Making the decision to delay school, dismiss early or cancel school for the day is a difficult one that involves a great deal of behind-the-scenes work. UCPS officials consult with weather and emergency [...]]]> With weather forecasters warning of an unusually cold winter this year, Union County Public Schools is bracing for possible school closings or delays.

Making the decision to delay school, dismiss early or cancel school for the day is a difficult one that involves a great deal of behind-the-scenes work. UCPS officials consult with weather and emergency management experts and other school districts, and have employees ride the county’s roads to determine whether it is safe for staff, parents and buses to travel.

“We have very defined and timely notification procedures in place,” said UCPS Chief Communications Officer Luan Ingram. “I would like to ask that parents not call the school district and/or individual schools to see what our plans are. This is not necessary because we announce our plans the minute a decision is made through Connect-ED messages, web postings and news stations. Phone calls can sometimes delay our decision-making because they tie up phone lines that are used to gather information.”

If the schools have to be closed, days have been designated to make up missed school. The first make-up day will be February 19. The second day missed will be made up on March 5, but students will only attend for the first half of the day. The third day missed will be made up on April 30. All dates chosen for make up days are currently built into the calendar as teacher workdays.

The make up days for additional days missed will be determined at UCPS Superintendent Ed Davis’ discretion. Saturdays and/or an extension of the school year may be used for make up as determined appropriate by Davis. All reasonable efforts will be made to preserve Spring Break designated for April 2 -9, 2010.

“It is a lot simpler when missed days can be made up on the days that are already built into the calendar for this purpose,” Davis said. “It becomes more complicated when days have to be made up beyond this. We discovered last year that any make-up days during Spring Break are very poorly attended so we will try our best to avoid having to use any Spring Break days for make-up this year. If it is necessary to schedule make-up days on Saturdays, students will only have to attend for half the time of a regular school day. As inconvenient as this may be for some, at least we will still have Saturday afternoon off.”

There are numerous ways to find out about school announcements. As soon as the weather-related decision is made, that information is posted on the UCPS web site homepage and on each school website homepage.

The UCPS web site has dedicated pages where faculty, staff, students and parents can turn to for bad weather information and the impact on UCPS schools. It also offers Inclement Weather Procedures to enlighten the public as to the protocol for school closings and delays. These are also given in Spanish.

Connect-ED calls are made to UCPS faculty, staff and parents, while simultaneous phone calls are made to the news media. In order to be notified, it is essential that parents and staff keep emergency contact information updated. This information includes home and emergency phone numbers. If current telephone numbers are not known, weather notification cannot be made. The notification will also be posted on the UCPS Facebook fan page. Sign up to become a UCPS Facebook fan by clicking on the UCPS Facebook Fan Page on the school district’s web site homepage.

The UCPS web site can be found at www.ucps.k12.nc.us. Its inclement weather pages are just a click away on the temperature box.

A 12-year-old Marvin Ridge Middle School student’s drawing of an acorn has won the Union   County Public Schools’ second annual greeting card contest.

“I didn’t think that I was going to win. I was really surprised because I saw some really good cards out there,” said Jake [...]]]> Middle school student’s artwork used in UCPS greeting card

A 12-year-old Marvin Ridge Middle School student’s drawing of an acorn has won the Union   County Public Schools’ second annual greeting card contest.

“I didn’t think that I was going to win. I was really surprised because I saw some really good cards out there,” said Jake Kenley, a seventh grader at Marvin Ridge Middle School. “It was exciting. Everybody was congratulating me and saying, ‘Good job’ and stuff.”

He and dozens of other middle school students submitted entries for the greeting card contest, hoping theirs would be chosen to be the face of the school system’s 2009 greeting card.

Jake, who says he really enjoys detailed pencil drawings, said he chose the acorn ecause he knew it was the new UCPS logo and he knew the school system was trying to focus more on global education. “I tried to tie the acorn and the globe together.”

“When we looked at this card during the selection process, it just jumped out,” said UCPS Superintendent Dr. Ed Davis. “It was pretty much unanimous that this would be the card representing Union County Public Schools.”

Davis presented Jake with a framed version of his greeting card as a keepsake during his art class at Marvin Ridge Middle School on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. He told Jake during the presentation that he is proud to send the card to other superintendents across the state.

“This holiday card will go to a lot of people that the Union County Public Schools work with and do business with throughout the state,” he said.

Davis said the card captures the essence of what Union County Public Schools is all about. “Our new logo, the acorn, represents the system’s motto of growing possibilities,” he said during the presentation. “We hope that the little acorns we get when they’re in kindergarten grow to be tall, strong oaks by the time they graduate from high school.”

Davis noted that Jake also captured the school system’s focus on globalization by drawing the acorn as the world.

Jake’s parents, Rob and Jeanne Kenley of Waxhaw, came to share in Jake’s presentation. “We’re very excited,” said Rob Kenley. “We knew that Jake had a very strong artistic aptitude. He’s done creative things all through elementary school. He has a desire to become an architect. He’s a very creative boy.”

His mom, Jeanne Kenley, said since his design was chosen for the school system’s greeting card, Jake seems to be taking his talents more seriously.

“We always tried to get him to do more with his art because he’s very creative, but it was just something he did for fun,” she said. “I think this has pushed him a little bit because he’s asked me about scholarships in art. We saw some drawings at the high school and he said that maybe his drawings could be displayed there some day. Now I think he’s more interested.”

When explaining the contest rules to the students, Jake’s art teacher, Heidi Cabatit, said she brainstormed with students all the possible subjects that could be drawn. This included the school system’s goals to teach globalization and information on the new logo of the acorn that now represents UCPS.

“I thought Jake did a really good job,” Cabatit said. “He used the acorn. He had jingle bells on the side of the card, with the globe inside the acorn. I thought it met the Union County goals very well. He incorporated it all very well.”