Utopia ISD

Congratulation to 3rd and 6th grade District Academic UIL award winners! 3rd Grade Chess Puzzle - 6th Hunter Schmidt 6th Grade Number Sense - 5th Max Feller Impromptu Speaking - 5th Aurora McAdams Editorial Writing - 3rd Emily Wiekamp, 5th Morgan Rhodes Listening Skills - 5th Max Feller Oral Reading - 5th Macee Rhodes, 6th Alexis Long Calculator Apps - 3rd Rodrigo Rios, 6th Max Feller Maps, Graphs & Charts - 4th Max Feller Ready Writing - 4th Emily Wiekamp, 6th Aurora McAdams

Congratulation to 2nd and 7th grade District Academic UIL award winners! 2nd Grade Chess Puzzle - 1st Brandon Rodriguez, 4th Aubree Dean 7th Grade Calculator Applications - 4th Danika McCarty, 6th Jace Bennett Impromptu Speaking - 3rd Ransom Harthcock, 4th Andy McNeil Oral Reading - 2th Hallie Moore, 3rd Eden McAdams, 6th Chloe Chamness Listening Skills - 4th Andy McNeil Modern Oratory - 1st Chloe Chamness, 5th Kinsley Cox, 6th Hallie Moore Chess Puzzle - 2th Brayden Long, 5th Danika McCarty Editorial Writing - 5th Darcy Clark, 6th Eden McAdams Number Sense - 6th Brayden Long Science - 6th Ransom Harthcock

Congratulation to 1st and 8th grade District Academic UIL award winners! First Grade Storytelling - 2nd Zanna Lopez, 5th Luke Graham, 6th Kasen Bartolo Eighth Grade Mathematics - 1st Taylor Wiekamp, 6th Jayci Barfield Spelling - 1st Taylor Wiekamp, 6th Dustine Charlton Chess Puzzle - 6th Krisjen Manis Dictionary Skills - 4th Christopher Culver, 6th Krisjen Manis Listening - 1st Taylor Wiekamp Reading Writing - 2nd Taylor Wiekamp Social Studies - 5th Taylor Wiekamp Maps, Graphs & Charts - 4th Taylor Wiekamp, 6th Azlan Pfeil Number Sense - 2nd Taylor Wiekamp Science - 1st Taylor Wiekamp, 5th Jayci Barfield *more winners to be posted later*

POSITION AVAILABLE UTOPIA ISD VEHICLE MAINTENANCE / CAMPUS MAINTENANCE / BUS DRIVER Utopia ISD is seeking to fill a vehicle maintenance / campus maintenance / bus driver position. Vehicle maintenance will include but not be limited to daily inspection for any issues, filling fuel tanks, making sure vehicles are ready for extra-curricular trips, taking vehicles to be inspected, having tires changed, etc. Depending on qualifications the position may include normal routine maintenance of changing fluids and battery replacements. Campus maintenance duties will include but not be limited to electrical, plumbing, carpentry, and other general maintenance duties around campus. Assisting with emptying of outside trashcans, mowing, trimming grass and shrubbery, keeping school grounds clean. A successful applicant will either possess a license and certification to drive a school bus in the state of Texas or will be required to immediately begin and complete the process to obtain a license and certification. A yearly exam by a physician is required to obtain and maintain a school bus license in the state of Texas. Interested individuals should complete an online application at www.utopiaisd.net Pay dependent upon experience and qualifications For questions please call (830) 966-1928

To help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus the Utopia ISD campus has been closed to visitors. In that same effort we are asking that parents not attend the homecoming pep rally in person tomorrow. As an alternative the pep rally will be live streamed tomorrow on this facebook page beginning at approximately 11:50 AM. Thank you so much for your help and understanding!

HOMECOMING MUMS!! COME AND GET 'EM!!

A/AB Honor Roll, Perfect Attendance award breakfast for Junior High and High School tomorrow morning, Wednesday, @ 7:45am in the cafeteria. Elementary Award Certificates, a special snack, and game will be presented to students in their classrooms on Thursday. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions parents are not able to attend either event. Thank you for your continued support and understanding.

All grade levels at Utopia ISD will be returning to face-to-face instruction on Monday, January 11th. Parents with specific questions concerning their students ability to return after a quarantine period please call (830) 966-1928.

