District Mission Statement

The mission of the Union Parish School System is to ensure that all students will succeed academically and vocationally and will become productive citizens through the efforts of dedicated parents, teachers, and administrators, in order to assure a sound community economy and a family oriented quality of life for all Union Parish citizens.

Central to the philosophy of the school district is the principle that learning is an individualized behavior, and that all children can learn at varying rates and degrees.  To ensure the greatest degree of learning, the instructional program should be planned and structured to provide for differences in learning styles.  The most productive curriculum consists of well defined, sequential skills presented in an orderly framework that lends itself to predetermined educational objectives.  Every student must have the opportunity to master the same skills and attain the same performance standards. All challenged, disabled, and 504 students will be afforded accommodations, interventions, and modifications to enhance their opportunity for success. Tests for mastery learning should be conducted for all students using “state of the art” technology to provide for immediate feedback and conservation of instructional time.  Coordination between the assessment process and the classroom must be on-going with re-teaching strategies planned and implemented cooperatively.

            The focus of the Union Parish instructional program for the coming years will encompass all parts of school improvement.  Emphasis will be placed on consolidated programs and collaboration among all stakeholders.  Site-based management will be emphasized as more decisions are made by educators and parents at the local school level.  Heavy emphasis will be assigned to improving district and school performance scores and meeting growth targets at all individual schools.  Preparing all students to score in the levels of basic, mastery, and advanced will be the motivating factor of this reform effort.

Emphasis will be placed on providing more school readiness activities for pre-school children and their parents through collaborative agreements with Even Start, Head Start, private pre-school day care centers and an alternative school will be one of a variety of strategies designed to increase graduation rates and adult literacy.  Professional development activities will be central to the process of providing highly qualified and trained personnel for the education of all children in the district.  The school district believes that funding sources such as Title I, Title II, Title IV, Title V, 8(g), and other programs will be used in coordinated efforts to increase student achievement in all areas.

Philosophically, children learn best when they are in a safe, disciplined, attractive and well maintained environment.  However, the school district asserts that reasonable and practical safeguards and policies must be instituted to ensure a safe, disciplined environment conducive to learning.

Central to the concepts and attitudes of the district is the conviction that all children can achieve their maximum learning potential only in a collaborative partnership between the school, home, and community.  Parental involvement is not only a legal mandate, but a necessary tool to enhance the education of children.  The district will endeavor to encourage, motivate, educate, and involve parents to the greatest extent possible.  Although the district has the principal responsibility for the education of all children, this can most successfully be accomplished with input and involvement from the entire community.