Unionville High to launch sophomore seminar to build career, wellbeing and communication skills

Unionville High School will add a three‑session sophomore seminar this school year to give 10th‑grade students structured support on career exploration, mental health and strategies for success, school leaders told the Unionville‑Chadds Ford School District Curriculum, Instruction & Technology (CIT) committee in September.

The seminar, presented by the high school principal and assistant principal, will run in three sessions planned for November, December and January and will cover “navigating high school,” “taking care of yourself” and “being a successful teenager,” officials said. The district plans to link student reflections across ninth and tenth grades in a shared Canvas course to preserve longitudinal work and inform course recommendations.

District leaders said the sophomore seminar is an intentional follow‑up to the freshman seminar launched in 2022, which administrators described as “a huge success.” The goal is to prompt earlier conversations about students’ interests and strengths so course choices (including honors and AP enrollment) and college‑ and career‑planning reflect students’ preferences rather than peer pressure.

Assistant Principal Miss Carter described the three seminar goals in detail. On navigating high school she said staff will emphasize career exploration and strengths inventories, and will use Naviance in some activities. On wellbeing she said the sessions will teach emotion regulation, stress management and sleep hygiene; on being a successful teenager she said lessons will include scheduling, resisting peer pressure and thinking critically about social media.

"Some of our students are taking almost APs in every class because they're kind of not sure what they actually like," Miss Carter said. "Let's start to figure out what you like. What are your passions?"

Administrators said the sophomore seminar is intentionally timed so the final session in January lines up with midterms and course‑recommendation conversations between students and teachers. Students’ seminar work will be accessible year‑to‑year through the Canvas course so reflections and assignments can support later senior‑project planning and the district’s portrait of a graduate.

District staff named members of the planning team who helped design the seminar, including Jess Bogish, Marybeth Lyles, Heather Biddle, Bree Ziegler, Morgan Gamble and Melissa Albrand.

Board members asked whether the seminar is intended to "spiral"—that is, to revisit themes in junior and senior years. Administrators said the Canvas course provides carryover and that the district is considering sequenced junior‑ and senior‑year opportunities that would lead into a senior project.

Administrators asked the committee to watch student feedback surveys that will follow the early sessions and report results back to the board as part of ongoing program evaluation.

The CIT committee presentation included plans to coordinate seminar content with counselors and college‑and‑career resources; the district did not announce specific staffing or budget changes tied solely to the seminar.

The seminar discussion began during the high‑school report to the CIT committee and ran through the district‑level updates on September meeting materials.