Dear Parents/Guardians,

Student and staff safety remains a priority for our school. Our district uses a multi-layered approach to proactively prepare for any type of emergency. This approach is focused on training, school-based emergency plans, an emergency preparedness team consisting of law enforcement, mental health support, and constantly reviewing our facilities to determine improvement needs to enhance security.

Recently, our staff has been engaged in training related to “Standard Response Protocols.” The protocols identify five specific actions that use common language related to a potential incident: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter. Attached below this message is our protocol poster that we now have in every classroom in Utica Community Schools in English, Arabic and Spanish.

To help students understand their role, we will be showing a short, animated video Elementary Standard Response Protocol on Monday, March 6. In the video, the teacher – Mrs. Appleton - and her students walk through the training in a very relaxed, engaging way for younger children. The script for the video has been written by UCS staff. Following the viewing of the video and discussion with their principal and/or teacher, students will continue practicing the school safety drills using the Standard Response Protocols.

Thank you for your continued partnership to keep our students and staff safe.

Sincerely,

Jacob Palmer

Principal

Dear Parents,

Winter NWEA MAP Growth student progress reports are now available on your parent PowerSchool Account at this link: https://ps.ucs.misd.net/public/home.html.

Attached are directions on how to access and download the file. 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 App.

If you have any questions about this report, please contact your student’s teacher.

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.

The UCS Wellness team is happy to announce the eleventh episode of our podcast series, featuring the students from Utica High School Student Mental Health Committee focusing on Teen Mental Health and Wellness.

Below is a list of the podcasts that are available on the UCS Wellness page. UCS Wellness - Utica Community Schools:

• Mental Health with guest Nancy Buyle
• Grief and the Grieving Process for Children
• Family Communication
• CARE of Southeastern Michigan
• Discussing Dating Violence with Turning Point
• Tackling Tough Topics with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office
• Our Youth and Vaping
• Youth and Suicide Prevention
• The Detour Project
• Self-Regulation Strategies
• Teen Mental Health and Wellness