Highland Happenings

Good Afternoon Highland Families,

I hope you had a great week. This week Highland welcomed one of the Harlem Wizards, Fresh Prince, to build excitement for this weekend's game against the Downers Grove Trotters. We hope to see everyone at the game on Sunday night at Downers Grove South! More information about the game, including how to buy tickets, can be found below. We also kicked off our roller skating unit in P.E. this week! A very big thank you to Mr. Winter and the Highland PTA for making this exciting P.E. unit possible. This week we also wrapped up the majority of Winter MAP testing and make up testing will take place next week. I am very proud of how our Huskies performed. Our Highland staff will be sitting down to review and analyze the data in the coming weeks. We are expecting to receive designs for our new outdoor learning space in honor of Mrs. Wallace from several landscape companies next week and are looking forward to sharing more information soon. in As a reminder, there is no school on Monday due to Martin Luther King Day. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at 630-719-5835. Take care and have a great weekend!

My Best,

Zac Craft

Principal, Highland School

• 01/20/25: No School - Martin Luther King Jr Day
• 01/21/25: 5th Grade Intramurals
• 01/22/25: Student Council Meeting
• 01/23/25: Highland Scoop Meeting
• 01/24/25: Pizza Lunch
• 01/24/25: January All-School Meeting

• 01/27/25: The 100th Day of School
• 01/31/25: Highland Read-a-thon begins

The forecast for Monday and Tuesday morning calls for very cold temperatures. While the air temperature and wind chill will be low, the current forecast for Tuesday does not meet District 58’s threshold for a cold day requiring a pivot to e-learning. For a cold day to be called, the following criteria are considered:

Air temperature: How cold is it? What is the wind chill? Can children safely walk to school? There are times when schools may need to be closed due to dangerously cold temperatures. In these situations, wind chill is also taken into account, as well as the extent to which the temperatures are sustained throughout the school day. District 58 has collaborated with District 99 and the elementary districts that feed into District 99 to develop consistent standards. We will likely close school based on extremely cold conditions when an extreme cold warning is issued by the National Weather Service during the times students are traveling to or from school. An extreme cold warning is typically issued when apparent, or "real-feel" temperatures are around -30 degrees Fahrenheit or colder.

As always, District 58 will consult with local superintendents, the bus company, and the Board President regarding the weather. While it will be cold on Tuesday, we anticipate we will be in school. If the weather forecast changes and District 58 cannot be in school on Tuesday, District 58 will use an e-learning day. In this case, we will promptly email and call all District 58 families. We will also post the update on our website (www.dg58.org) and on our social media pages. If school IS in session as usual, we will not post an update. Please see our Winter Weather Procedures webpage for more information.

The District 58 Science Fair has a new location: O'Neill Middle School. The Science Fair will still take place on Saturday, Jan. 25, as scheduled. Due to construction, parking will be tight. We will send Science Fair participants instructions on parking and other Science Fair details when the event gets closer.

Dear Highland Elementary School Families,

Let the games begin, Heart Heroes! Kids Heart Challenge is here and it’s better than ever! Sign up TODAY to get started on Finn’s Mission - refresh your Hands-Only CPR skills and learn the warning signs of a stroke. Every student who completes Finn’s Mission will earn their very own Heart Hero Cape!

Help Save Lives with These Simple Steps:

Download the FREE AHA Schools App for Apple or Android and click on “Register Now” then scroll down to join your school's team. OR click HERE and choose “Sign Up” to get started.

Thank you for being an essential part of the Kids Heart Challenge, supporting our school and the American Heart Association. Every step you take helps save lives. Let’s make a powerful positive impact together!

Please check out our Highland Parent Letter for more details and special incentives this year!!

As part of our new Student Library Card Program, District 58 invited families to sign up their child to receive a free library card during school registration last year. The Downers Grove Public Library recently finished preparing the library cards and delivered them to District 58 schools. Students will receive and learn about their library cards during their Highland Library time.

Students who signed up and already have a library card will receive an envelope with information about the program. In addition, participating students who live in Woodridge should have received their library card by mail last month. Library cards may not yet be ready for students who transferred to District 58 mid-school year. If you did not sign up your child for a library card but would like one, please contact the school office. We will partner with the library for a second issuance of library cards later this year.

Learn more about the Student Library Card Program.

Winter parent-teacher conference signups will be open from Thursday, Jan. 23 at 11 a.m. through Friday, Jan. 31 at 11 a.m. Families can sign up using the PowerPTC system.

