August 17, 2026
Good afternoon, UTSC Families,
We are happy to share that UTSC schools will resume on Tuesday, August 18, and we look forward to welcoming everyone, from our littlest preschoolers to our Class of 2027 seniors! All of our school buildings have power and are operational and ready for students and staff.
We are also encouraged that power continues to be restored to more homes throughout our district and community. At the same time, we know that some of our families remain without power, while others are dealing with damage to their homes, clean-up, and other challenges resulting from the storms. If your family needs support or resources, please reach out to your child's building principal. We will continue to do what we can to connect families with available resources and, most importantly, take care of one another as a community.
We recognize that every family's circumstances are different, and we understand that families will need to make the decisions that are best for their children and their individual situations. If your child is unable to attend school on Tuesday or in the coming days due to storm-related circumstances, please contact your child's school office as you normally would to report the absence. These absences will be excused. Our principals will also provide information regarding a lunch pick-up option for students who are unable to attend school. Please be on the lookout for a message from your child's principal with additional building-specific information.
Regular bus transportation will be provided, and our school kitchens will be operating to provide breakfast and lunch. We ask for your continued patience with bus pick-up and drop-off times, as some road conditions may continue to impact our routes. Our drivers will take the extra time necessary to make student safety our highest priority, and we appreciate your patience and support of them.
We also know that recovery from this storm will take time. Through our high school student volunteer teams, we look forward to finding ways to lend a hand to our community and Bearcat families who may need some extra help. Information about opportunities for assistance and ways our students can support our community will be shared through our district social media channels.
All school offices and the central office are open today. At this time, we continue to be without phone service throughout the district. We will update families as soon as phone service is restored. In the meantime, please use the email addresses below if you need to contact your child's school:
John Simatovich Elementary (JSE)
Kristen Hankins, Principal — khankins@union.k12.in.us
Carey Minton, Secretary — cminton@union.k12.in.us
Union Center Elementary (UCE)
Jenna Klein, Principal — jklein@union.k12.in.us
Meredith Roberts, Secretary — mroberts@union.k12.in.us
Union Township Middle School (UTMS)
Kyle Hanaway, Principal — khanaway@union.k12.in.us
Alexis Kruszka, Secretary — akruszka@union.k12.in.us
Wheeler High School (WHS)
Ryan Kruszka, Principal — rkruszka@union.k12.in.us
Amanda Parrish, Secretary — aparrish@union.k12.in.us
Thank you for your continued patience, flexibility, and understanding. This is certainly not the beginning to the school year that any of us planned, but we are excited to finally welcome our students back into our schoolhouses tomorrow.
We also know that the first day may not look or feel like a typical first day of school, and that is okay. Our focus will be on what matters most: keeping our students safe, helping them settle into a new school year, reconnecting with one another, and making sure every student knows they are cared for and that they belong at UTSC. We will listen, support, and extend grace, knowing that every family's experience over the past week has been different. We won't sweat the little things or expect everything to be perfect. Connections and relationships will come first. Our teachers and staff are ready to greet our students with smiles, provide some much-needed normalcy, and finally begin another great year together.
We can't wait to see our Bearcats tomorrow, Tuesday, August 18!
Sincerely,
Leigh Barnes
Dear UTSC Families and Staff,
Unfortunately, John Simatovich Elementary School has lost power again as well as other areas of our community. At this time, we do not have a timeline for when electricity will be restored. As a result, Union Township School Corporation will be closed tomorrow, Monday, August 17 and we will provide daily updates.
We remain committed to having all of our schools begin the school year together and, most importantly, doing so when we can safely and fully serve our students. We also recognize that our schools are only one part of the community that continues to recover, many of our families and staff are without power. We know that everyone in our community is experiencing the impact of this storm and the recovery process differently. While some are beginning to return to normal, others are still facing signifiant challenges. We will continue to evaluate conditions across our entire community and keep all of these circumstances in mind as we make decisions to return to school.
We will provide another update tomorrow as we learn more.
Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to welcoming our student back in the near future.
Sincerely,
Leigh Barnes
Good afternoon, UTSC Families,
We are excited to share some good news! All UTSC school buildings now have power, and we are planning to welcome our students back for their first day of school on Monday, August 17! This is our plan as of today. Should anything unforeseen occur that would require us to make a change, we will notify families immediately. We wanted to provide this update as soon as possible so that families have time to prepare and plan their schedules for the week ahead. In addition, the SELF School and Porter County Career Center will also be open and welcoming students back on Monday.
