DeKeyser News

Principal: Mrs. Shannon Hathcock

Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Lisa Russo

Clerk: Mrs. Heather Mansour

Location: 39600 Atkinson, Sterling Heights., MI 48313

Office Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Office Phone Number: (586)797-4400

24 Hr Attendance Line (586)797-4499

Fax (586)797-4401

Email officedekeyser@uticak12.org

Website: DeKeyser Elementary / Homepage (uticak12.org)

Facebook: DeKeyser Elementary School

School Hours: 9:05 AM - 3:55 PM (full days) and 9:05 AM -12:09 PM (half days)

Morning SACC (DeKeyser): 6:45 am - 9:05 am

Afternoon SACC (Messmore): 3:55 pm - 6:00 pm (Students bussed from DeKeyser to Messmore)

Breakfast Hours: 8:45 - 9:05

September 2025

VIP Parking – Amy Nowaczok

Hispanic Heritage Month

Deaf Awareness Month

Habit 1: Be Proactive / Purposeful People Character Trait: 3-to-Be

NWEA Fall Reading & Math Testing Window – K-6: September 2, 2025 - September 26, 2025

Monday, Sept. 8

• World Physical Therapy Day

• Basketball Jones Book Order comes home today

• 6:00 - 7:00 - Lego Robotic Informational Meeting - Eppler Jr. High

Tuesday, Sept. 9

• 9:30 - 11:00 - 3-year-old PreK - Parent Child Welcome

• 12:30 - 2:00 - 3 and 4 -year-old PreK - Parent Child Welcome

• 6:00 - PTCG Meeting

Wednesday, Sept. 10

• 9:30 - 11:00 - 4-year-old PreK - Parent Child Welcome

• 12:30 - 2:00 - 3-year-old PreK - Parent Child Welcome

• Wellness Fair Information comes home today

Thursday, Sept. 11

• Patriot Day

• Remembrance Day

• 8:40 - 11:30 - 3-year-old PreK - 1st Day of School

• 12:15 - 3:05 - 3 & 4-year-old PreK - 1st Day of School

Friday, Sept. 12

• Spirit Day: DeKeyser Spirit Wear

• 8:40 - 11:30 - 4-year-old PreK - 1st Day of School
• 10:00 - 10:45 -- Basketball Jones School Assembly
• 12:15 - 3:05 - 3-year-old PreK - 1st Day of School

Saturday, Sept. 13

• 10:00 -1:00 - Family Wellness Fair @ Eisenhower High School

Families who are picking up their children from their classroom door are asked to enter the school playpad from our parking lot and from all catwalks at 3:50. Please do not go onto the playpad area prior to 3:50. This allows our students to safely return to their classrooms after recess. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding.

We are beyond excited to have National Youth Motivational Speaker and children's book author- Jim "Basketball" Jones visit DeKeyser Elementary on Friday, September 12th. He will share his three books and the inspiration that helped him and his wife create the adorable characters of Bouncy, Yeti, and Speedy.

The order form will be coming home on Monday, September 8th. Please complete the form and return it to school by Friday, September 12th if you are interested in receiving and autographed copy of these fun children's books on the day of our assembly.

DeKeyser Elementary students would love the opportunity to participate in the 2025 - 2026 Lego Robotic season. Please contact our office at 586-797-4400 if you are interested in coaching our team this year. Our students hope that they can participate in this awesome experience.

Please attend the Lego Robotics season kickoff meeting on Monday, Sept. 8th to learn more about this team. The meeting will be held from 6:00 - 7:00 pm at Eppler Jr. High.

Thank you for considering this opportunity!

