• August 15, 2024

     

    Dear UCS Community,

    There are signs all around our district that the start of our new school year is just around the corner. You can hear high school bands and athletic teams practicing on our fields, all of our school offices are open, and secondary registration is underway. Our UCS team is excited and eager to welcome families into another great year.

    Though summer may lend a different pace, our schools have continued to be centers of activity. We just finished an incredibly successful summer learning program that served more than 5,000 students. During these months, many staff members pursued professional development activities to focus on best practices that can be shared with their colleagues.

    This summer you may have also seen our work to begin the largest facility improvement project in UCS history. During this first phase, we are initiating improvement projects at sites across our district as we deliver on the commitments made in our 2023 Safety and Success bond issue. The scope was ambitious for the projects this summer, and we are accelerating work to make sure our buildings are ready for students. We have been impacted by a number of factors outside of our control – such as the above average rainfall this summer and supply chain issues. As a result, there are areas where we will need to be flexible as we finish the improvements. Our principals will be sharing updates with you as necessary as we move closer to the start of school.

    The summer months also represent a busy time for our Employee Services department. Across the district, we are welcoming more than 150 new team members to our UCS family. We continue to aggressively seek candidates for positions that are challenges for us and across the county, specifically childcare and transportation. If you or someone you know may be interested in being part of our staff, please encourage them to visit our employment website.

    The start of the school year is a time when everything is possible. We remain committed to providing our students and staff with a positive learning environment that carries out our mission of remarkable achievement and creates memories and traditions that are integral to the fabric of UCS.

    This year you will hear about our UCS legacy. For the first time, we are honoring 13 dedicated individuals whose service established our culture of excellence. Through this recognition, we remind ourselves of our responsibility to protect this culture for the next generation. Their stories are inspiring and are a constant reminder of how we can make a difference in something that is truly larger than ourselves. You can learn more at this link: www.uticak12.org/legacyofexcellence.

    As we celebrate this legacy, we also remain committed to improving our services to ensure they directly support the changing needs of our students. Our roadmap remains the UCS Empowered Strategic Plan and its focus on cultures of empowerment and transformation.

    Opening day in UCS is a little more than a week away. I hope you enjoy this last week of summer and are energized as we start another great year. I look forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday, August 27 for the first day of the 2024-25 school year.

     

    Sincerely,

     

    Robert S. Monroe
    Superintendent of Schools