Hello United South Central Families,
The 2025-2026 school year is right around the corner, and we can’t wait to have students back in the building next week! Our staff has been busy wrapping up summer projects, and we’re excited to kick off another great year together. Over the summer, we have undertaken several projects at USC, including updating each of our light fixtures to LED and resurfacing all our parking lots and roadways. In addition to the typical summer deep-cleaning of our building, many areas have been refreshed and repainted as well. We have a beautiful building and are doing everything we can to keep it in the best shape possible.
Updated JMC Information - As we start the new school year, please take a moment to double-check that your contact information in JMC is up to date. Having the right phone numbers and emails on file helps us keep you in the loop with school events, activities, and any weather-related announcements. If you’d like a hand updating your information, just reach out to any of our school offices and we’re happy to help.
Emergency Drill Procedures - Keeping our students and staff safe, both physically and emotionally, remains a top priority for our district. In 2023, the Minnesota legislature updated school emergency drill requirements. At USC, we’ve been practicing lockdown drills for many years, so families won’t see major changes in how we approach safety this year. As part of state requirements, we will continue to hold five lockdown drills throughout the year, which will include both “soft lockdown” and “hard lockdown” practices.
Please note that none of the drills conducted by United South Central are considered “active shooter simulations.” Our procedures are designed to prepare students for extreme situations while minimizing any potential negative impact on their experience. Recent changes in state statutes allow parents and guardians to opt their students out of hard lockdown drills. If you choose to opt out, an alternative designated location within the school will be provided during the drill. We are scheduled to practice hard lockdown procedures on October 30, 2025, and January 14, 2026. To opt out, please contact Taylor Topinka:
Dr. Taylor Topinka, USC Superintendent
By Email: ttopinka@unitedsouthcentral.org
By Phone: (507) 553-3134
The United South Central School District also partners with the Wells Police Department to provide a School Resource Officer assigned to our district. This past year, school staff members and our resource officer participated in training on a non-student day to ensure they are prepared to act for the safety of our students and staff. We also collaborate regularly at both the building and district levels to maintain a safe learning environment.
New Parking Lot Flow - If you are on our campus as the school year is beginning, you will notice some changes to a parking and student drop-off flow in the main parking and entry area of our building. The biggest change is that traffic will now be driving in the opposite direction around our lot. Change is never an easy thing and our goal with this is to try and put our students in the safest possible situation as they enter and exit our school each day. With this plan, we will be able to keep one traffic lane completely clear and avoid situations where students are walking in front of school buses. This change comes after some major maintenance to our school parking lots, and we are excited to start the year with our parking lots in great shape.
Enrollment and Building Space - As we begin the school year, we are excited to welcome several new students. USC now has 741 students in grades K-12, which is the highest enrollment we’ve seen in many years. To support this growth, we’ve added three teaching positions in the past three years to help keep class sizes small. While this is great news, it does bring some space challenges. Most classes are well accommodated, but a few teachers and activities do not have sufficient spaces. Looking ahead, if we continue to grow, we will not have open classrooms available for additional teachers. Over the summer, we began exploring options such as portable classrooms or potential off-site spaces, while keeping our goal of housing all students under one roof. Given our enrollment growth and limited space, our school board is carefully considering the possibility of a building referendum in the fall of 2026. A facilities task force met last spring, and based on their recommendation to explore an addition, the board has started working with project management companies. Because USC belongs to all six of our communities, we want to make sure every voice is heard. This fall and winter, we will host community meetings and surveys to gather input and help determine the best path forward together.
We are looking ahead to the 2025-26 school year with great enthusiasm and awesome things are happening at United South Central each day. If you have any questions or would like to visit about anything happening with our district, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at ttopinka@unitedsouthcentral.org or by phone at (507) 553-3134.
We are excited to welcome middle and high school students back on Tuesday, and elementary students on Wednesday next week. I hope you and your families have a great Labor Day weekend!
Go Rebels!
Taylor Topinka
USC Superintendent