September 2025

VIP Parking – Amy Nowaczok

Hispanic Heritage Month

Deaf Awareness Month

Habit 1: Be Proactive / Purposeful People Character Trait: 3-to-Be

NWEA Fall Reading & Math Testing Window – K-6: September 2, 2025 - September 26, 2025

Monday, Sept. 15

• Happy Birthday Kimberly Carlson! 🥳

• Happy Birthday Megan Staniek! 🥳

• Hispanic Heritage Month

• Arts In Education Week

Tuesday, Sept. 16

• Happy Birthday Aleece Tousignant! 🥳

• National IT Professional Day

• PlayDoh Day

Wednesday, Sept. 17

• No School – Professional Development

• Rice Krispie Treat Day

Thursday, Sept. 18

Friday, Sept. 19

• Talk Like a Pirate Day

Handle with Care: If your family is experiencing difficulties at home, we would like to provide additional support at school. We understand that you are not always able to share details, and that is okay. If your child is coming to school after a difficult night, morning, or weekend, please write a note to us or send us an email, “Handle with care.” This will let me know that your child may need some extra time, patience, or help throughout the day.

We are asking for your support to help keep our students safe. If you plan to volunteer in our classrooms, work directly with a student and/or chaperone a field trip, etc. you will need to have a volunteer background check on file. The new volunteer application form is located at this link: www.uticak12.org/volunteer. The background check involves multiple state and federal law enforcement databases. We greatly appreciate the involvement of our families and the difference you make at DeKeyser Elementary. Thank you for your partnership with this extra step that will improve safety in our school.

A few reminders:

• Please have all required documentation ready before you begin.
• The application must be completed in one sitting.
• One application can be used for multiple schools
• Once approved, you will be cleared to volunteer in UCS schools

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the DeKeyser Office: OfficeDeKeyser@uticak12.org or 586-797-4400.

Thank you for supporting our students and school community through volunteering!

Utica Community Schools is pleased to provide an opportunity for School Age Child Care (SACC)!

DeKeyser Options are as follows:

Morning SACC: Monday - Friday 6: 45 am - 9:05 am (Currently registering on a waitlist)

Afternoon SACC: Monday - Friday 3:55 pm – 6:00 pm at Messmore Elementary

Students will be bussed to this location after school.

Please click on the link below for more information and the opportunity to register your child for SACC.

Get ready to lace up your sneakers for DeKeyser's 17th Annual Fun Run coming up on Friday, September 26th! This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for our school, and we need your help! PTCG is asking our amazing DeKeyser community to share the news of our Fun Run event with family members and friends while collecting pledges/donations for participating in this great activity. Since this is our 17th year hosting a Fun Run, our school goal for is to reach $17,000!

Students are able to collect donations from family and friends to earn INCREDIBLE rewards and prizes for their fundraising efforts! Donations can be accepted online if families share our DeKeyser FUN RUN page using our new collection site called Zeffy to track donations and meet the goals for higher levels of prizes. Here is the link to share our school's Fun Run page for collecting donations: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/dekeyser-fun-run

You can share the link for our DeKeyser Fun Run page via email, text messages, or social media with your friends and family. Families can also send in CASH or CHECK (made payable to DeKeyser PTCG) donations using the Fun Run envelope coming home with your home this week. You can send any cash/check donations into school and give them to your child's teacher.

If your family prefers not to collect pledges for this fundraiser, please consider making a personal donation to DeKeyser PTCG on behalf of your child(ren) to help support us with buses for field trips, events/activities for the year, school assemblies and programs, teacher/student materials, and MORE! All pledges and donations are due by Friday, September 26th. Please remember that 100% of the donations go to our school. We appreciate your support!

If you want to know more about our Fun Run or are interested in becoming an active member in PTCG, please be sure to join us on Tuesday, September 9th for our first PTCG Meeting at 6:00pm at DeKeyser. We will be meeting in the 3rd/4th grade collaboration space with a supervised kid's room available in Mrs. Ritz's classroom. We look forward to seeing you there!

Consider signing up for Utica Community Schools texting service. This is a service for parents who would like information texted directly to them. The texting service provides school news and announcements, district information such as emergency school closing situations, or updates issued from UCS departments, such as transportation. To join this system, please text “Y” to 67587

Utica Community Schools has a new mobile app! Search for 'Utica Schools' in your phone's app store and download the free app to stay up-to-date on district and school news. The old mobile app 'Utica Community Schools' is no longer supported and should be deleted from your devices. Download at the App store here and Google Play here.