Pictured above: Halloween at Fairmount (left) and Highland (right).

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

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District 58 schools had fun celebrating Halloween last week! Elementary schools enjoyed costume parades and classroom parties, while middle schoolers could dress up and some teachers incorporated Halloween themes into the instructional day. Visit the #dg58pride hashtag on X (formerly Twitter) to view photos shared throughout the day, or click the photo gallery links below featuring three of our schools:

Halloween Photo Galleries

• Henry Puffer
• Hillcrest
• Indian Trail

District 58 is proud to share that all District 58 schools earned either an "Exemplary" or a "Commendable" designation from the Illinois State Board of Education on the 2024 Illinois Report Card on Oct. 30.

Fairmount and Whittier schools earned an Exemplary rating, which is the state's highest rating and awarded to the top 10% of schools. All other schools earned a "Commendable" designation, the state's second highest rating.

In addition to designations, the 2024 Illinois Report Card also includes metrics on every Illinois school, including student growth, school funding and demographics.

View District 58's Report Card.

Learn more about school designations.

Want to recognize a staff member in a meaningful way? Give an Education Foundation Green Apple Award! With each Green Apple Award donation received, the Education Foundation will send a specially-designed Green Apple Award card to the teacher or staff member the donation is honoring, hand-delivered by Superintendent Dr. Russell or the school principal, with a custom message from the donor. Green Apple recipients will also be celebrated on the District’s social media pages. 

Learn more here.



Click here to send a Green Apple.

For security reasons, District 58 removed its staff email addresses from the school directory web pages. The District replaced it with buttons next to every staff member’s name that say, “Email [Staff Member’s Name]”. When you click this button, a web form appears. Type your message in that form, and it will immediately be delivered to the staff member’s inbox.

District 58 made this change because there's been an increase in phishing (scam) messages sent to staff. Scammers were previously able to send bulk phishing emails by accessing the email addresses listed in our directory. The District hopes the new web form will help staff be accessible to the community, while keeping staff email accounts secure. Thank you for your understanding.

Moving forward, District 58 schools will share student report cards with families by posting them in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Trimester 1 report cards will be posted and available on Friday, Nov. 22. Please look for instructions for viewing report cards in the Nov. 20 edition of Communicate 58. 

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 continue topic 2.

Topic 2, Part 2: How can families prepare for school emergencies and promote a safe school environment?

• Follow the rules. Exterior school doors are locked during the school day. Visitors must ring the doorbell and be visually and verbally identified via the entry camera before gaining school entry. Visitors will be asked to provide a valid ID, which will be scanned into the Raptor Visitor System. The system checks the visitor's name with a national database of sexual predators. Once entry is approved, Raptor will print a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. Visitors will be asked to wear this badge before continuing to their destination. Thank you for your cooperation!

• Be a role model. District 58 expects mutual respect, civility and orderly conduct among all visitors while on school property or when communicating with school district staff via telephone or email. School property includes all District and school buildings, grounds, parking areas, school-sponsored events, Board of Education meetings, and buses/vehicles used for school purposes. Please see Board Policy 8:30 for details. Please note: parents/guardians are not allowed on the bus or in school, unless authorized by school personnel.

Check back next issue to see part 3 of this topic. Click here to view District 58's full four-part emergency preparedness series.

The Grove Express Foundation invites the District 58 community to join the annual Grove Express 5K family run/walk event on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, Nov. 28, in downtown Downers Grove.

Since the Grove Express Foundation was established in 2021, it has proudly supported the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58, the Rotary Club of Downers Grove, the Roadrunners Soccer Club, and its own scholarship program. Event proceeds will be invested in the Downers Grove community through education and youth programs, including in District 58.

Learn more and sign up.

Reminder: 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.

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

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

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