Conferences will take place the evenings of Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.

View conference signup instructions here. (para Español: Registro para las reuniones de padres y maestros).

We value communication with parents and guardians, but we have received feedback that as a result of strong and ongoing communication between home and school a winter conference may not be necessary for all families. You can simply choose not to sign up. Regardless, please know that you can request a conference with your child’s teacher at any time throughout the year. Additionally, your child’s teacher(s) may contact you at any time if they feel a conference would be helpful.

llnesses such as flu, RSV and COVID-19 are spreading in the community. District 58's Health Services website has great resources on preventing these illnesses, and steps to take if you get sick.

In addition, winter break is a great time to clean your child's coats, winterwear, book bag, lunch box and anything else your child takes to school to help fight the spread of germs!

Do you have young children at home? Do you have friends or neighbors with little ones? Please share this information!

District 58 offers free preschool and developmental screenings designed to identify young children, ages 0-5, who might have developmental delays and who would benefit from special education prior to beginning kindergarten.

Each week, a member of the Highland staff will be highlighted in the Highland Happenings! This is a great opportunity for our Highland community to learn more about our staff members and all of the information featured in the Happenings can be found in the staff directory on our website. This week we are highlighting Mrs. Cristobal.

Highland Husky Read-A-Thon Starting Soon!

The PTA will be hosting its fourth annual Read-A-Thon fundraiser from January 31st, 2025 to February 28th, 2025. The Read-A-Thon is a marathon of student reading to raise money for the PTA. Donations can be a flat dollar amount or you can pledge an amount for each minute your child(ren) reads. We are suggesting donations of $50 per student - $30 of that will help us meet our operating budget goal for the year and above that will go towards our library fundraising efforts. We recognize the ability to donate varies across families and truly appreciate whatever you can offer.

Why is the Read-A-Thon so important?

• Funds raised will help every student at Highland by funding PTA events for the rest of the school year.

• Phase 1 of the Library Project.

• Field Trips, End of Year Party, Birthday Books, Math and Science Night, Staff Appreciation week and more!

• Encourages students to read in their free time. Students will earn prizes based on the amount of minutes logged in Givebacks during the fundraiser.

Stay tuned for more information on how to log minutes and make donations for your child(ren) in Givebacks. Please reach out to Erin Grady at etgrady32@gmail.com with any questions.

Dining 4 Dollars

Our next event is at Lantern Pizza THIS WEEKEND! Join us on January 18-19 - at Lantern Pizza, 1420 Ogden Ave, Downers Grove. While most local restaurants will not do dineout events on weekends, we were able to convince Lantern to let us give it a shot. As several people requested weekend events in the survey, please eat at Lantern and mention the PTA sent you! :)

Kane County Cougars

Kane County Cougars Reading Club Rewards

We are excited to let everyone know that the Kane County Cougars Reading program has begun at school and all students are on their way to achieving Sunshine, Baseball & Fireworks at an upcoming Cougars game. By fulfilling their daily reading requirements set by their classroom, your child(ren) will earn a free game ticket, free food & drink, and a special bonus "Golden Ticket," which will be redeemable for a free child ticket for an unlimited number of games between June through Labor Day. Best of all, your child will be receiving this reading reward automatically! Stay tuned for updates on how to redeem your child(ren)'s free ticket after Spring Break!

Item's that can be found in every edition of the Highland Happenings, such as the Highland Playbook and our student attendance form can be found below. We want to ensure that these resources are always available to our families while also making each week's Happenings as reader-friendly as possible!

The Highlanad Playbook is your place to find important information about Highland including a staff directory, arrival/dismissal procedures, informaion about social-emotional learning, and much more. Click the image to the right to access the 2024-2025 Highland Playbook.

It is amazing how far technology has come over the last decade and continues to advance. We recognize the value technology has not just in education, but our world. However, we hope that we can work together to remind students that during the school day, personal electronic devices should be turned off or silenced and out of sight. This includes wearable devices if they become distracting to the learning environment. Students should not be using phones, Apple Watches, or other devices to send or receive text messages or phone calls during the school day.

Email: zcraft@dg58.org
Website: DG58.org/HG
Location: 3935 Highland Avenue, Downers Grove, IL, USA
Phone: (630)-719-5835
Facebook: facebook.com/HGHuskies
Twitter: @HGHuskies