom and campus beautification efforts. At the elementary and primary schools, student leaders greet their peers each morning, help in the cafeteria and guide visitors during special events. At Woody Gap, Garland said the focus will be on more individualized opportunities due to the school’s smaller size.
