Weekly District Update - Feb. 10, 2023
The Uintah School Board voted 3-2 during Wednesday night’s business meeting to have all K-5 students return to in-person learning for 4 hours on Fridays beginning next school year. Students in grades 6-12 will remain on the current Friday schedule.
The board’s vote followed months spent collecting and reviewing student learning data, as well as thousands of survey responses from members of various stakeholder groups. Board members publicly discussed the data and the survey results for more than 5 hours during an open meeting held on Jan. 30. They also received public comment on the issue for nearly 30 minutes on Wednesday night and held a lengthy discussion before voting.
The new Friday schedule for students in grades K-5 goes into effect at the start of the 2023-24 school year in August. The district will release specific schedules for elementary, middle and high school students before the start of the new school year.
Video of Wednesday’s work session and business meeting can be found on the
district’s YouTube channel. An audio recording of the work session can be found
HERE. An audio recording of the business meeting can be found
HERE.
Board Celebrations
During its business meeting, the board celebrated the district’s students of the month for February. The students are J.J. Mock (Central Cove Preschool); Blake Marsh (Ashley Elementary); Jaxton Atwood (Davis Elementary); Jace Holland (Discovery Elementary); Maxx Powers, (Eagle View Elementary); Klayson Murray (Lapoint Elementary); Mariana Romas Hernandez (Maeser Elementary); Elijah Mott (Naples Elementary); Georgeena Tilo (Uintah Middle School); Bridger Robb (Vernal Middle School); Alexa Castillo (Uintah High School); and Ellcie Davis (Ashley Valley Education Center/Uintah Online).
Congratulations to these outstanding students and thank you to everyone who supports them!
The board also celebrated USD instructional coach Bekah Jones, who has been named Outstanding Coach of the Year by the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology. Jones will formally receive her award during the annual UCET conference in Provo next month.
State of the District Event
The Uintah Schools Foundation will host a State of the District event on Monday at the Uintah Conference Center. The event begins at 8 a.m. and will include a presentation by Superintendent Rick Woodford, as well as performances by the Uintah High Jazz Band, the Uintah High Choir, and the Maeser/Discovery Elementary School Combined Choir. There is no cost to attend and everyone in the community is invited.
Sterling Scholar Awards Night
Uintah High School will celebrate its Sterling Scholar candidates on Monday at 6:30 p.m. in the Vernal Middle School auditorium. This year’s Sterling Scholar candidates are Shelby Accuttoroop (Science); Victoria Barrus (Social Science); Anya Brown (English); EmmaLyn Day (Trade and Technical Education); Nataly Rosas Franco (Computer Science); Olivia Hawkes (Dance); Briel Pettit (Instrumental Music); Alec Rimmasch (Mathematics); Adam Semadeni (General Scholarship); and Gentry Yeaman (Visual Arts). They compete at the Northeast Region Sterling Scholar Competition next month.
Maeser Elementary Art Showcase
Maeser Elementary will hold an Art Showcase event Monday-Thursday during school hours. More than 500 pieces of student artwork will be on display for students, staff and parents to enjoy. Each grade will be showcased in their class area. Visitors must check in at the school office before going to view the art.
Pandemonium Jazz Dinner 2023
Pandemonium, the Uintah High Jazz Band, will host its 6th annual Jazz Dinner fundraiser at Uintah Conference Center on Wednesday. The event starts at 6 p.m. with dinner seatings available every 15 minutes until 7:45 p.m. Basin Big Band will join Pandemonium again this year. For tickets visit
https://uintahband.ludus.com/index.php.
No School Feb. 17-Feb. 20
There is no school on Friday, Feb. 17. It is a Parent-Teacher Conference Trade Day. There is also no school on Monday, Feb. 20, in observance of Presidents Day. The district office will be open Friday but closed Monday for the holiday.
Weekend Events
The Uintah High Girls Basketball Team hosts the Stansbury Stallions today for a region game. Sophomores play at 3:30 p.m., followed by the freshman and JV games at 5:15 p.m. Varsity tips off at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at
www.uhsutes.com under the Tickets tab. Can't make it to the game? The Uintah High School Student Broadcasting team is streaming the Main Gym games on Channel V6 at
www.channelv6.com.
GO UTES!