DKMS Newsletter

Happy chilly Friday Panther families. It was a great week here in the middle school.

Thank you for your flexibility yesterday with our 2 hour delay because of road conditions. We have not had a 2 hour delay since I've been here, so it was a learning experience for all of us! If you did not receive communication from the district yesterday (phone call or email), please contact the middle school office at (269) 623-1540, so we can update your PowerSchool contact information.

We are entering the last two weeks of the second quarter. Please take time to check your child's grades in PowerSchool. There is still time to make up assignments and earn the best grade possible. Students also need to be checking their grades in PowerSchool and communicating with their teachers about their grades. We will have Success Center from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm next Tuesday and Thursday. Let's finish this quarter strong!

If you are considering moving your child to our virtual program the deadline to do so is Friday January 9, 2025. Our online option is only available for our 6th through 8th grade students. If you have more questions about this please reach out to me either by email at bobby.tillman@dkschools.org or phone at (269) 623-1544.

As always, I would like to thank our students, staff, families, and community for all of their hard work and support. I appreciate everyone's patience and flexibility during this time between holidays. This time of year can be filled with stress, weather, sickness, but also tons of excitement and fun. Our ability to communicate and work together makes this the most wonderful time of the year! Have a great weekend!

It's a great day to be a PANTHER!!!

Thank you,

Bobby Tillman

DKMS Principal and District McKinney-Vento Liaison

Delton Kellogg Middle School

6325 Delton Rd

Delton, MI 49046

Office Phone: (269) 623-1544

Work Cell: (269) 297-1256

Wednesday, December 17th - 1/2 day of school - Student release 11:30 am

Thursday, December 18th - 1/2 day of school - Student release 11:30 am

Friday, December 19th - 1/2 day of school - Student release 11:30 am (End of 1st Semester)

Monday, December 22nd - Holiday Break Starts (December 22nd- January 2nd)

Monday, January 5th - School Resumes (Full day)

Monday, January 19th - No School for Students (Professional Development Day Staff)

Our DKMS Student Council has spoken, and they’ve chosen 12 Days of Christmas spirit themes for the whole school to enjoy! We’ve already kicked off the festivities this week, and each day offers a new way to celebrate the season, get creative, and spread holiday cheer throughout the building. Get ready to dress up, have fun, and make December unforgettable!

Thursday, December 4 – Dress Like an ELF
Friday, December 5 – Dress Like a Christmas Tree
Monday, December 8 – White Out Day
Tuesday, December 9 – Grinch Day
Wednesday, December 10 – Ugly Sweater Day
Thursday, December 11 – Holiday Colors: RED, GREEN, GOLD & WHITE
Friday, December 12 – Polar Express Day (PJ Day)
Monday, December 15 – Silly Christmas Sock Day
Tuesday, December 16 – Santa Day
Wednesday, December 17 – Dress Up Like Rudolph
Thursday, December 18 – Dress Like Your Favorite Christmas Movie Character
Friday, December 19 – Dress Like a Snowman

It’s that time of year again! Our Christmas Food Drive started on December 4th and runs through December 18, 2025. We need your help to make the season bright for families in our community.

Bring in ANY non-perishable food item to your homeroom, every little bit counts! From canned goods to boxed meals, your donations can make a huge difference for someone in need this holiday season.

And there’s a fun reward: the homeroom that collects the most food will earn a Root Beer Float Party!

Start bringing in your donations today and help make this Christmas extra special!

It’s time to bring the holiday magic to our hallways! Door decorating officially began on December 3rd, and we can’t wait to see the creativity shine throughout the building.

We know the timeline is quick, but starting early means we get to enjoy the decorated halls even longer!

Classrooms can decorate using any winter or holiday theme! Judging will take place on Friday, December 12th, so be sure your door is complete and ready to impress by that morning.

Starting Monday, December 8th, the DKMS Student Council will be selling candy canes at lunch every day! Each candy cane is just $1, so grab one (or a few!) to spread some holiday cheer to your friends or treat yourself.

At DKMS, students who are Safe, Kind, Responsible, and Respectful (SK2R) can earn Panther Paws each week. Every Panther Paw goes into our weekly prize drawing, and winners get to pick a special treat!

Want a better chance to win? Keep earning and adding your Panther Paws, the more you have, the better your chances are for a sweet treat!

A huge congrats to this week’s winners! Keep showing your Panther pride, spreading kindness, and making our school awesome!

In Mr. Fawcett’s 5th grade social studies class, students have been diving into the world of explorers for the past couple of weeks. Each student chose one explorer from a selection of eight and completed a series of creative projects: designing a treasure chest, mapping the explorer’s voyage, creating a small timeline of the explorer’s life, coloring the flag of the country that sponsored the trip, and writing a letter home from the explorer’s perspective. Students did a phenomenal job on this project!

Mrs. SanInocencio’s 6th grade Science students are continuing their Earth science lessons with a focus on fossils and Pangaea. Students are using fossil study cards to figure out where fossils came from, how old they are, and what they can tell us about Earth’s past.

