DeKeyser News
October 29, 2023
October 30th - November 3rd
October2023
VIP PARKING: ERICA KOZOCKI
Mon., Oct. 30
- Spirit Day – Mummy Monday – Dress Cozy like a mummy in your PJS or sweats
- 8 am - Rockstar Readers (M/T/TH)
- 3-to-Be Assembly – (Award: 3 to Be & Respect / Teach: Responsibility)
- 3:50-4:50 – DeKeyser Chess (Sheridan/Cesaro/Street/Yax)
- 3:55 – 4:55 – Soccer
- Lego Robotics 6:30 – 8:30 (Gym)
Tue., Oct. 31
- Spirit Day – Happy Halloween – Wear your costume to school
- 8 am - Rockstar Readers (M/T/TH)
- Halloween Parade – 11:15 (All parents welcome - Outside around school)
- ½ Day – Dismissal 12:04 – PM SPECIALS
November 2023
VIP PARKING: LISA DICKER
Wed., Nov. 1
- Happy Birthday Mrs. Ritz!
Thur., Nov. 2
- 8 am - Rockstar Readers (M/T/TH)
- 10:00 – 11:00 – SMART MOVES – 6th Grade – Music Room
- Fun Run Raffle Draws
- 3:55 – 4:55 – TGA Golf
- Lego Robotics 6:30 – 8:30 (Gym)
Fri., Nov. 3
- Happy Birthday Mrs. Distelrath!
- Fun Run - Special Lunch
- 3:55 – 4:55 - Young Rembrandts
- Report Cards Emailed
Sat. Nov. 4
- 10:00 - 2:00 - Macomb Reads - MISD
Upcoming November Events
Mon., Nov. 6
- 8 am - Rockstar Readers (M/T/TH)
- Book Fair
- 3:50-4:50 – DeKeyser Chess (Sheridan/Cesaro/Street/Yax)
- 6th Grade CHOIR Meet & Greet @ Stevenson Time 5:00pm – 7:30pm
Tue., Nov. 7
- No School – Election Day
Wed., Nov. 8
- Happy Birthday Mr. Sheridan!
- Book Fair
- Conferences 5:00 – 8:00
Thur., Nov. 9
- ½ Day – Afternoon Conferences – AM SPECIALS
- Book Fair
- 8 am - Rockstar Readers (M/T/TH)
- 10:00 – 11:00 – SMART MOVES – 6th Grade – Music Room
- Conferences 1-4 / 5-8
- 4:30 – 5:15 – P.A.M – O’Keefe’s Room
- Lego Robotics 6:30 – 8:30 (Gym)
Fri., Nov. 10
- Book Fair
- 3:55 – 4:55 - Young Rembrandts - Drawing
- Veterans Day
November VIP Parking
Heritage Jr. High/Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies Update
Update – Heritage Junior High/Gene L. Klida Utica Academy for International Studies Building Study
Parents, please see the following update from Mr. Monroe:
Utica Community Schools is committed, in partnership with the community, to empower students to positively transform their future and the world. We strive to prepare students for success beyond UCS, focusing on their education and safety today, and ensuring our schools are meeting student needs both now and in the future.
This commitment requires us to constantly review the use of our physical resources, to make certain our buildings are functioning safely and effectively and meeting the needs of the students and families in our community.
As we shared during last year’s Safety and Success Bond election, we are taking a long term approach to our facility needs. This study is based on:
- Safety
- Age of the Facility
- Enrollment Patterns and Trends
This study includes a comprehensive look at the future of the shared site for Heritage Junior High School and the Gene L. Klida for International Studies. This was a need identified during both our strategic planning process and community surveys about future facility improvements. Heritage Junior High School and GLK-UAIS have been sharing a facility for the past 16 years. During that time, enrollment and building needs at Heritage and GLK-UAIS have experienced significant changes.
The district’s long-standing citizens’ committee – the Enrollment Distribution Advisory Committee – began to look at this issue in the spring. Their input will be considered along with enrollment projections, building needs assessments from our auxiliary services department, the efficient use of district resources, and making sure our students have access to programs and experiences that will empower their future.
Additional information is available through a Fact Sheet on this website: https://www.uticak12.org/buildingforthefuture. You can also share your thoughts and questions here: http://www.uticak12.org/feedback. A final determination on the future of this site is expected in November.
Safe, secure, and educationally vibrant schools remain a priority. We also recognize that change can be difficult. By working in partnership, we can position our district to continue supporting student success for today’s students and our future generations.
Handbook Information
Questions or Concerns – Who to Contact
Below is information from the UCS handbook in regards to communication flow and creating a winning team.
Your Child’s Teacher
• Classroom curriculum, materials, instruction, and/or assessment questions
• Questions regarding your student’s progress
• Information that may impact your child’s learning
Your Child’s Principal
• Program and classroom concerns, following conversation with teacher
• Discipline concerns
• Building management questions
• School and classroom curriculum, materials, instruction, and/or assessment questions
School District - Executive Administrator of Schools
• If questions/concerns have not been addressed after speaking with the building principal, please contact the Executive Administrator of Schools Office at (586) 797-1114
• Parents and eligible students who have questions or concerns regarding pupil rights may contact the Executive Administrator of Schools Office at (586) 797-1114
Scholastic Book Fair - COMING SOON!
Dear Families:
We are excited to announce our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair. This event is an opportunity for students of all ages to build their home libraries and further their love of reading. As always, all purchases benefit our media center.
Here is what you need to know about the fair, which will take place from Monday, November 6-Friday, November 10 in the media center.
- The students will be shopping during their media center time. The Book Fair will also be open during conferences on November 8th and 9th .
- ï‚© Our Book Fair offers a cash-free payment option called eWallet. It is a convenient digital account that your child can use for shopping at our Fair. Grandparents, friends, and others can contribute, too!
- ï‚© Remember that sales tax is added to each purchase. ï‚©
If your child cannot make it to the Fair in person, then they can shop online at our school’s virtual Book Fair. All orders ship directly to your home, and shipping is free for book orders over $25. Your online orders will also benefit our media center.
Visit our Book Fair homepage to learn more and get started with eWallet and online shopping. https://www.scholastic.com/bf/dekeyserdolphins
We are excited to celebrate our love of books together at the Book Fair. We look forward to seeing your child there! Happy reading and shopping
PARENT / TEACHER CONFERENCE INFORMATION
Please make sure that you take a minute to read our Parent / Teacher Conference SMORE. All parents are asked to set up an account to be able to sign up for your child's conference. If you have any questions about signing up for a conference time, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher.
I ALSO SENT YOU THIS PARENT/TEACHER SMORE AS A SEPERATE EMAIL / TEXT.
PTCG News
PTCG
Our entire PTCG team would like to extend our gratitude for all your help these past two weeks with Spooktacular! Thank you for helping with all the candy donations, pumpkin decorating, and INCREDIBLE trunk-or-treat creations!! We had just an amazing turn out at our Spooktacular on Thursday, and we hope all of kiddos and community had an amazing time as well!
We collected over a THOUSAND pounds of candy that was easily all distributed within an hour last night! We were thankful to have about 30 families passing it all out at trunks/tables with hundreds and hundreds of kiddos to take it home. It was a blast being able to collect candy all around the building this year while stopping to be amazed at all the creative families the decorated their trunks/tables for us. Events like this wouldn't be possible without supportive families and the strong community we have at DeKeyser!
Our candy collection competition has finally reached its end and we must crown a champion! The results are in for all the candy that was accumulated these past two weeks. Coming in at a whopping 96 pounds total for EACH classroom are both Mrs. Ritz's and Mr. Sheridan's fourth grade classrooms to become our Dual Candy Champions!!! Woo hoo! Bravo to them both!! We'll be in contact with their teachers to plan a pizza party for both their classrooms. Thank you you all again for your support and HUMUNGOUS thanks to our Spooktacular team of Sarah Keilman, Nichole West and Amanda Kallenbach that did so much work behind the scenes make our Spooktacular a success!!
Be sure to check out the DeKeyser Elementary FB page to see all the photos from our event that Mrs. Hathcock shared last evening!
What's Happening at DeKeyser
Nursery / Preschool
We are continuing to enjoy learning about the season of Fall. Preschool had their first concert recently, we had so much fun. Look how strong we are....one of the children's favorite stations....pounding plastic golf tees in a pumpkin 🎃
Kindergarten
These Kindergartners are ready for Halloween! This week we did all things Halloween and were able to make so many different kinds of crafts. We were able to read Spookley the square pumpkin and make our very own shape pumpkins. We are getting ready for our Halloween party and cannot wait to go trick or treating!
1st Grade
This week, our enthusiastic first-grade students embarked on a thrilling adventure into the world of pumpkins. Each student brought a pumpkin into the classroom, igniting a journey of discovery to deepen their understanding of the pumpkin lifecycle. From seed to sprout, and blossom to harvest, they examined every step with wide-eyed wonder.
But that's not all! We had a special guest, Miss Bush, who joined our classrooms for the very first time this week. With her arrival, a brand-new writing program was launched, promising several weeks of collaborative learning. Together, we're excited to nurture budding young authors, and watch their creativity bloom. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey into knowledge and imagination!
2nd Grade
Second grade students have been using their creative energy this week! Students in Mrs. Sprow’s class collaborated on their social studies project about communities. Mrs. Distelrath’s class crafted Jack-o-lantern math story problems. Mrs. Yax’s class stirred up ideas for bubbly writing using nouns, adjectives and verbs!
3rd Grade
Spooky, spooky, skeletons! Our third graders sounded fabulous at our third-grade Halloween Music Concert. They had the audience singing and dancing right along with them! The third-grade teachers and Mrs. Langlois are very proud of their performance for the school and their grown-ups.
4th Grade
What an exciting week fourth grade has had in science! We are still exploring energy and recently began investigating energy conversions. In this hands-on, collaborative project, fourth graders built more simple electrical systems that were powered by a different source than we used in our first round of experiments. Ask your student what form of energy we used and how it transferred energy to the LED light and fan blade!
5th Grade
The sticker story
The students of 5th grade are working on a writing piece called a sticker story. Students have to write a fictional book about… Well... anything. They based it off sticker art they made prior to writing the actual story. Hope you do well, students!
By Judy, Maya, and Victoria
6th Grade
This week 6th graders are looking at thematic maps to help answer questions about Canada and The United States. Their world geography curriculum takes them around the world where they look at a variety of thematic maps. These maps include population density, physical features, economic activities, climate, vegetation, land use, and political boundaries.
Literacy
Mrs. Busch- Literacy
This week Mrs. Busch worked with the first graders. They learned how to show and tell about people, places, and things through reading, writing, and a classroom scavenger hunt for nouns!
Music
We had a lot of Halloween fun in Music Class this week!!
Our kindergarten classes learned a scarf dance to Vavaldi's Autumn and other spooky songs.
1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th Grade played a favorite Halloween Game. We call it the Pumpkin Circle Game. It's sort of like Musical chairs except Pumpkins are laid on the floor and when the music plays we walk around the circle and stop in front of a pumpkin when the music stops. On the pumpkins are different musical symbols, terms, note values, and note reading (different for each grade). If I the pull the mini pumpkin that has the same symbol or term that is on the pumpkin they stopped at, they are out and sit in the middle until the next game.
6th Grade Choir practiced and dove deeper into their music selections for their upcoming December 6th Concert.
Our 3rd grade classes performed two fantastic concerts on Tuesday. One during the day for their schoolmates and an evening one for their family and friends. I'm very proud of all their hard work performances.
Media Center
Some of the 1st grade students used the Freeform app and learned how to insert a picture in a blank page and then use markup to draw on the picture. The students took a picture of me (Mrs. Cesaro) and then used markup to draw what I should be for Halloween.
Some of the 2nd grade students learned how to open a OneDrive assignment in Schoology and completed a Halloween mystery picture with addition problems in Excel!
Art
Our Art students Rock!
Students explored and expanded their previous knowledge of color theory by creating these colorful seasonal painted rocks!
6th grade students learned how to create a sunset using primary colors and create a silhouette that reflects in rippling water. These students were chosen to represent this assignment. It is hanging in the Art hallway to hopefully inspire others!
ISM
This week in ISM we are kicking off our Responsibility Unit. This week we discussed what responsibility looks like in different settings. We discussed how responsibility looks different at home vs. at school and the community. We determined what things are in our circle of control and what things are outside our circle of control. We will continue building on this character trait over the next few weeks. Ask your student what new goal they set this week in terms of responsibility at home and at school. Say BOO to poor choices!
Gym
CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK
Community Enrichment
DeKeyser Spirit Wear
All spirit wear is available throughout the year. Please download the order form and send it into school for processing. Please call the office if you have any questions. 586-797-4400.
Grade Level T-Shirt Order
Grade Level T-Shirt Orders
Thank you for sending in your t-shirt orders. We are placing this order and will be getting you your shirt before our DeKeyser Fun Run.
IF you were unable to order a shirt, you may still do so throughout the year but you are not guaranteed your shirt prior to Fun Run.
Kindergarten = Teal
1st Grade = Red
2nd Grade = Orange
3rd Grade = Yellow
4th Grade =Royal Blue
5th Grade = Green
6th Grade =Light Blue
Past Newsletters
DeKeyer Elementary Information
Welcome to DeKeyser ~ Home of the DeKeyser Dolphins
Principal: Mrs. Shannon Hathcock
Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Lisa Russo
Clerk: Mrs. Heather Mansour
Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
School Hours: 9:00 AM - 3:50 PM (full days) and 9:00 AM -12:04 PM (half days)
Breakfast - Door #2 opens at 8:40
Student Arrival - All students can enter their classroom at 8:50 am
Address:
39600 Atkinson
Sterling Heights, MI 48313
Office Phone Number: (586)797-4400
24 Hr Attendance Line (586)797-4499
Fax (586)797-4401
DeKeyser Email: officedekeyser @uticak12.org