DeKeyser News

Dear DeKeyser Elementary Community,

What a fantastic time we had at our 2025 Spooktacular event! I’m absolutely delighted to thank each and every one of you for making this trunk-or-treat celebration such a huge success.

To all the families who donated candy: your generosity set the foundation for a fun, sweet evening for our students. Thank you for contributing in such a meaningful way.

To the families who decorated a trunk or table: your creativity, effort, and spooky spirit brought joy and excitement to our event. The students truly enjoyed visiting each unique and imaginative display.

To everyone who designed amazing pumpkin creations for our raffle: your artistic touch and the thought you put into each pumpkin made our raffle a standout part of the evening. Your work added an extra layer of charm and community spirit.

I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the PTCG—our parent group—for their hard work, planning, and dedication in bringing this wonderful event to life. Your behind-the-scenes coordination and enthusiasm were absolutely vital, and we are so grateful for your leadership.

As principal of DeKeyser Elementary School, it is a privilege to work with such an engaged and caring community. Please visit our school’s Facebook page along with the PTCG Facebook page to browse the photos from the event and relive all of the smiles, decorations, treats, and pumpkin fun.

Thank you again for your support, participation, and school spirit. Here’s to many more memorable moments together!

Warmly,
Shannon Hathcock
Principal, DeKeyser Elementary

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

The complete 2025-26 UCS Calendar is now available. Follow the below link to see important dates for the remainder of this year. Please note: October 31 – Halloween – is the end of the first quarter and will be a half-day for elementary students.

https://www.uticak12.org/Page/2#calendar1/20251015/month

October 2025

VIP Parking – Danyette Embry

National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Bully Prevention Month

Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Habit 2: Begin With the End in Mind / Purposeful People Character Trait: Respect

DeKeyser Halloween Spirit Week Coming Soon!

• Red Ribbon Week (Oct. 27 – 31)

Monday, Oct. 27

• Halloween Spirit Week: Monster Mismatch Monday: Wear mismatched socks, shoes, and spooky patterns

• 3:55pm-a5:15pm Crayola Wild World Animal Rescuers (Art)

• 4:15 – ATG Parent Meeting - TEAMS

Tuesday, Oct. 28

• Halloween Spirit Week: Trick-or-Treat Tuesday: Gather your boo crew and dress as twins, groups, or spooky squads!

• 6th Grade SMART Moves – 5/6 Collaboration Space

• 6:30 – 8:30 DeKeyser Dolphins – Lego Robotics Team Practice - Cafeteria

Wednesday, Oct. 29

• Halloween Spirit Week: Wicked Hat Wednesday: Wear a witch hat, cat ears, or your spookiest hat or headband today!

• National Cat Day

• Bubbles Boutique – School Store Open Durning Lunch

• Beautification Team – Students meet during lunch recess

Thursday, Oct. 30

• Halloween Spirit Week: Thrills & Chills Thursday: Get cozy in a pair of pajamas-bonus if they're Halloween themed!

• Halloween Grams Delivered today

• 4:00pm-5:00pm Macomb Crew Soccer (Make-Up Date)

• 6:30 – 8:30 DeKeyser Dolphins – Lego Robotics Team Practice - Cafeteria

Friday, Oct. 31

• Halloween Spirit Week: Freaky Friday: Wear your Halloween costume today! (Must be school appropriate)

• Happy Halloween

• ½ Day – 12:09 Dismissal – PM Specials

• End of 1st Quarter

• 11:30 – Parade (Outdoors)

• 12:09 Dismissal

November 2025

VIP Parking – Brenden McKee

Native American Heritage Month

Family Literacy Month

Military Family Appreciation

Diabetes Awareness Month

Epilepsy Awareness Month

Habit 3: Put First Things First / Purposeful People Character Trait: Responsibility

