Highland Happenings
August 16th, 2024
Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year!
Good Afternoon Highland Families,
It was a wonderful first day of school and we are so excited to have the 2024-2025 school year officially underway! I am so grateful to all of our amazing Highland staff who have put in many long hours this week to get our classrooms and instructional spaces ready for students in a much shorter timeframe than usual. A very special thank you to our Highland custodians, Tony and Chuck, who have put in an enormous amount of time and effort to make sure that our building was ready to go for the start of the year. We are looking forward to the first full-week of school next week! As a reminder, our school day ends at 2:00 p.m. every Monday. 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
District 58 bus routes now available
If your child is a bus rider, you now access 2024-25 general education bus routes online at www.dg58.org/family-resources/bus-routes or on your PowerSchool parent account (instructions are on the bus route webpage).
Taking the bus is an exciting time for students, and we have worked hard to ensure our students are on a bus route and ready to go. However, there may be some students who recently registered or who did not select transportation during enrollment that may not have a bus stop assigned to them. We are working to update our records. If you signed up for general education bus service and your child’s bus stop is either missing or inaccurate on PowerSchool, please do two things:
1. Look at your school’s bus routes and determine the closest stop to your house. Your child should use that stop and will be allowed on the bus.
2. Please email or call your school office and let them know. We will be working with the bus company to update PowerSchool student accounts with the correct bus route and stop.
District 58 requests that students please arrive at their bus stops a few minutes early during the first weeks of school. As bus drivers get acquainted with new routes, it is likely that some routes may run early or late, and we may adjust bus stop times as needed. Any student who arrives late due to a delayed bus will be excused. We appreciate your patience and flexibility!
Fall MAP Testing Begins Next Week
Fall MAP benchmark testing begins next week. This is an exciting opportunity for our students to demonstrate the knowledge, as well as for our teachers to collect data to inform their instruction and plan for next year. Below is the MAP testing schedule. We would appreciate it if you remind your student to try their best on the test, get a good night sleep before the test, (and everyday), and eat healthy breakfast!
Bookmark these back-to-school resources and dates ••
Please visit these webpages as you prepare for the new school year!
- Back-to-school toolkit
- Family resources
- 2024-25 school supply lists
- 2024-25 calendar
- Immunization/health examination requirements
- Kindergarten resources
- Food services
Plus, student schedules and teacher assignments are now available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. You should have received a notice from your school with the exact time that the information will be live. We are staggering the times this information is available to ensure the PowerSchool system has the bandwidth to handle visitor traffic. If you have a new student, you will receive a message later this week with steps to creating a PowerSchool account for your child.
In addition, 2024-25 bus routes will be posted at www.dg58.org/family-resources/bus-routes, as well as on the PowerSchool Parent Portal, on Friday, Aug. 9.
The Zones of Regulation are Back!
The staff at our school will be utilizing The Zones of Regulation™ curriculum, commonly known as "The Zones." You may recall that this program was introduced in its pilot form last spring to our students. This year, we look forward to starting the year integrating this into student’s daily practice. As a refresher, this program includes lessons and activities designed to help your child develop self-regulation skills, which encompass self-control, self-management, and impulse control. Self-regulation is defined as the optimal state of alertness of both body and emotions for any given situation. The curriculum aims to teach students to recognize which Zone they are in and how to use strategies to maintain or change their Zone.
Through these lessons, students will expand their emotional vocabulary, learn to read facial expressions, understand others' perspectives, identify triggers for their behavior, and develop calming and problem-solving strategies.
A key component of this curriculum is ensuring that all team members understand and use The Zones language. This shared understanding creates a supportive environment, allowing students to practice and quickly adopt self-regulation skills in various situations. You can assist in this process by:
Using The Zones language and discussing the concepts as they apply to you in different environments. For example, verbalize your own experiences: “This is really frustrating me and putting me in the Yellow Zone. I need to calm down by taking deep breaths.”
Helping students become aware of their Zones and feelings by pointing out your observations.
Validating the student's current Zone and helping them brainstorm appropriate self-regulation strategies for the context.
Sharing how the student’s behavior affects your Zone and feelings.
Encouraging students to use The Zones language to express their feelings and needs, and to share their Zone with you.
Showing interest in learning about the student’s triggers and preferred tools for self-regulation, and asking how they would like reminders to use these tools.
Asking students to frequently share what they have learned related to Zones.
Reinforcing students for recognizing their Zone and managing their behaviors appropriately, rather than only pointing out unexpected behaviors.
It's important to remember that everyone experiences all of the Zones, and it is not considered “bad” to be in the Red and Yellow Zones. The Zones of Regulation aims to provide a neutral, judgment-free framework for understanding and managing emotions. We look forward to partnering with you in our implementation of Zones of Regulation this school year.
Health/Physical Examination & Immunization Record due October 15th
As required by law, all new students, as well as students entering grades K, 2, and 6, must receive health examinations and immunizations and submit completed health forms by October 15th. To learn more check out the Health Services page on the District 58 website.
Thank you to many of the families who have already completed and submitted these forms. In accordance with Illinois law, failure to comply with these requirements by Oct 15 of the current school year, or 30 days following registration for first-time registrants, will result in the student's exclusion from school until such requirements have been met. All sections of the child examination form must be completed including the health history, which must be filled out by the parent.
District 58 communicates frequently regarding these requirements as it is our hope to avoid school exclusion for all of our students. If you are in need of additional assistance, our school nurse, Mrs. Sweet (nsweet@dg58.org), would be happy to assist you in answering questions or connecting you with resources to complete this requirement.
PTA All Day
Happy New School Year! We are so excited to see everyone and to check out the new Highland! 2024-2025 is going to be an amazing year!
Mums and Memberships
It may be hot now but it’ll be fall before you know it! And that means, mums are for sale! Fall mum 9 inch pots will be $10 each. Delivery (60515 zip code only) is an additional $10. We are offering the following colors: Orange, Yellow, White, Pink, Purple and Red. Sales will end on Thursday September 5th and pick-up will be on September 13th from 3:30pm-5:30pm.
Also, while you are buying your mums for yourself, your neighbors and the grandparents, buy/renew your PTA memberships! Buy your mums and PTA memberships right here
Lunch Supervisors
Do you have a flexible schedule and are able to come during lunch to supervise the kids either in the lunchroom or outside at Recess?
The shifts are one hour and can be from 11:20-12:20 (inside the lunchroom) or from 11:40-12:40 (for outside recess supervision).
You can choose to be on a regular schedule or Sub as needed- there are lots of options.
To start the process of becoming a Lunch Supervisor for Highland School, please contact the Highland Office at 630-719-5835.
PTA Information
Look for the first PTA NewsFlash on Sunday 8/11! Please follow us on Facebook at Highland PTA 58 and on Instagram at highlandpta58. Feel free to email the PTA at any time at highlandpta58@gmail.com
Also, please spend just a minute or two completing this survey for the PTA and different communication methods. We appreciate your time and input! Survey Link Here
Why should you join the PTA? The Highland Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to providing enriching, fun and educational programs to our school community. These may include family fun events - Bingo Night, