Dear Parents/Guardians:

As Principal of Union Canal Elementary School, I am delighted to welcome new and returning families to the 2024-2025 school year!  We at Union Canal are so excited to have our students back with us. Our staff eagerly awaits the laugher, energy, enthusiasm, and excitement that our students bring to our school.

We are incredibly excited to start this new school year with you, a year in which we will focus on growing in wisdom through creating curiosity and sparking engagement within our students.  Our staff looks forward to hosting school events and our parent group, the UC PTT (Parent, Teacher, Together), is excited to partner with our school to host student and family friendly events as well.  Through love, grace, compassion, and kindness we will support one another, our school, our students, and our community.

We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both home and school.  Creating a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education.  As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you to know that we will do our very best to help educate your child. To stay well informed of important school information, please be sure to have an updated cell phone number, SMS (text) and email address in Skyward in order to receive information via our Skylert Notification system.  Also, remember to visit your child’s teacher’s school social media and student information accounts, and be an active participant to news, classroom, and school events.

Please know that we highly value home/school communication here at Union Canal. It is vital and plays an integral role in each student’s success.  We encourage you to contact us if/when the need arises, and to stay in the know about your child’s studies, assignments, assessments, and school activities, as well as other events and happenings. I invite you to become an active participant in our school community through volunteering, joining and or helping with our UC PTT, or attending and supporting our school events.  Research clearly supports that when parents/guardians participate, are involved in their child’s education, and communicate regularly with their child’s school, there is a greater likelihood of academic success for the child.

Again, I welcome you to Union Canal Elementary School and to our wonderful community.  We thank you for your continued support and look forward to working productively together. 

Sincerely,

Bernard J. McGinty III, Ed.D.