Saturday, Nov. 1

• Happy Birthday Shari Ritz!🥳

• Happy Birthday Candace Washburn!🥳

• All Saints’ Day

Sunday, Nov. 2

• Daylight Savings Time

• All Souls’ Day

• Nov. 3 - 7 - School Psychologist Week

• Nov. 3 - 7 - Children’s Book Week

Monday, Nov. 3

• Happy Birthday Emma Distelrath! 🥳

• 8:00 – ATG Meeting

• 8:15 – Student Council – Meeting in 5th / 6th Grade Learning Community

• 6:00 – 7:00 – Cub Scouts

Tuesday, Nov. 4

• Happy Birthday Jennifer Beckemeyer!🥳

• No School – Teacher Professional Development Day

• Election Day

Wednesday, Nov. 5

• Bubbles Boutique – School Store Open Durning Lunch

• Beautification Team – Students meet during lunch recess

• 3:55-5:15pm Slime Science with KidSientific (Art)

Thursday, Nov. 6

• 4:00pm-5:00pm Macomb Crew Soccer-Session 2 (Gym)

• 6:00 – EDAC Meeting @ Bemis

• 6:30 – 8:30 DeKeyser Dolphins – Lego Robotics Team Practice - Cafeteria

Friday, Nov. 7

• Frozen Friday - $1 Popsicle Sale

• Report Cards Posted in PowerSchool after 4pm

Saturday, Nov. 8

• Happy Birthday Jamie Sheridan! 🥳

• STEM Day

• 10:00 – 2:00 – 7th Annual Macomb Reads Carnival

• We are excited to announce that DeKeyser Elementary will have a Halloween parade again this year! The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. Students will parade around the outside of the building.

• Parade will begin at the front of the building and we will walk students around the entire building. Students will get dropped off at their classroom door where they will watch the rest of the parade.

• Parents should line up outside of their child's classroom door.

• 6th Grade students will be in special during this time. They will be led around the building by their specialist teacher. 6th grade teachers will send home more information prior to the parade.

• Please consult with your child's teacher to see what acceptable items are able to be sent in for the classroom party.

• See the information below about Halloween costumes at school.

Halloween is a time of year where some of our students get super excited about picking out their Halloween costumes, and as parents/guardians we know that sometimes those "popular" costumes are hard to find the longer we wait to go shopping. With that being said we thought it may be helpful for you to have an idea of what those "school appropriate" costumes are here at DeKeyser. Keep in mind, or as we like to put things in perspective with our older students.... we have students as young as 4-5 years old and while some costumes are "age appropriate for them", they may not be appropriate for the all-school parade. After reading the guidelines below if you have any questions regarding the suitability, please contact the office or your child's teacher.

Students should refrain from violent characterization and may not use any fake weapons, fake blood, or any references to victims or perpetrators of violence for their costume choice at school. Violent characterization is unacceptable for school parades and where younger students might be frightened. If deemed inappropriate by school personnel, students will be asked to remove the costume and/or wash their makeup.

Book, cartoon, folk heroes, historical figures, and period costumes are all good ideas to consider when thinking of the perfect costume.

Since Halloween is a half day of school, students will be allowed to wear costumes to school. Check to be sure that your child can walk freely, and that the costume will be comfortable enough for the classroom setting. Masks may be worn (frightening masks not permitted) but those that impede vision should be left at home. Plan to have your child bring any costume props (wigs and other add-ons) to school in a bag or backpack.

Titans Running Club Experience Continued Success

You may have heard rumblings of success for a club at Davis Jr. High and DeKeyser Elementary – Titans Running Club. This was the third full season of the Titans Running Club. The Junior Titans’ Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country teams were composed of eight boys and six girls. Twelve were from Davis Jr. High. They were (grade in parenthesis): Noelle Hadaya (7), Cameron Hart (8), Ashley Henry (7), Joseph Mann (7), Madison Mayer (7), Malia Mayer (7), Hunter Meray (7), Robyn Milligan (7), Mason Smith (8), and Logan Spencer (7). The remaining two runners were from DeKeyser Elementary – Edric Williams (6) and Sam Williams (5).

