UNITED SCHOOL DISTRICT

On Friday, March 28th, Komatsu representatives Lee Barbus (Site Manager) and Marlena Booth (Human Resource Manager) donated and delivered a new Bambu Lab 3D Printer, Bambu Lab AMS Filament System, and several boxes of 3D Printer Filament to our students at United Elementary School. This new addition to the United Elementary STEM Program will support our students in educational opportunities to further their STEM instruction. Komatsu has provided United students various educational opportunities through our STEM partnership initiatives in which students have visited the Komatsu site and are planning collaborative learning projects in the future.

The Education Policy and Leadership Center is offering a series of Public Forum via Zoom for state residents to participate in titled "What Education Does Each Child in PA Need?"

Westmoreland County Community College and United School District recently partnered on a grant opportunity to support student STEM initiatives in the area of commercial drone education and certification. This grant helps support United School District in its offering of a Commercial Drone Flying Course in which students participate in a drone flying curriculum that aligns with the FAA Commercial Drone Exam. At the culmination of this course, students take a field trip to complete the license exam and if they are successful in passing will have this credential to support their postsecondary plans. The grant supports the cost of the fee for the FAA Commercial Drone Exam for each student, transportation, and the purchase of a new state of the art drone in which students can use during their learning experiences.

The United School District has students with exceptional talents that do not always get the attention that they deserve. Marissa Bowers is a perfect example, Marissa painted this mural on a classroom wall in four days, just utilizing time that she had between classes.

Information on Kindergarten and Pre-K Counts Registration.

REMINDER: Attention Jr./Sr. High Parents: We will be holding a Parent Informational Meeting regarding Dual Enrollment, Advanced Placement, and Associates in High School opportunities on March 20th at 5:00 p.m. Please register using the link below: https://forms.gle/SwPWPmPFMi1tgNKm8

Check out the GROW PA scholarship opportunity for graduating seniors as well as currently enrolled post-secondary students through PHEAA.

Please see the Revised 2024-2025 United School District School Calendar (Approved 03/11/2025).

The Walking Track has opened for the season on March 14th. The hours will be 6:00 p.m. until dusk on weekdays; and 8:00 a.m. until dusk on weekends. Please remember that if there is a district event taking place, the track will be closed to the public for walking.

This past week several High School students participated in the Heritage Academic Competitions held at various schools throughout the conference. Here are a few pictures of each of the five teams that participated this week. Congratulations to all teams!

The United High School Senior Class is hosting a Red Cross Blood Drive on Thursday, March 20th in the High School Main Gym. Blood supplies are critically low, and every pint of blood donated helps benefit our seniors with a scholarship from the American Red Cross. Appointments are required to attend. To schedule an appointment, visit the following website: https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=UnitedHS

On March 5, United Elementary School sent three teams to compete in the Regional STEM Design Challenge in Elderton. Each team was tasked with using Knex to create a prototype of their own, original solution to a problem affecting traffic, infrastructure, and/or urban development. Our students competed in a field of 38 teams from 8 school districts. Thank you to these students for representing our school so well, and making us proud! A special congratulations to our team of 6th graders (Andrew Buchkoski, Madelyn Oliver, and Ona Sisitiki) who placed first in the 6th to 8th grade division. They will now advance to the state competition in Harrisburg this May.

Attention Jr./Sr. High Parents: We will be holding a Parent Informational Meeting regarding Dual Enrollment, Advance Placement, and Associates in High School opportunities on March 20th. Please register using the link below: https://forms.gle/SwPWPmPFMi1tgNKm8

Please consider nominating one (or more) of our outstanding educators for the Excellence in Education Teacher of the Year Award. One teacher selected from United School District will be in the running for the Indiana County Excellence in Education Award in April. Nominate a teacher by using the link below: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=uEQay2u_MEOSo_KQn8gwrAFjOwsoOrFEp6s23Q1lWDJUOUpIUVJJR0UxOEEwWENCV1NGNkMzOVlNWi4u

The attached letter is a followup communication to a letter shared by the school district on January 10, 2025 regarding Powerschool. We ask that you please read the letter in its entirety as it relates to an email that some have recently received directly from Powerschool.

Thank you to everyone who attended Lego Literacy Night! We had over 250 students and parents join us to participate in fun activities to celebrate the importance of Reading.

Don’t forget to join us this evening at Lego Literacy Night at United Elementary School from 4-6!

Mr. Bevard and his students accepted donations from United Students for Four Footed Friends. Pictured below are some of our volunteers delivering the donations. A great big shout out of thanks to the United Community for their support.

Just a reminder! Please join us at United Elementary School on Wednesday, February 26th for Literacy Night!

What: Admissions informational briefing on the cadet experience and application process for West Point. When: March 19th at 7:00pm Where: Somerset Area High School 645 South Columbia Avenue Somerset, PA 15501 Who: School Counselors, JROTC Staff, students with an open admissions file, students interested in applying to West Point in the future. This event will be hosted by The Pittsburgh Field Force on behalf of West Point Admissions. Please RSVP here: https://apply.westpoint.edu/register/SomersetPA2025 Please direct any questions to admissionsne@westpoint.edu.