Union County Public Schools students returned to classrooms Monday, with district leaders touting new academic offerings and setting goals for the year ahead.
At Monroe High School, teacher Amanda Price welcomed students to her equine science class with an activity designed to help them get acquainted. Students drew pictures of their interests on horse-shaped worksheets, an icebreaker tailored to the course's focus.
“It’s all about horses, so I want them to know about safety,” Price said. “They’re actually going to get to go to a horse farm at some point and work with horses.”
The agriculture course is part of the district’s career and technical education program, superintendent Andrew Houlihan said. He visited several classrooms Monday, and described the first day of school as generally smooth, aside from a few expected challenges.
“We have had some reports of some heavy traffic in some areas that have caused a little bit of delay, but the name of the game this week is: pack your patience,” Houlihan said.
Houlihan said the district has about 20 bus driver vacancies this year — but has 15 drivers set to be trained.
As for teachers, the district is in “the best hiring shape that we’ve been in since at least 2019,” Houlihan said. There are fewer than 30 teaching vacancies, mostly in the Exceptional Children’s program. But Houlihan said there are plans to work toward full staffing and keep programs going no matter what.
“We feel really good about our vacancy numbers,” Houlihan said. “Nothing that will diminish programming or education.”
Houlihan said the district wants to maintain its strong academic performance after leading North Carolina in test results last year. He also said the district aims to reduce the number of low-performing schools to zero.
The goals come after recent budget challenges that resulted in cuts to library positions and crossing guards.
Play-based kindergarten pilot
UCPS is also launching a new play-based kindergarten program this school year. The pilot program will begin in nine classrooms at Shiloh Valley Primary School.
Houlihan said the initiative goes beyond traditional recess and is designed to teach core subjects such as reading and math through hands-on learning.
“It’s really more about cooperative learning and having the ability to relate and have social skills, collaboration skills, decision-making skills, but applying the knowledge that you’ve been taught in real-world situations through play,” Houlihan said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is launching a similar pilot program at nine elementary schools during the 2026-27 school year.