The Jr. High Basketball game that is scheduled for Thursday, January 7, 2021 in D'Hanis has been moved to Utopia. The game times will be: Girls A at 5:30pm Boys A at 6:30pm

Good afternoon everyone! To say that the first day back from winter break has been challenging would be an understatement, but once again the Utopia ISD family has overcome the obstacles and we are well on our way to getting over another hurdle and moving forward in a positive direction! As many of you are well aware, a significant number of the faculty, staff, students, and community members of Utopia ISD were affected by the COVID-19 virus over the winter break. After analyzing all of the information that our awesome faculty and staff gathered today, we determined that it will be best to continue with remote instruction for the PK through fourth grade classes for the rest of this week (January 4-8). There is only one teacher in those grades that is able to return before January 11th and there are not enough substitutes to be able to cover all of the classes. On the other hand, the vast majority of our fifth grade through twelfth grade students and faculty are healthy and able to return to face to face instruction. Therefore, students in these grades will return to on campus face to face instruction on Wednesday, January 6th. We will also be implementing some new procedures as well as reinforcing some of the existing protocols. A plan has been developed for checking students' temperatures when they come to school each day. Parents will still need to complete the COVID-19 certification for each of their students each day before sending them to school, but teachers will also check temperatures when the students arrive to their first period class. Please be aware that any student with a temperature or COVID-19 symptoms will be sent home. Options for returning to school will be explained by the school health professional upon pick up. Any student over ten years of age must wear a mask while in a school building and unable social distance (six feet). Students ten years of age and younger will be asked to wear masks when moving from one location to another and when exposed to students in other grade levels. Parents and guests will NOT be allowed in the school buildings during school hours. If a parent or guest needs to deliver something to a student or needs to pick up a student they must check in at the front desk and must be wearing a mask before being allowed in the building. Noon meals will still be allowed to be delivered to the campus. However, all meals must be delivered to the front desk and picked up by the student there. Students needing to pick up technology or anything out of the classroom or locker may call the front office at (830) 966-3339 to make arrangements. Concession stands at the basketball games will be suspended until further notice. Utopia ISD has been very fortunate that the COVID-19 virus has not affected us more that it has. However, with the occurrence of these cases over the winter break we are reminded that we are not immune to the effects of the outside world. We thank you for your continued patients and understanding while we take the precautions necessary to protect the health and safety of our students, faculty, staff, and community. Thank you, Michael Superintendent Utopia ISD

Utopia ISD will be in a remote learning setting today and tomorrow. Further detailed information will be released as soon as it is compiled. Thank you

December 16, 2020 This evening the administration at Utopia ISD was made aware of the fact that an employee of the district tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Upon learning of the positive test results the district followed the Texas Education Agency guidelines for close contact and contact tracing to determine what individuals in the district would be affected. Following the guidelines, it was determined that five faculty members and two students will require quarantine. At this time no further action is being taken to cancel or postpone any other activities. However, we will continue to monitor the situation and make adjustments, if it becomes necessary. The safety of the faculty, staff, students, and community members will always be the first priority of the district. Once again, we appreciate your understanding and patience in these very uncertain and trying times. Thank you, Michael Derry Superintendent Utopia ISD

UPCOMING EVENTS at UTOPIA SCHOOL Elementary Christmas Program, Thurs 12/17 @ 6:30 in Gym A Ugly Christmas Sweater Contest, Fri 12/18 Early Release, Fri 12/18 @ 12:55pm Christmas Holiday, Dec 21-Jan 1

Christmas program flyer

December 09, 2020 Today, at approximately 1:30 PM, officials at Utopia ISD were informed that a male student athlete at Comstock High School tested positive for the COVID-19 virus this morning. The athlete participated in the basketball game last night against the Utopia High School Buffalo boys’ basketball team. Following the close contact rules set forth by the Center for Disease Control all members of the Utopia ISD boys basketball team that participated in the game last night will be required to quarantine for ten days. This will mean that each of the boys will need to remain at home until Saturday, December 19th. All quarantined students will be moved to a remote learning setting. No other students were in direct contact with the source of the virus and at this time will not need to be quarantined. Utopia ISD will release any related information concerning this situation should any further developments occur. Please rest assured that the safety of the students and faculty are always of paramount importance to everyone at Utopia ISD and we take this situation very seriously. We will continue to monitor the spread of the COVID-19 virus and take any appropriate actions necessary to protect staff and students. We appreciate your understanding! Thank you, Michael Derry Superintendent Utopia ISD

Please be aware that Utopia ISD plans to conduct a LOCK DOWN drill on Friday, December 11, 2020 at approximately 1:00 PM. Please do not be alarmed if your student comes home and talks about the lockdown. It is only a drill and is required by the Texas Education Agency and is a normal part of each semester.

WOW do we have an AMAZING community or what? I published a request to sponsor a sophomore at HOBY Leadership camp and we now have sufficient funds to send 2 students!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to the generous donors who made this tradition possible during difficult times.

A big shout out and congratulations to Meagan Cole (grades 7-9) and Tyler Trammell (grades 10-12) for winning the Nueces-Sabinal-Frio Soil and Water Conservation District essay contest! Each student will received a check for $100 for their winning essay.

4-H will be serving Chili at Christmas in the Canyon starting at 5pm. Make sure to stop by and have some delicious Chili.

Don't forget about Christmas in the Canyon and Light up Parade is this Saturday, December 5th @ 6:15pm. All businesses and personal flats are welcome to participate. We will be lining up at the Water Plant at 6:15pm.