About Western Union
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About Our School
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Western Union Elementary is a rural school located in Waxhaw that is family oriented. We serve students in kindergarten through fifth grade. We strive to highly engage students in their learning through various instructional strategies such as outdoor learning, problem-based learning, and Sustainable Energy.
- Address: Western Union Elementary School, 4111 Western Union School Road, Waxhaw, NC 28173
- Phone: 704-296-6355
- Fax: 704-843-9019
- Staff Directory
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Parkwood Cluster Attendance Maps
Fast Facts
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- Traditional Calendar
- Students enter the building and go to class: 7 a.m.
- Start Bell: 7:30 a.m.
- End Bell: 2 p.m.
- Mascot: Eagles
- Colors: Blue, gray and white
School History
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Over the past 80+ years, our school has been an integral part of the Union County community. At various times in our long history, the school has been a high school, a junior school, and an elementary school. It has pioneered Civil Rights for the Union County and surmounted severe hardships. Many local families have had several generations come through our halls.
We are pleased to share our interesting and unique history:
- In 1940, Western Union High School began in a 4-room brick building in the Marvin area. The 1941 graduating class had three students. The total enrollment was 96. In the 1940s, the school built additional rooms for elementary education, home economics, and agricultural education.
- Western Union High School was the first local high school for black students in Union County.
- In 1954, the school building was destroyed by fire. A new school was built in the present-day location of Mineral Springs. During the two years it took to build a new school building, the 428 students and 13 teachers continued teaching and learning wherever they could find space for a make-shift classroom, including buses and churches.
- In 1956, our current location opened to students in grades 1st -12th. There were 14 classrooms, 27 teachers, and over 900 students.
- As with a lot of schools in this area, the school year was split to allow time off for students to support their families with the harvest. This was later changed to follow the "typical" academic school calendar.
- As the population grew and changed, so did Western Union. In 1970, Western Union became a junior high school. Local 7th and 8th graders from Mineral Springs, Prospect, and Waxhaw Elementaries attended Western Union Middle School.
- In 1975, a new Parkwood Middle School was built across from Parkwood High School. At that time, Mineral Springs Elementary closed, and the students began attending the newly repurposed Western Union Elementary School.
- In the fall of 2014, we welcomed our first dual-language Spanish immersion class. This class is for English-speaking children to learn Spanish. They are immersed in the Spanish language and culture, starting in kindergarten.
- The school facility now is far different from our humble beginnings. We have kindergarten through fifth grade in multiple classrooms and wings. In 1997, the media center and cafeteria were expanded. In 2002, classrooms were added, and administration offices were centralized in the former shop area. In 2009, the cafeteria was remolded and upgraded. During the summers of 2017 and 2018, all classrooms were completely gutted and remodeled, providing new floor tile and cabinets.
- A bond referendum passed in November 2016. With these funds, our school received a new hallway that connects two of our buildings, sound system in the auditorium, awnings in the car rider areas, and perimeter fencing.
- Western Union teachers and staff members overflow with pride and strive for excellence. We have had several teachers reach the top 10 in UCPS Teacher of the Year. We have had two teachers honored with being named UCPS Teacher of the Year - Amanda Stinchcomb 2017-18 and Ashley Erb 2018-19. WUES was the first UCPS school to have back-to-back UCPS Teachers of the Year. Excellence continues with our teacher assistants. We have had several teacher assistants serve as UCPS Teacher Assistant of the Year.
- Our school continues to adapt to suit the community we serve. In the last several years, our enrollment has varied from 415 students to 725 students. The 2022-2023 enrollment is approximately 550 students.
As this area has grown and changed, the school has expanded and transformed. The core constant all these years has been the sincere commitment to students and the community by the Western Union staff.
Give your best and nothing less!
Meet Our School Leaders
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Kelly Romanowski (Principal)
About Mrs. Romanowski
Mrs. Romanowski was born and raised in Allen Park, Michigan, a southeast suburb near Detroit. She graduated in December 2000 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Michigan University. Her career immediately began at a private school teaching third grade. She worked there for seven years. During that time, she received her Master’s Degree in Teaching from Marygrove College.
Mrs. Romanowski moved to North Carolina in June 2008 when her husband Paul was transferred to Charlotte for work. She began working for Union County Public Schools that fall. During her time in Union County, she taught kindergarten, first, third and fourth at Waxhaw Elementary, and was assistant principal at Kensington Elementary. Mrs. Romanowski is in her second year as principal of Western Union Elementary.
Mrs. Romanowski is currently working on her add-on license for administration from Wingate University. When she is not working, you will find her spending time with her family and her dog. She has two stepchildren, Matt and Ashley, and adopted a son.
Contact Mrs. Romanowski
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Suzanne Thompson (Assistant Principal)
About Mrs. Thompson
Suzanne Thompson graduated from The University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2000 with a BA in Elementary Education and a minor in Sociology. Following graduation, Mrs. Thompson moved back to her hometown of Charlotte, NC, to begin her teaching career. She taught first grade at Rama Road Elementary for five years and then transferred to Socrates Academy Charter School in Matthews, NC. Mrs. Thompson was the first teacher hired at the brand new Charter School in 2005. While she was obtaining her master’s degree in Educational Leadership, Mrs. Thompson became the Academy’s first Assistant Principal. In 2013, Mrs. Thompson accepted the Director of After School Program position with Union County Public Schools.
Mrs. Thompson currently resides in Indian Land, South Carolina with her husband Jason and their two young sons Ethan and Mason. She is looking forward to serving the students, staff and parents of Western Union Elementary.
Contact Mrs. Thompson
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School Performance Director
- Dr. Candice Boatright
- 704-296-3062, ext. 4073
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Professional Advisory Council Representatives
- Principal: Kelly Romanowski
- Representative: Andrea Downs
School Documents
About Our Community
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- Town of Mineral Springs
- Town of Waxhaw
- Union County Library
- Basketball, softball, football and soccer are sponsored by local athletic associations: