• October 13, 2025

    Dear UCS Families, 

    When I began my career at Utica Community Schools, a common question from families and staff was around the unique grade levels in each of our school buildings.  Even as far back as 20 years, there were conversations about the elementary, junior high school and high school grade configurations. 

    The answer at that time was that grade levels assigned to buildings were initially set that way based on the student capacity of our school buildings. Today, we are in a different place. 

    Our changes in enrollment, the implementation of our Safety and Success bond issue, and our ongoing review of facilities have given us the ability to consider possible changes to our grade configurations at each level. We can have a conversation on how our building configurations can better support academic offerings in UCS, increase academic and co-curricular opportunities, and create a structure that supports our students and staff. 

    Currently, our grade configurations are set with elementary schools supporting early childhood, kindergarten and young fives through 6th grade, junior high schools 7th through 9th grade, and 10th through 12th grade being taught at our high schools. The only exception is Henry Ford II High School covering 9th through 12th grade and Bemis Junior High School teaching 7th and 8th grade.  

    Over these next few weeks, we will consider building configurations that are consistent with the majority of Michigan school districts: elementary schools with early childhood, kindergarten and young fives through 5th grade, middle schools with 6th through 8th grade, and high schools 9th through 12th grade.  

    There are a number of compelling reasons why this is the right time to consider changing grade configurations: 

    • With changes in our enrollment, we have the building capacity to support this conversation. The timing is also something that would tie in with the work of our Enrollment Distribution Advisory Committee (EDAC), which is engaged in long-range planning and review of our attendance areas.  
    • UCS curriculum and the curriculum and assessment standards for the State of Michigan are organized in a K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 format. This change would better align our schools to successfully meet those expectations. 
    • We can increase the rigor and offerings to 6th and 9th grade students and their access to co-curricular activities by changing grade configurations.  
    • We would have an opportunity to reimagine how a middle school experience can support the unique needs of students in 6th through 8th grade and support a successful transition to high school in the 9th grade.  

    As we look ahead and explore possible changes, our priority is to make any transition a thoughtful and positive one for our students, staff and families. We will work with our stakeholders to plan the next steps and, if successful, set a timeline for implementation.  

    We remain committed to transparency throughout this process. We will continue to communicate with you on a regular basis. I encourage you to share any questions you may have that can be addressed in further communications at this link. From this feedback, we will create a question and answer document and fact sheets that will be addressed in future communications.  

    Even as we consider significant change, there are parts of our UCS culture that will always stay the same. We honor the legacy of excellence that reflects our community’s values, students will have access to quality programs and schools where they belong, the effective relationships between students, staff, parents and the community will remain a trademark of our district, and we will continue to have high expectations for every student who enters our school doors.  

    Sincerely, 

    Robert S. Monroe 
    Superintendent of Schools