Patton’s renovations on track for summer; plans for new entrance and admin area reviewed
By Karen Cresta, Correspondent, The Times
Young artists from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District now have their artwork on display at the district’s administration building.
EAST MARLBOROUGH – Unionville Chadds Ford School District’s (UCFSD) Board of Education kicked off its work session on Monday night by streaming it live on the internet and honoring elementary students from the art enrichment program – Art Beat.
John Sanville, Superintendent of Schools, welcomed the young artists and gave credit and thanks to Samantha Napier Hage who instructed the art group. Each young artist received a certificate of artistic achievement while parents and board members applauded.
The bright and creative artwork is displayed and now adorns the hallways of the entrance to the district offices at Unionville High School. Hage selected about 18 elementary students by challenging them to persevere and champion the artwork.
“We now have beautiful student art work that’s up and I will speak personally – it brightens my day when I walk in, in the morning, to see the work that each and every one of you has done but more importantly it speaks to me that we advertise a lot how well our students do on tests but it shows that our students are more than test scores and that the experience here is of a well-rounded experience that includes art,” boosted Sanville.
Board member Kathleen Do added, “I walked into the building today and I was just overwhelmed by the colors and variety of the paintings. What a treat.”
The board also commended the efforts of Charles F. Patton Middle School (CFPMS) Family and Consumer Science (FCS) teachers, Betsy Ballard and Kim Hisler, and announced their first place win for a nationally recognized award, the Consumer Science Magna Award. The award will be given on March 21.
Ballard and Hisler presented their Patton Gardens Project at the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education (PAMLE) Conference in February. The project was the idea of Ballard and Hisler to teach students how to grow and create healthy meals. The food grown on the middle school grounds was used in the FCS labs, sent to the local food bank, and used in cafeteria lunches. Students learned the importance of sustainability and its impact.
CFPMS Principal, Tim Hoffman, announced, “We’re really proud of the FCS program and the kids especially, who make it happen. I just think it’s vindication for a lot of work over the years and I think it’s an unbelievable national award to bestow and I give all of the credit to Betsy and Kim and the kids. And again, it’s one of those hallmark programs that when you think of Patton it’s one of those things you think about so I’m glad it’s getting the recognition it deserves.”
The board mentioned that the district-wide magazine, UCF Connect, will be featuring an article on the Patton Gardens Project in its March publication. The magazine’s second publication will be distributed at no cost to all homeowners in the district.
Rick Hostetler presented a review of the work to be done this summer at CFPMS. The work will begin immediately at the close of school. The highlights include a new entrance and administrative area. The awning at the current entrance will be removed and the entrance relocated at the corner of the building facing route 82. The redesign focuses on a new entrance and main office area that promotes safety, security and better operation. This is part of year two of the Ten-Year facilities plan. A recent bond refinancing resulted in $1,056,000 that will be used to fund some of the project. Hostetler informed the board that the district will not incur any debt for this phase of the plan based on funds available.
In addition to the redesign of the building for a more secure footprint, emphasis will be placed on additional and new lighting and flooring and a yellow and purple color scheme to update and modernize the building. The redesign also includes additional space from the auditorium for the band and music classrooms and strings classrooms as well as relocating the health rooms near the gym, a new nurse’s suite and guidance offices housed in the same area.
The cost of year two of the plan will be slightly higher than year one at 1.3 million. This also is inclusive of renovations at Hillendale. The board will be authorizing to seek bids for the work at next week’s regular meeting and approval in April.
The board discussed the proposed goal by the Curriculum Council to have the elementary schools follow a trimester system instead of a current quarterly system by next school year. The results would give teachers more instructional time instead of being assessment driven. The board will discuss the recommendation to move in this direction at next month’s meeting and it will become a voting item before the end of this school year.
Board member Michael Rock reviewed Governor Wolfe’s recent budget and education main proposals and the impact to the district. The proposed school funding increase for 2015-2016 is listed at $200,046. A copy of the presentation can be found at www.ucfsd.org under board documents. The work session in April will include a budget overview.
In other finance news, the board discussed the pros and cons of purchasing extended warranties for parts and labor on five new full-sized school buses. They will do a cost analysis on the purchases of ten-year/$200,000 warranties for the new buses based on the current increase cost of replacement parts.
The district has applied for trademarks for the middle and high school’s logos in order to reap the benefits of receiving monetary royalties from retailers and to gain control of spirit wear marketing. An exclusive vendor will need to be chosen and approved by the board.
