{"id":37658,"date":"2017-12-05T14:31:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T19:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=37658"},"modified":"2017-12-07T08:56:28","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T13:56:28","slug":"ucf-board-elects-officers-talks-test-scores-building-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=37658","title":{"rendered":"UCF board elects officers, talks test scores, building experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JP Phillips<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tom Day and Elise Anderson take the oath of office at Monday night’s Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education meeting.<\/p><\/div>\n

EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 Returning board members Elise Anderson, Tom Day, Jeff Hellrung, and Steve Simonson were sworn in at the December 4, 2017 Unionville Chadds-Ford School Board organization and special meeting.<\/p>\n

Hellrung and Vic Dupuis were elected president and vice president. \u00a0Then each principal presented their annual review highlighting their building\u2019s student experience, academics and points of pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was clear that education meant more than just test scores.<\/p>\n

High school principal James Conley talked about the theme of kindness.\u00a0 He spoke about the positive experience of partnering with Hardin-Jefferson school district in Sour Lake, Tx, that was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.\u00a0\u00a0 Fundraising efforts have already raised $50,000.<\/p>\n

Patton middle school principal Steve Dissinger discussed the goal of \u201ccreating a school that teaches kids to love school.\u201d He explained how innovation and problem-solving is encouraged through their Maker Space program, an area in the library where students can work together or individually at their own pace to explore topics of interest not necessarily curriculum-related.\u00a0 He also discussed the successful use of Chromebooks, and how the technology team ensures that websites accessed enhance the student experience.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The principals of the six Unionville-Chadds Ford School District schools spoke Monday night about their buildings. From left, back row, Unionville High School Principal Jimmy Conley, Hillendale principal Michael Audevard, Chadds-Ford principal Shawn Dutkiewicz and front row from left, Unionville Elementary Principal Michelle Lafferty, Pocopson Principal Clif Beaver and Patton Middle School Principal Steve Dissinger.<\/p><\/div>\n

Unionville elementary principal Michelle Lafferty stressed the \u201cUE Way\u2014Be safe, be open, be present.\u201d\u00a0 She highlighted a treasure-hunt-style example that fosters problem solving and perseverance. She also discussed the annual Veteran\u2019s Day celebration, where the youngest students experienced gratitude as they lined the hallways waving flags and thanking our local heroes as they passed on their way to the cafeteria.<\/p>\n

Hillendale principal Michael Audevard gave examples of student empathy.\u00a0 He highlighed the Funky Waffle, a donated RV that was repaired and loaded with food, water, clothing and toys for a family that lost everything in Hurricane Harvey.\u00a0 Their Martin Luther King event brought students and the community together to prepare soup and sandwiches for those in need. \u00a0Audevard also spotlighted wellness efforts like the before-school running club, where at times a third of the school walks\/runs the Hillendale Trail for some exercise before school.<\/p>\n

Pocopson principal Clif Beaver talked about problem-solving and innovation via their Maker Space program, their fourth-grade vegetable garden, and the trout project.\u00a0 Students raise trout from egg to fish release, while learning about water conditions and handling unexpected developments.<\/p>\n

Kindness was demonstrated when they partnered with Sour Lake elementary to provide $1,700 for gym equipment destroyed by Hurricane Harvey.\u00a0 The third grade \u201cblessings in a backpack\u201d program collected items for needy families.\u00a0 And 700 voices sang \u201chappy birthday\u201d to a 100-year-old Normandy hero at their Veteran\u2019s Day celebration.<\/p>\n

Chadds-Ford principal Shawn Dutkiewicz showed their school\u2019s genorosity by partnering with Mitchell Elementary in West Philadelphia, resulting in sending basic life items like food, toothpaste, and clothes.\u00a0 Additionally, $2,500 in books were purchased, one for every child in grades three to five (for some, the first book they ever owned).<\/p>\n

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Tim Hoffman gave an aggregate of the district\u2019s test scores, that fairly accurately followed the results of each school.<\/p>\n

In grades three through six, the Pennsylvania State School Assessment (PSSA) is the primary measure for students.\u00a0 In general, English Language Arts (ELA) and Science results are strong throughout. \u00a0Mathematics, while above state and Chester County school average, are areas for improvement for the middle, and three of the four elementary schools. However, 18 additional middle school students successfully took the Algebra Keystone exam.<\/p>\n

In her presentation, Lafferty explained how \u201cguided math\u201d (differentiating instruction to an individual\u2019s level) is being used to improve future results.\u00a0 Dutkiewicz credits Chadds-Ford\u2019s improvement this year mostly to the professional development received on guided math.<\/p>\n

Dupuis asked Assistant Superintendent John Nolen if he felt the math curriculum should be changed.\u00a0 Nolen called the PSSA an \u201cinteresting test,\u201d stating that some students that passed the algebra Keystone did not pass the PSSA.\u00a0 Some students are also in above-grade-level classes, and could have forgotten some of the specific concepts needed to score well on the PSSA.\u00a0 \u201cWe don\u2019t want to chase the test,\u201d he stated, noting that they are not considering a new curriculum.<\/p>\n

High school academics are measured differently.\u00a0 Conley advised that scores are strong, with 94% of students attending college.\u00a0 SAT scores are well above the state average (based on a total score of 1600, Unionville averaged 1246 in the first year of the \u201cnew\u201d SAT that incorporated the writing section into the Language Arts piece).\u00a0 ACT scores are also well above state average (26.2 versus 23.7 state, 21 US).\u00a0 449 students took at least one Advance Placement (AP) courses, resulting in over 1,000 administered tests.<\/p>\n

Hellrung summed up academic performance by noting that \u201cthe board and administration is in sync,\u201d adding that everyone seems to \u201cunderstand the uses and limits of data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many board members expressed appreciation to the principals for their efforts in modeling the importance of community, perseverance, and kindness to the students.<\/p>\n

Day noted that scores matter, but \u201ccharacter is equally important.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see the overview and principals\u2019 presentation, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JP Phillips, Staff Writer, The Times EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 Returning board members Elise Anderson, Tom Day, Jeff Hellrung, and Steve Simonson were sworn in at the December 4, 2017 Unionville Chadds-Ford School Board organization and special meeting. Hellrung and Vic Dupuis were elected president and vice president. \u00a0Then each principal presented their annual review […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7426,4582,675,1286],"class_list":["post-37658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","tag-reorganization-meeting","tag-test-scores","tag-unionville-chadds-ford-school-district"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37658"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37673,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37658\/revisions\/37673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}