DeKeyser News!

September / October 2026

VIP Parking: Lisa Dicker

Monday, September 28

• 4:00pm – 5:00pm Anime & Cartoon Drawing Athletes Global

Tuesday, September 29

• Happy Birthday Teresa Cuares! 🥳

Wednesday, September 30

• Picture Day

• Bubbles Boutique - School Store - Open every Wednesday during lunch

• 6:00 – Parent Advisory Meeting – Curriculum Night - Preschool Only

Thursday, October 1

Friday, October 2

• Spirit Day - DeKeyser Grade Level Shirt Day - Wear your grade level color

• National Custodian Day – Let’s Celebrate Mr. Zef, Mr. Ylli, & Ms. Careiya

• FUN RUN

• Frozen Friday - $1 Popsicle Sale

Saturday, October 3

Sunday, October 4

• 11:00 – 2:00 – Sterling Heights Fire Department Open House

A huge thank you to Ms. Washburn and Ms. Chambers for all of the time, energy, and care they put into supporting our 2026–2027 DeKeyser Student Council Elections! Your guidance helped make this experience so meaningful for our students, and we are so grateful for all you did to make it happen.

We also want to give a HUGE congratulations to every student who stepped up and ran for Student Council Board! We had an amazing turnout, and it was incredible to see so many of our Dolphins willing to put themselves out there, share their ideas, and take on a leadership role. You should all be incredibly proud of yourselves!

A special thank you to our DeKeyser families as well. We know how much time and support went into helping students create their amazing posters, prepare their speeches, and practice sharing their ideas. Your encouragement made such a difference!

Our students did an AMAZING job! Watching them demonstrate confidence, creativity, leadership, and school pride was truly something special. These are the experiences that help our students grow into the leaders they are becoming.

We also want to share how excited we were to have our DeKeyser Dolphins invited to be part of the Stevenson Homecoming Parade for the very first time! 🐬💙 What a special opportunity for our students to represent DeKeyser and be part of such a fun community tradition. And let me tell you… our students had the BEST time! Their smiles, excitement, and school spirit were absolutely contagious. It was such a wonderful reminder of how special it is to be a DeKeyser Dolphin and to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

We are so proud of our students and all they continue to bring to our school and community. What an exciting time to be a DeKeyser Dolphin! 🐬💙

Once a Dolphin, Always A Dolphin!

We will be scheduling our conferences through SchoolSoft again this year. You will need to

• Log into https://utica-dekeyser.schoolsoft.com/login.jsf?logout=true
• This link will open up on Monday, September 28th

Late School Parent Teacher Conferences

October 13th, 2026 @ 5:00-8:00 PM- Virtual/In Person

October 14th, 2026 @ 1:00-4:00 PM - Virtual/In Person

October 14th, 2026 @ 5:00 - 8:00 PM- Virtual/In Person

Conferences will take place before the end of the marking period—this is designed to better support our students. By meeting earlier, teachers are able to share important insights into current academic progress, work habits, and classroom behaviors while there is still time for students to make adjustments and build on their strengths before final grades are recorded.

Thank you to all of the DeKeyser families who joined us for our event-filled week last week! We hope everyone had a fantastic time skating the night away at The New Rink and enjoyed some delicious pizza while supporting our school at Buddy’s Pizza Restaurant Night! We truly appreciate our families for showing up, having fun, and continuing to support the PTCG and our DeKeyser community!

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Fun RUN

We’re 23% of the way there!

Our Fun Run goal is $18,000, and our amazing Dolphin community has already raised $4,210! We still have some laps to go—keep those donations coming and help us reach the finish line! All donations are due Thursday October 1st!

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October is Just Around the Corner!
We’re sharing our October happenings a little early because there is A LOT of fun headed our way! 🎃 From the Fun Run to Spooktacular and everything in between, October is packed with activities for our Dolphin community. Take a peek, mark those calendars and keep an eye out for more details as each event gets closer!

October 2026

VIP Parking: Lisa Dicker

Monday, October 5

• Happy Birthday Ylli Zykaj! 🥳

• Candy Drive

• 4:00pm – 5:00pm Anime & Cartoon Drawing Athletes Global

Tuesday, October 6

• Candy Drive

Wednesday, October 7

• Candy Drive

• Bubbles Boutique – School Store

Thursday, October 8

• Candy Drive

Friday, October 9

• Candy Drive

• Bagel Order Forms go Home

• Frozen Friday - $1 Popsicle Sale

Saturday, October 10

• Happy Birthday Selvie Afifi! 🥳

• 2:00 – 3:30 - DeKeyser Fundraiser – Gym Jam – Open Play – Gymnastics & Ninja

Sunday, October 11

• 7:00 pm - Band-A-Rama – Swinehart Stadium

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

Afternoon SACC: Tuesday - Thursday 3:55 pm – 6:00 pm at Oakbrook 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.

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.

Volunteer applications need to be renewed annually. If you submitted a volunteer application in November, you do not need to submit a new application at this time. Raptor will automatically send a renewal application when their current volunteer approval is approaching its expiration date.

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!

Email: officedekeyser@uticak12.org
Website: DeKeyser Elementary / Homepage (uticak12.org)

Location: 39600 Atkinson, Sterling Hgts., MI 48313

Phone: (586) 797-4400

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

Breakfast Hours: 8:45 - 9:05
Facebook: DeKeyser Elementary School

Principal: Mrs. Shannon Hathcock

Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Lisa Russo

Clerk: Mrs. Heather Mansour

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