They’ve been plotting fossil locations, comparing evidence, and making predictions about why Earth looks the way it does today. This connects directly to their previous lessons on plate tectonics, helping students see how moving continents and shifting plates explain the fossil clues they’re studying. It’s been a fun, hands-on way for students to explore Earth’s history.

Students in “Leadworthy” continue to apply skills learned in class alongside their daily “Capturing Kids’ Hearts” lessons in Flex. Recent focus areas include trust, integrity, responsibility, and self-awareness. Students actively engage in team-building challenges, role-play scenarios, videos, and reflective journal writing, all designed to help them practice the EXCEL model of leadership: Engage, X-plore, Communicate, Engage, and Launch.

This week, Mr. Fleser’s 8th graders jumped into a hands-on lab all about waves, energy, light, and sound. Students made a “human wave,” used tuning forks to make water bounce, created spring waves, and even built cup telephones to see how sound moves through different materials.

They also tested how string length and tension change pitch, made music with water-filled flasks and straw flutes, and explored how light works by checking out reflection, refraction, and color separation with a prism.

The goal was to help students experience how waves carry energy without moving matter and to connect what they’re learning to real life.

Congratulations to Emmy Munsell, a 6th grader at DKMS, who earned an invitation to join the CRU Dance National Performance Company! In November, Emmy and three of her teammates traveled to Detroit for a 6-hour rehearsal, where they learned and perfected their 5-minute routine in just one practice. Along with about 60 dancers from studios across the nation, they performed the halftime show at the Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls game on November 12th. Great job Emmy!

The Panther Den at Delton Kellogg Middle School helps students by providing snacks, clothing, shoes, toiletries, and other essential items they may need. To continue supporting our students, we rely on donations to replenish and restock the Panther Den as supplies run low.

The middle school has created a Panther Den Amazon Wishlist to make it easy to contribute. Each donation helps us provide students with the essentials for a successful school year.

How to Help:

• Scan the QR Code below

• Or click here: Panther Den Amazon Wishlist

Thank you for helping us keep the Panther Den stocked and supporting our students!

Order Online: ybpay.lifetouch.com

Yearbook ID Code: 13316726

Order Deadline: April 10, 2026

Scan the QR code or visit the website to place your order today!

Don’t miss out on a keepsake full of this year’s memories!

We are excited to announce that our 5th grade students will have the opportunity to attend camp at Sherman Lake YMCA in the spring of 2026! This three-day experience helps us build teamwork and character in meaningful ways outside the classroom.

Camp Dates:

Monday, March 30 – Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Cost:

$210.00 per student

Payments can be made by check or cash in the Middle School Office during school hours.

Please make checks payable to Delton Kellogg Schools.

Payment Deadline:

Friday, February 24, 2026

We’ll share more details as camp gets closer, but we’re already excited for this fun and meaningful experience with our students!

Meal accounts & Education and Nutrition forms can be set up at: deltonkellogg.familyportal.cloud Students and staff ID #s will be needed to set-up meal accounts.

Please email tiffany.haines@dkschools.org if you need your student or staff ID #.

Families, please remember to complete the 2025–2026 Education and Nutrition Benefits Form. Only one form per family is needed. This helps our school receive important funding and ensures students have access to available meal benefits.

Please check event link for all updates and changes.

* Eventlink.com is where information for athletic events and facility usage can be found. Tickets and season passes can be purchased through Eventlink, and you are able to customize your experience by choosing which sports you would like communications from.

* Finalforms.com is where physicals and other important documents should go. These documents can be uploaded by your phone by taking a picture of the document.

* The Athletic Department would prefer all pay to participate payments go through this virtual portal for all Middle School and High School athletes.

Pay to Participate Fees can be paid HERE

PDF of Sports Participation Fees

* Hudl.com is where fans can subscribe to watch live streams of home events that occur at the turf stadium or the High School main gymnasium.

Click here to visit the Delton Hudl Fan Account

* You can also stay up to date with our new athletics social media accounts:

Facebook: Delton Kellogg Athletics

Instagram: DKpanthers

Twitter (X): DKpanthers

Background checks for volunteers are essential to ensure the safety and well-being of students.This helps keep our school environment secure and positive for all students.Therefore in a continued effort to keep our schools as safe as possible, all volunteer parents and community members, as well as classroom visitors, must submit to criminal background checks.Field trip chaperones are also considered volunteers. Visitor and Volunteer Consent forms must be completed each year and should be turned into the middle school office. You can pick up a volunteer form in the office or click below to print one.

Tentative Kickstart Deposit days at DKMS:

Lost and Found items will be retained for 30 days. After which, they will be donated locally. If you have a student that is missing something, please ask them to check the lost and found shelf, located near the entrance to the cafeteria. If you would like to claim an item, please stop by the middle school office Mon-Fri 7:30 - 3:30.

Email: tammy.whitmore@dkschools.org

Location: 6325 Delton Road, Delton, MI, USA

Phone: 269-623-1541

Email: julie.gorter@dkschools.org

Location: 6325 Delton Road, Delton, MI, USA

Phone: 269-623-1542