Happy New Year Switzer,

It was great to see all the smiling faces this week as we journey on to the 2nd half of the school year. Starting January 17, all students will be taking the NWEA mid-year progress monitoring assessments. These assessments guide classroom instruction by giving feedback about student growth in math and reading.

I know it looks and feels like Spring but please be sure that your child brings the appropriate winter clothing to go outside to recess each day. Students are encouraged to wear the winter gear to recess that parents send to school. As a reminder, we do not go outside if the temperature is below 10 degrees including the wind chill factor. Thank you for making sure all of your children’s winter items are clearly marked with their first and last name.

This is a reminder that report cards will be available on your parent PowerSchool account Monday, January 9. Report cards will no longer be emailed to families but are being shared through a more secure method using your parent PowerSchool account. The file can only be accessed through a web browser, such as Edge, Chrome or Safari. Please note that the link is not available through the PowerSchool App.

Directions on how to access the report cards are available at this link.

Utica Community Schools will send an email when the report cards are available. If you have issues accessing the file once it is available, please contact us at (586-797-6400) or email (switzeroffice@uticak12.org).

Thanks for a great start to the new year.

Jacob Palmer

Recess is an important part of the school day. It gives the children a chance to release some of their pent-up energy, and clear their minds for the remainder of the school day.

All students are expected to go out for recess, unless we have a doctor's note saying they must stay inside. This is true even during warmer months.

At Switzer, students will go out for recess whenever the wind-chill is 10 degrees or higher. We use weather.com to determine the wind-chill.

Proper clothing for outside recess is a necessity. Children should dress warmly with gloves, scarves, boots, coats and hats. Children may not remain in the classroom when their class goes out for recess, since the teachers go outside also.

Please remember we all shop at Amazon, Kohls and Target. Putting initials on glove tags, coat tags and hat tags help keep the lost and found from over flowing. The weather has been kind but Michigan weather has a funny sense of humor.