September 27, 2023 - ChaddsFordLive.com

UHS ranked among the best

Unionville High School has been ranked No. 307 in the nation among the 2023-2024 Best High Schools by U.S. News & World Report. The rankings evaluate more than 17,600 schools at the national, state, and local levels.

The school was also ranked No. 6 in Pennsylvania and No. 117 in STEM High Schools in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

“This is the highest national ranking that Unionville High School has ever received,” said John Sanville, Unionville-Chadds Ford School District superintendent. “To be ranked 307 out of 17,600 schools is an incredible achievement. This doesn’t happen by accident – it is the result of having the best educators leading instruction, an engaged Board that supports academic achievement, a challenging and diversified curriculum, and a hard-working community of learners who make us proud every day. This is a great achievement that our community can be proud of!”

U.S. News & World Report’s methodology focuses on six indicators of school quality: college readiness; breadth of curriculum; scores on state proficiency tests; performance in reading, math, and science; underserved student performance; and graduation rates.

Unionville High School also recently learned that 18 students have been named semifinalists and an additional 22 students were commended in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. The National Merit Scholarship Program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. Having 40 students qualify for the National Merit Scholarship Program is another example of UCFSD’s outstanding academic achievement.

“Our students have a strong intrinsic drive to excel academically, and we have exceptional educational leaders who fuel that drive in the classroom each day,” stated Unionville High School Principal, Amy Jenkins. “We have the best staff and we continue to stay current with our practices and curriculum in order to maintain an excellent education for our students. Also, Unionville High School would not be a nationally top-ranked school without our community. The only way we’re successful is through the partnerships we build with our parents, Board, alumni, and community members.”

About Press Release

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Police Log Sept. 28: Child porn, shoplifting

Police

Pennsylvania State Police

Avondale Barracks

• State police from the Avondale barracks are investigating a case of child pornography in East Marlborough Township, that has been traced to Kennett Square. A mother called police to say her two sons had sent nude photos to someone posing as a juvenile female on Snapchat, but who is really a 23-year-old man from Kennett Square. This suspect “had sent inappropriate messages to the victims alluding to the fact that he wanted to have sexual relations with them. The offender knows the victims from volunteering as a firefighter,” the report said. The suspect was not identified in the report.

• Police said Antonio Tinoco, 56, of East Fallowfield, was cited after he fell asleep at the wheel and crossed over into oncoming traffic. According to the report, Tinoco was traveling south on Doe Run Road while another car was driving north. That second driver attempted to avoid Tinoco by switching into the other opposite lane, but then Tinoco woke up, noticed he was in the wrong lane, and attempted to fix it by quickly turning into the correct lane but struck the other car. No injuries were reported but both vehicles had to be towed.

• Carlos Linares Garcia, 24, of Oxon Hill, Md., was arrested for DUI in East Marlborough Township on Sept. 17, police said. The incident happened at 1:11 a.m. at Route 1 and Union Street. The report said troopers stopped Garcia for multiple traffic violations and observed indicators of impairment after making contact with him. The report continued by saying the observations were confirmed by field sobriety and breath tests.

• A 37-year-old woman from Newark was arrested for stealing $33 worth of merchandise from the Walmart in East Marlborough Township on Sept. 19.

• A 17-year-old boy from West Chester was cited for driving too fast on Fairville Road in Pennsbury Township on the night of Sept. 19. According to the police report, he was traveling west on Fairville Road, tried to negotiate a right-hand curve but lost control and crashed into an embankment on the opposite side of the roadway. No injuries were reported.

• Police said a 15-year-old girl from Kennett Square was arrested for making terroristic threats against a 58-year-old woman. Police said the girl made numerous threatening phone calls to Chester County Radio and made threatening statements to an adult female.

• Police said a 17-year-old girl from Glen Mills was cited for her involvement in a two-car crash on Kennett Pike in Pennsbury Township on Sept. 9. A passenger in the other car was injured, according to the report. The crash occurred as the teen was attempting to make a left turn from S. Fairville Road, into the northbound lane of Kennett Pike. Police said she stopped before the stop sign at the intersection but then proceeded without clearance, subsequently being struck by the second car as it was traveling south on Kennett Pike.