On Monday, regular bus transportation will be provided, and our school kitchens will be operating as usual to serve both breakfast and lunch. If any changes to our planned lunch menus are necessary, families will be notified in advance. As with any first day of school, we also ask for your patience with bus transportation. Pick-up and drop-off times may vary as our drivers become familiar with their routes, avoid closed streets and take the extra time necessary to make student safety our highest priority. We greatly appreciate your patience and support of our bus drivers as we begin the school year. I would also like to thank our custodial, maintenance, technology and main office teams who will continue working to make sure our buildings are ready for students on Monday. As our buildings have gradually come back online and power has been restored, these teams have worked incredibly hard to get everything up and running. We are very grateful for their efforts.
While we are returning to school on Monday, we are also aware that many of our families are still without power. We know that some families are also dealing with damage to their homes, clean-up, and other challenges resulting from the storms. We understand that every family's circumstances are different and that you will need to make the decision that is best for your children and your situation. If your child is unable to attend on Monday, or on any subsequent day due to your family's circumstances, please contact your child's school office as you normally would to report the absence.
Our thoughts continue to be with all of our families who remain without power or are dealing with storm-related damage and other challenges. Please reach out to your child's building principal if there is any support or resources our schools can provide. We are a strong school community, and we want to support our Bearcat families however we can.
All school offices will be open on Monday and your building principal will reach out to families with building specific information updates. At this time, we continue to be without phone service throughout the district. We will update families when our phone service has been restored. In the meantime, please use the email addresses below if you need to contact your child's school:
John Simatovich Elementary (JSE)
Kristen Hankins, Principal — khankins@union.k12.in.us
Carey Minton, Secretary — cminton@union.k12.in.us
Union Center Elementary (UCE)
Jenna Klein, Principal — jklein@union.k12.in.us
Meredith Roberts, Secretary — mroberts@union.k12.in.us
Union Township Middle School (UTMS)
Kyle Hanaway, Principal — khanaway@union.k12.in.us
Alexis Kruszka, Secretary — akruszka@union.k12.in.us
Wheeler High School (WHS)
Ryan Kruszka, Principal — rkruszka@union.k12.in.us
Amanda Parrish, Secretary — aparrish@union.k12.in.us
Thank you for your patience, flexibility, and understanding throughout the past several days. We know this is not the start to the school year that any of us anticipated, and we know Monday's first day may look and feel different for many of our families. But inside our schoolhouses, our teachers and staff are excited and ready to welcome our Preschoolers through Seniors! They will be there with smiles, ready to provide some normalcy, reconnect with our Bearcats, and begin another great school year together. We've got this!
With Bearcat LOVE,
Leigh Barnes
Superintendent
Dear UTSC Families and Staff,
Good afternoon! We are glad to hear that power has been restored to some areas of our district, and we are hopeful that our families and community members who are still without power will see it restored very soon. If there is anything we can do to provide you support or connect you with resources, please let us know.
At this time, WHS, UTMS, and UCE all have power. Unfortunately, JSE remains without power. We continue to be hopeful that power will be restored to JSE soon and we can resume preparing our classrooms to welcome students.
Due to the continued power outage at JSE and the impact the storms have had throughout our community, all UTSC schools will be closed tomorrow, Friday, August 14. We know everyone is eager to get our school year started, and we look forward to welcoming all of our Bearcats back as soon as we can safely do so. We will provide another district update on Sunday regarding the start of school.
If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your child’s building principal. Building principals will also communicate directly with families regarding any scheduled activities, practices, or upcoming events that may be impacted.
In the meantime, please continue to take care of yourselves and know that we are thinking of everyone. Thank you for the many ways you have been there for each other during the past few days. The support, patience, and kindness shown throughout Bearcat Nation are truly what make our community so special.
Sincerely,
Leigh Barnes
UTSC is pleased to share the Indiana Department of Education’s Internet Safety Series with Bearcats and their families. This free collection includes workshop recordings and resources covering cyberbullying, social media, online gaming, artificial intelligence and deep fakes, digital privacy, oversharing, and recognizing online deception. Scan the flyer’s QR code to explore the complete collection in the Indiana Learning Lab.
Unfortunately, due to this afternoon's storms, we are going to have to cancel the New Student and 9th Grade Dinner scheduled for tonight. WHS is currently without power.
We have also cancelled all after school activities.
As always, if you have questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you and stay safe!
We wanted to let you know that our district phone system is currently experiencing a Frontier outage, and our school offices are temporarily unable to receive incoming or make outgoing phone calls. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.
If you need immediate assistance, please email your school's main office, and our staff will be happy to assist you.
Happy Shopping!
https://bsnteamsports.com/shop/mhxLBydudX
https://app.smore.com/n/tw7s1
