Pictured above: Whittier celebrated Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day today! Whittier students and families filled the sidewalks as they traveled to school. As students arrived, the PTA passed out Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day stickers. View more photos!

• Focusing on Learning • Connecting the Community • Securing the Future • Building for Success • Cultivating Talent

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Regular student attendance is critical to successful student achievement, and District 58 asks families to please prioritize their child's consistent attendance at school. To help raise attendance awareness, last week schools sent home a letter to all families, notifying them of the number of days their child attended school during the first 30 days of school.

The District realizes that many students miss school due to illness, family emergencies, religious observations and other reasons, which is understandable. District 58 requests that families please schedule vacations and other activities during normal school holidays and break periods whenever possible.

Most importantly, time missed from school is detrimental to student academic success. However, it also impacts a school's state rating. A student is considered chronically absent by the State if they miss 10% (18 days) or more of the school year regardless of whether absences are excused or unexcused.

The State will release its 2024 school report cards later this month, and award schools with summative designations, or school ratings. The State calculates these ratings using a variety of factors, and 20% of a school's score is based on their chronic absenteeism rate. Even if a school is strong academically, if it has a high chronic absenteeism rate, its overall score will be affected.

District 58 appreciates its partnership with families in ensuring children attend school as often as possible. Please view the District's Family Handbook for more information on Attendance and Absenteeism. Thank you!

Principals will email families guidelines specific for their school's Halloween celebrations and costumes this month. In general, District 58 schools will allow costumes, and the elementary schools will hold outdoor costume parades (weather permitting) during the school day, followed by a classroom party.

When selecting a Halloween costume, please make sure it is appropriate for school. Please avoid costumes that show or imply violence, and costumes that include props that could resemble a weapon. Thank you.

District 58 has a rich and diverse population in our learning community, and knows that some families may not celebrate Halloween. If you would like your child to not participate in Halloween activities, please let your child's teacher and principal know. They will find an alternative location and activity for your child during the Halloween activities.

National Hispanic American Heritage Month takes place Sept. 15-Oct. 15, and District 58 schools are celebrating! For example, El Sierra School created the bulletin board pictured here and has featured Hispanic heritage during morning announcements this month. Each day has a different theme:

Monday: Hispanic countries

Tuesday: Famous Hispanic people

Wednesday: Spanish phrases

Thursday: Spanish words

Friday: Popular Spanish music

In the Sept. 11 issue of Communicate 58, we shared links to our full four-part Emergency Preparedness series. Throughout the school year, we will also highlight parts of this series within this newsletter.

Today, we will highlight the second half of Topic 1: How does District 58 proactively address school safety?

• District 58 schools regularly review school safety and behavior expectations with students in an age-appropriate manner. Safety presentations promote respectful, responsible and safe behaviors and discuss school visitor protocols, technology safety, harassment and bullying, prohibited items, threats, when and where expectations apply, and consequences. 

•  The District offers Safe2Help, a monitored system where students can safely and confidentially report a crisis, threat or bullying involving themselves or someone they know. District 58 schools also have social workers, behavior specialists, school psychologists and counselors on staff to support students.

•  District 58 schools practice a variety of safety drills throughout the year to ensure everyone is prepared if an emergency occurs. The safety drills include: fire drills, tornado/severe weather drills, bus evacuation drills and active threat drills. Drills are designed to educate and prepare students. Schools take precautions to avoid scaring students during drills. Building principals will notify parents when a safety drill occurs, either by email or newsletter.

• Schools screen all visitors using the Raptor System, and all staff and approved visitors wear a District 58 color-coded lanyard with their identification.

• District 58 is in the process of building more secured entrances at all schools, using funding from the District’s successful fall 2022 referendum.

Click here to learn more ways that District 58 proactively addresses school safety.

It's Fire Prevention Week. Now is a great time to check if your smoke detectors are working and create a family home fire escape plan. The National Fire Prevention Associations has some great resources at https://www.nfpa.org/en.

Did you know?: District 58 has a fantastic partnership with the Downers Grove Fire Department! The DGFD provides a five-lesson Adopt a Firefighter safety curriculum for first graders, and a monthly Learn Not to Burn safety curriculum for third graders (pictured here). They also review fire safety with fourth grade and lead an eighth grade basic aid training. 

Thank you, Downers Grove Fire Department, for your valuable support and partnership!

District 58 takes internet safety seriously, and has a variety of resources in place to support students as they learn to navigate technology usage in school. You can read more about these resources here.

Please note that while there are protections in place on student devices in District 58, students should still be supervised when using technology. If you have specific questions or concerns about your student’s technology usage in one of their classes, we encourage you to contact your child’s teacher directly. If you have general questions about technology usage and internet safety, please contact Assistant Superintendent for Technology and Learning Dr. James Eichmiller at jeichmiller@dg58.org.

The District 58 Board of Education will hold a regular business meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at O'Neill Middle School. This meeting does not take place on the usual second Monday of the month due to Columbus Day. The agenda will be posted on BoardDocs this Friday.

Later this month, the Board will hold its fall Curriculum Workshop on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at Henry Puffer School.

District 58 invites students to register for The Reading Games, now through Friday, Nov. 15. The Reading Games is a fun annual reading competition for District 58 and District 61 students in grades 3-8. It will take place Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 at O'Neill Middle School. To participate, complete the following:

1. Form a team and complete the team registration OR complete an individual registration and The Reading Games will do their best to find a team for your child. Teams must have between five and eight students. They can represent a mix of grade levels and schools, but must attend District 58 or District 61.

2. Collaborate with your team to read nine books from one of two book lists. List 1 is geared for readers in third and fourth grade. List 2 is geared for readers in fifth and sixth grade. Students in seventh and eighth grade who want to participate should read from List 2. To prepare, students can meet to discuss the books and quiz each other.

3. Participate in The Reading Games on Feb. 22, 2025! During The Reading Games, students will face other teams to answer questions about the books they've read. Teams are encouraged to dress up and have fun, and prizes are awarded. (For example -- see this story's featured photo. This team dressed up as a senior reading club!)

"It is a great opportunity for kids to read new books and discuss them with friends," said The Reading Games Co-Coordinator Colleen Broomhead. "Good luck to our readers as they uncover the magic within these books!"

The Reading Games is sponsored by the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 and the Grove Express Foundation.

Learn more about The Reading Games registration process. Visit The Reading Games website.

District 58 invites the community to participate in the Fifth Annual DIY 5K Run/Walk on Nov. 2-10 by joining the "District 58 Downers Grove Community" team. This race is a "do it yourself" style 5K run/walk, and participants can complete it on their own time, at their own pace, and at their own place. All event proceeds will benefit District 58's Blessings in a Backpack program.

Blessings in a Backpack provides approximately 200 District 58 students facing food insecurity with food for the weekends and during school vacation periods. The organization will use DIY 5K Run/Walk proceeds to help pay for the meals.

Click here to register for the DIY 5K Run/Walk.

Click here to learn more.

Visit the District 58 Blessings in a Backpack page.

District 58 includes relevant e-flyers in the Communicate 58 newsletter and online. Learn more.

• Downers Grove Night at the Firehouse is Wednesday, Oct. 9 and the Annual Fire Department Silent Parade is Friday, Oct. 11
• Downtown Downers Grove Halloween Window Painting is Saturday, Oct. 26
• Join the DIY 5K Run/Walk supporting District 58's Blessings in a Backpack program
• Mark your calendar: Downers Grove Author Fest is April 23-25
• Trunk or Treat at Faith United Methodist Church on Sunday, Oct. 20
• The Village of Downers Grove seeks handmade ornaments for the downtown holiday tree