• State police from the Avondale barracks arrested two women on drug charges following a traffic stop in Kennett Square on Sept. 21. The suspects were not named in the report, but it did say one is 22 years old from Kennett Square and the other is 30 years old from West Grove. The report said police stopped the vehicle, a 2014 Jeep, for vehicle code violations. Police said, they could smell marijuana when they approached the vehicle, and that the driver displayed indicators of impairment. The passenger was arrested on three warrants and later transported to Chester County Prison, police said.

• Walmart in East Marlborough Township was ripped off again and police said they arrested a 48-year-old woman from West Chester for shoplifting. No details of what the suspect took, but she was apprehended and taken to state police barracks for fingerprinting and processing.

• A domestic dispute in Pocopson Township led to the arrest of a 30-year-old woman from West Grove. Details of the incident were not related, but the report said the woman pushed a 42-year-old man during a verbal argument on Aug. 17.

Kennett Square Police Department

Police said they arrested Ruben Palacios-Valadez, of Kennett Square for DUI while in his home. At 12:38 a.m. on Sept. 23, borough police were dispatched for a report of a hit-and-run accident involving two parked vehicles in the 100 Block of W. South Street. There was significant damage to both legally parked vehicles, including splatter marks of coolant approximately ten feet from in front of the vehicle’s final resting place. There were two separate trails of coolant, one leading from the initial impact point to the final resting place of the damaged vehicles and one reversing from the initial impact point and continuing eastbound on W. South Street. Officers were able to follow the trail of coolant from the scene of the crash to a gray Toyota in the 800 block of Park Avenue. Upon making contact with the homeowner and operator of the vehicle, Ruben Palacios-Valadez, police said they observed indicators suggesting intoxication, and field sobriety tests showed impairment. He was taken into custody for suspicion of DUI and submitted to a chemical test of his breath, resulting in a blood alcohol level of 0.131 percent.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

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Blogging Along the Brandywine: Lights, camera, Sanderson

Along the Ford

2023-9-24-WPVI,-Dan-Sheridan,-Chuck-Ulmann,-Jim-Christ-(c)--sally-d.-hoey — WPVI Channel 6 cameraman and producer Dan Sheridan, left, with. Sanderson Museum curator Chick Ulmann, and Sanderson board member Jim Christ. (Photos by Sally Denk Hoey)

Chadds Ford’s Sanderson Museum was humming with excitement when WPVI- 6 producer-cameraman Dan Sheridan came to do a segment of “One Tank Trips”, a series on area attractions that can be visited on, well – one tank of gas.

The day of the shooting was gloomy and rainy while the remnants of tropical storm Ophelia brushed by the Delaware Valley, and museum visitor Anita Little, in from the west coast, certainly didn’t expect to be caught on camera as she viewed the Bayard Taylor exhibit.

So how did the eight-room history museum on Creek Road come to be chosen for a series that has recently featured sites such as Fonthill Castle in Bucks County, Berk’s County’s Hawk Mountain, or the Steel Stacks cultural campus in Bethlehem?

Chadds Ford’s Mara Sharp talks with WPVI producer and cameraman Dan Sheridan at the Sanderson Museum.

Producer Sheridan was happy to answer. “I looked up museums in my area that I had never heard of.”

Hmm…Well, I did ask.

But the Sanderson story intrigued him so much that he got in touch with museum curator Chuck Ulmann and told him, “I’ve driven by here 1,000 times”. And that’s how it happened.

“Dan had never been here before,” said board member Jim Christ, “so Chuck and I did our best to acquaint him with not only Chris but his collection.”

Ulmann said some of the items he spoke about were, “The Civil War items, Chris working with Andy [Wyeth], and teaching thousands about our area in the Revolutionary War.”

