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!
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Address: Wheeler High School 587 W 300 N Valparaiso IN 46385
Do you have a cool job? Do you want to talk about it with high school students??? We are happy to host you and our students would LOVE to meet you!
Questions? Contact: Kim Dobson 219 759 2561 x 2222 kdobson@union.k12.in.us
Please fill out this RSVP Google form to let us know you (or a representative of your organization) will be able to attend.
Visit the link https://forms.gle/zFx3YCgbeWKgnzfcA
or scan the QR code to access the RSVP!
Please see the newsletter for all things senior year and future plans. There is something in here for everyone, regardless of your plans. Information about employment after high school, college applications, military enlistment, or combinations of all of those are included here so please check it out!
https://app.smore.com/n/9g48f
https://www.youtube.com/live/nvO-Zag-IHY
Class of 2026 Graduation Ceremony has been moved indoors!
