Kindergartners in nine Union County classrooms are learning to read and do math through hands-on play this year, part of a new pilot that Superintendent Dr. Andrew Houlihan says could reshape how the district teaches its youngest students.

The play-based kindergarten program launched Monday, Aug. 24, at Shiloh Valley Primary School, the same day about 40,000 UCPS students returned to class across 53 schools. The model uses cooperative learning activities to build literacy and math skills alongside social development, going beyond traditional recess, according to Houlihan.

"It's really more about cooperative learning and having the ability to relate and have social skills, collaboration skills, decision-making skills, but applying the knowledge that you've been taught in real-world situations through play," Houlihan told WFAE on Monday, Aug. 24.

Shiloh Valley Primary serves pre-K through second grade and enrolls 563 students. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is launching a similar play-based pilot at nine of its elementary schools this year.

Zero low-performing schools is the target

The pilot arrives as Houlihan, entering his 10th year leading UCPS, pushes to eliminate all low-performing schools in the district. That number has dropped from 13 to seven during his tenure, and he said the district led North Carolina in test results last year.

The state is expected to release updated school performance data within about a week of the Aug. 24 first day, Houlihan said. That release will show whether any of the seven remaining low-performing schools improved enough to shed the designation, a result that would affect families across the district, including those in the Waxhaw, Weddington and Marvin areas.

Staffing up, budget down

UCPS hired 225 new teachers for the 2026-27 school year. Houlihan said the district had fewer than 30 teaching vacancies as of Sunday, Aug. 23, the lowest count since 2019. About 20 bus driver positions remained open, with 15 drivers in training.

Those staffing gains come alongside budget strain. A $10 million gap in state funding, driven by declining enrollment, forced the district to eliminate 11 library and traffic guard positions this year.

No timeline has been announced for evaluating the play-based pilot or deciding whether to expand it to additional UCPS schools. The state performance data, expected in early September, will offer the district's next public benchmark.