Besides getting in fantastic shape and having fun while doing it, the kids also racked up a total of 45 PR’s (Personal Records) or SB’s (Season Bests), came home with a total of 12 medals during their nine-meet season, and had some good team finishes as well. Medals were earned by the following runners during the season, with the number of medals earned in parenthesis. On the boys’ side, Joseph Mann (6), Edric Williams (1), and Sam Williams (1) came home with medals. On the girls’ side, Madison Mayer (1), Malia Mayer (2), and Robyn Milligan (1) came home with medals. Joseph Mann (11:33) also set the boys’ club 2-mile records during the season. Additionally, we had nine times run that were in the top 5 grade level times for the history of Titans Running Club. We also had eleven times run in the Top 25 All-Time, regardless of grade level. Titans Running Club is coached by Todd Bauer and Steve Laskowski. Congratulations, Titans, on a great season!

The Macomb Intermediate School District will be offering additional maturation programs for fourth and fifth grade girls along with their mothers or guardians. These sessions will provide an opportunity to address questions related to growth and development. See the flyer below with important dates and registration information.

Dear Parents,

Report cards will be posted in your PowerSchool account after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 7, 2025. Here are the top three things you need to know:

• Access to the report cards will not be available through the PowerSchool app. The report cards are available by logging into your account through your favorite browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.).

• We strongly encourage you to make sure you can access your account by a web browser. If you need technical assistance, please contact our school office.

• You must have a PowerSchool account to see the report card. If you do not have an account, please follow the instructions at this link.

For more information on how report cards will be shared, where to access the report cards, how to request a new password or set up a PowerSchool account, please see this link.

Important Information:

We are asking for your support to help keep our students safe.

• All visitors to our school will now be required to swipe their Government Issued Photo ID upon entry to the main office. This swipe will provide an immediate check against the sex offender registry. This process is for anyone who is going past the school office.

• It is strongly recommended parents/guardians download the Raptor Safe app in order to create a visitor profile. The Raptor Safe app offers a convenient and secure way for visitors to manage and verify their identify before arriving at school. This profile provides a Raptor Passport which can be used to quickly and easily check in at the school office via the app.

• If you plan to volunteer in our classroom, 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.

Our entire PTCG team would like to extend our gratitude for all your help these past two weeks to make our Spooktacular Trunk or Treat a success!! All of the trunks, tables, and pumpkins were amazing!! We can’t believe how fast 1,000 lbs of candy can be used up either :)) We appreciated all the NHS volunteers from Stevenson that refilled candy and passed our cider/donuts as well. We hope everyone had a blast!!

It's hard to believe that it will be the last week of October coming up! All of our Halloween Grams will be delivered to classrooms on Halloween for kiddos to take home. These delightful grams were full of the kindest messages and spookiest jokes to friends in all grades! A tremendous THANK YOU to Mrs. Ritz for spending the time collecting these and adding a fun Halloween pencil to each gram. We always appreciate your support!

Please be sure to save the date for Tuesday, November 11th for our next PTCG meeting at DeKeyser. This will be our last meeting of 2025 since we do not have a meeting in December. We'd also appreciate you saving the date for our Cutting Edge Gym Jam & Ninja Course on Saturday, November 22nd from 2:00-4:00pm. This will be ONLY Gym Jam & Ninja Course fundraiser for the whole year and it's a big one! Cutting Edge gives back 50% of the proceeds with an extra $250 if we have 100 kiddos come to play. Please read the directions below to register. We hope to see you there!

1. Families can also register at www.cuttingedgeusa.com (Enroll Now → Bookings → School Fundraisers→Select DEKEYSER).

2. You can check out the event page on Facebook by clicking here: https://fb.me/e/39VNMReU5

3. Reminder: 50% of paid admissions go back to DeKeyser! Be sure to direct your families to use our school's link to count towards DeKeyser's donation total!

4. Do you know about the Cutting Edge 100's Club? Bring 100 or more students and receive a $250 BONUS, personalized school banner hung at our gym, and 10 Free Gym Jam passes!

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.

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.