Of his experience in front of the camera, Christ said, “I pointed out some small artifacts along with some important ones to show that Chris would have these jaw-dropping artifacts in history, alongside something mundane.”

Sheridan has been a producer and cameraman with WPVI- 6, an ABC affiliate for 26 years, and added with a grin that he was “one of the young ones”.

His impressive camera equipment included a Panasonic P-2 powered by a Frezzi FB 240 Lithium-Ion battery, as well as a Go Pro iPhone for detailed stills of small artifacts.

“Dan was wonderful,” added Christ. “Easy going – a smile on his face the whole time. He put us at ease and gave us some good questions to answer.”

Curator Ulmann added with a grin, “He certainly did, even when my eye teeth got in the way of my tongue and I couldn’t see what I was saying!”

The Sanderson Museum was founded in January 1967 by artist Andrew Wyeth less than six weeks after his longtime friend and neighbor Chris Sanderson died on Nov. 19, 1966. Sanderson’s home which included his museum, was owned by next-door neighbor Lottie Eachus and was eventually purchased by the Sanderson Board from her estate in the 1970s. With historic photos and valuable advice from the Chadds Ford HARB, the once-tired tenant house was then restored to its original pristine 1855 appearance in 2008.

When asked about a recent memorable story, Sheridan answered, “The Chapel of the Four Chaplains at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.” Maybe after he edits this shoot, he’ll have a new answer. An air date has not yet been set.

About Sally Denk Hoey

Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”

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Kennett Twp. plans budget

Local News Kennett, Local News

Kennett Township’s 2024 budget could include costs to insource larger public works projects.

“This is a paradigm shift from what we’ve been,” Amy Heinrich, the township’s finance director and treasurer, said at the supervisors’ Sept. 20 meeting.

Wednesday marked the first of several budget discussions through the rest of the year. The next meeting, on Oct. 4, will look at the operating budget, while the Oct. 18 meeting will look at both operating and capital, according to Heinrich. On Nov. 1, the supervisors are expected to decide the tax rates, and on Dec. 6 they are expected to formally approve the budget and review the five-year capital plan.

She explained that the current public works department focuses on maintenance, while the goal is to transform it into more of a construction-capable department by adding more specialized equipment and staff. “In lieu of traditional outsourcing, we recommend buying equipment and adding staff to accomplish at much lower cost. This will enable many types of critical projects and maintenance efforts needed as our infrastructure continues to age.”

New projects could include taking over the monitoring and maintenance of pump stations from Kennett Borough, replacing damaged pipes or culverts before they become bigger problems, and improving drainage and sight distance, among other things.

“We’ve been maintenance, and all large projects are outsourced to engineers and external contractors,” Heinrich said. But with Public Works Director Ted Otteni’s qualifications as a licensed professional engineer, “he can serve a lot of those oversight roles.”

Otteni showed pictures of a damaged culvert on Hillendale Road near Hidden Pond.

“This is an example of a culvert in need of repair,” he said. “It’s going to lead to larger problems in the very near future.”

Another picture was of a culvert on Davenport Road with a rotted-out bottom.

“We need to replace these things,” Otteni said. “Traditionally these things are outsourced.”

But with more insourcing, he added, “we could do it quicker and more cost-effective.”

In part of her budget presentation, Heinrich showed the difference in costs that could be available. For instance, replacing the second half of the Davenport Road pipe could cost $360,000 to outsource, compared to $50,000 if done in-house. Drainage improvements on McFarlan Road from Hillendale to Rosedale roads could be $170,000 if outsourced and $120,000 if insourced by the public works department.

To make the “paradigm shift,” capital costs from 2023-2025 would include a new skid steer, trailer, backhoe, 10-wheel dump truck, a Hydradig, and an addition to the salt shed, according to Heinrich. The five-year capital cost is expected to be $690,000.

More information about the proposed in-sourcing and the capital project priorities can be found at kennett.pa.us, under the Public Meeting Documents section (in Government).

About Monica Fragale

Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.

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