March 18-April 17

Illinois Assessment of Readiness testing window is open; principals will communicate exact testing schedule

Thursday, March 20

6-7 p.m.: Henry Puffer Kindergarten Roundup

6-7 p.m.: Highland Kindergarten Roundup

6-7 p.m.: Kingsley Kindergarten Roundup

Friday, March 21

Deadline to submit Distinguished Service Award nomination

Wednesday, March 26

7:30 p.m.: Herrick Musical - Legally Blonde, The Musical, Jr.

Thursday, March 27

7:30 p.m.: Herrick Musical - Legally Blonde, The Musical, Jr.

Friday, March 28

5Essentials Survey closes

Monday, March 31-Friday, April 4

Spring Break- Schools are closed; District 58's administrative office is open

Monday, April 7

School resumes

Click here to view the 2024-25 calendar.

Click here to view the 2025-26 calendar.

District 58's student registration for the 2025-26 school year is open. Please register your student online via the PowerSchool Enrollment platform by Monday, March 31. Please see registration directions at www.dg58.org/registration.

Submitting your child's registration on time will help District 58 make hiring decisions, determine schedules, purchase materials, arrange transportation and more. We appreciate your support, and thank the 63% of returning students who already completed their registrations!

We request that the following groups please complete 2025-26 District 58 registration:

• All returning District 58 students
• All new District 58 students
• All current District 58 students (in grades preschool through 7) who will not attend District 58 next year. You will only need to answer two questions confirming your withdrawal.
• All outplaced District 58 students (these are students who attend a special education school/program not located at a District 58 school)
• All Grove Children’s Preschool students, after receiving admittance into the preschool program 

What do you need to register?

Visit www.dg58.org/registration for detailed steps. In general, families need to do the following to register their child:

1. New families will create a PowerSchool parent account.
2. All families log on to their PowerSchool account and follow the prompts to complete all online registration forms.
3. The enrollment system will tell you which additional forms (i.e. medical forms) you'll need to submit. You can either upload these documents during online registration, or submit them to the school office at a later day (prior to next school year starting).
4. After submitting registration, please pay applicable registration fees through PushCoin.
5. All students must prove that they live within District 58's boundaries. All new students, as well as a few other student groups, are required to submit residency proofs to the school office. District 58 works with a third-party vendor to complete student address verification for all other students; students whose address cannot be confirmed by the vendor will be asked to provide additional documentation as well.

District 58 thanks the Downers Grove Roadrunners Soccer Club for generously donating $12,573 to support the District’s schools. This donation comes from the Roadrunners' portion of the proceeds from last November’s Grove Express 5K race, which they co-hosted in downtown Downers Grove. 

This year’s donation will help enhance all District 58 kindergarten classrooms. In 2023, the District transitioned to a full-day kindergarten program for all students, which was a significant step forward, particularly for students who need extra support. To further enrich the kindergarten learning experience, this funding will be used to purchase play-based learning resources for all kindergarten classrooms, with a specific emphasis on science and social studies.

“The Roadrunners organization is truly one-of-a-kind in its generosity and commitment to District 58,” said Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell. “We deeply appreciate their ongoing partnership and the impact they continue to make on our students’ educational experiences.”

This is the fourth straight year that the Roadrunners organization donated funding to support specific programs in District 58. Past donations have included funding to enhance the Developmental Learning Program; to purchase accessible playground equipment for preschool students; and to provide sensory tools and classroom calming corner resources to help students who struggle with regulation at school.

Thank you again, Roadrunners! We appreciate your partnership and continued support.

The District 58 Board of Education approved the 2026-27 District 58 Calendar last week. (They approved the 2025-26 Calendar last school year.)

Please note: Both the summers of 2025 and 2026 involve construction that will require a longer summer. This means that fall 2027 will be the first year that District 58 can more closely align its calendar with District 99 (our high school district).

Please see key dates for both calendars below.

As warmer weather arrives, District 58’s construction work will accelerate. As you may know, this summer will be a long one, extending from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The District needs this summer to be as long as possible to complete its scheduled referendum construction work. 

District 58 passed a referendum in 2022 with 67% of the vote. The referendum calls for District 58 to update aging school building infrastructure and mechanical systems; install air-conditioning; build more secure school entrances; and build additions to Herrick and O'Neill that would allow sixth graders to transition to the middle schools. The work is being done in three phases and is on schedule for completion in fall 2026. Construction is overall on schedule and within the budget. District 58's construction partners present regular updates at Board of Education meetings. Construction information is also shared on the District's Building for Success webpages.

Recent construction updates include:

Phase II elementary schools -- Fairmount, Indian Trail, Kingsley and Lester -- will be renovated this summer. As a first step, these schools will complete ACM (asbestos-containing materials) abatement over spring break. The District and its construction partners are confident that this work will not impact schools, and these schools will be able to safely reopen after spring break. Starting May 5, crews will start second shift work (after school hours) at the Phase II elementary schools to get a head start on summer construction work.

Middle school construction is progressing as expected, and all exterior additions are expected to be complete this summer, with interior work completed in fall 2025. Both middle schools have completed excavation and foundation work (with the exception of one space at O’Neill). Both middle schools have also completed all superstructure work and substantially completed curtainwall installation and framing installation, as well as most mechanical, plumbing and electrical rough-in work.

At Herrick, skylights and windows were recently installed in the new library. Roofing, lighting installation, acoustic ceiling installation and tile installation are underway. ComEd has reported that its Herrick transformer installation is delayed. This transformer will power Herrick’s new spaces with electricity, heating and cooling. Crews cannot start work that requires a climate-controlled environment -- such as millwork, wood flooring installation, and door installation -- until the transformer is installed. District 58 and its construction partners are working diligently with ComEd to hasten the transformer’s delivery and installation. The District’s construction partners are also creating an alternate plan that would provide temporary power and cooling to these areas until the transformer is installed. The team believes that Herrick’s construction work will still be completed on time, despite this setback.

O’Neill crews completed renovations to the northwest side of the school this winter, and these newly-renovated classrooms and offices opened after winter break. Meanwhile, crews started working on six second floor classrooms this winter. Masonry work (pictured above) and lighting installation is underway. Last week, crews set the new emergency generator in place and completed drywall installation in all new addition spaces except at the fitness center. ComEd reported that they will be delivering a new transformer for O’Neill’s new spaces later this month; this will power the new additions. Roofing work will resume this spring.

Please see the below photos of recently complete middle school construction! Visit our Building for Success webpages for more construction information.

PICTURED:

Upper left: Undercutting and final grading of Herrick's new driveway is in progress.

Upper right: Progress in Herrick's new kitchen. FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) installation is complete and ceiling grid installation is in progress.

Lower left: O'Neill's emergency generator was recently installed.

Lower right: Tile installation is in progress at O'Neill's locker rooms.

Last week, District 58's Board of Education approved a resolution allowing the District to issue the remaining school bonds to fund its referendum-related construction work. As part of this process, District 58 presented to Standard & Poor's and Moody's credit rating agencies.

Standard & Poor's and Moody's credit rating agencies both upheld District 58's previous ratings of AA and Aa1, respectively. These are the second highest ratings that both agencies can award.

The District completed its bond sale yesterday.

In the coming weeks, District 58 third-through-eighth graders will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, our state-mandated test. In addition, fifth and eighth graders will take the Illinois Science Assessment. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Liz Ehrhart shared a message about this assessment, why it's important, and how we can support and prepare our students to do their best on it! Read her message here.

Thank you for your partnership! Principals will send their schools' specific IAR/ISA schedule to families.

District 58 thanks the 1,059 parents and guardians who completed the School Environment Survey this winter. We will be sharing the results with the Board this spring; afterward, we will post the results and the Board presentation on our Surveys webpage.

There is still another opportunity to share feedback on District 58 and your child's school. District 58 invites all parents and guardians to take the State's 5Essentials Survey, now through March 28. The 5Essentials Survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes. The District uses 5Essentials results to inform its school improvement planning and principal goal setting. District 58 schools will receive a 5Essentials parent survey report if more than 20% of parents/guardians complete the survey. At this time, none of our schools have reached the 20% participation rate. Please consider participating! Take the State's Parent 5Essentials Survey here by Friday, March 28.

The District will also administer the State’s 5Essentials Survey to staff and fourth-through-eighth grade students. These surveys are also anonymous, and the survey results will become a part of District 58’s 2025 Illinois Report Card. Learn more at www.dg58.org/surveys.

District 58's Reading and Math Summer School class registration is open. All art classes and the second and third grade math/reading classes have been filled. There currently are still spaces in the math/reading classes for other grade levels. Please click here to register.

District 58 will also offer its Leap Into Kindergarten summer class for incoming kindergarteners. Leap Into Kindergarten registration will open Tuesday, April 8 at 9 a.m.

Please visit our Summer Learning webpage to learn more about District 58's summer programming.

Registration is currently open for its summer Extended School Year program for students eligible through their IEP. Students eligible for this program will receive an email from their IEP team with more information.

District 58's middle schools joined the Southeast DuPage Elementary Athletic Association this school year, giving them more athletic opportunities than before. We occasionally share middle school sports highlights in this newsletter; next up: Girls Volleyball and Girls Cheerleading.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58

850 Curtiss Street, Suite 200, Downers Grove, IL 60515

Community Relations Office: 630-719-5805 I mhewitt@dg58.org | www.dg58.org

STAY CONNECTED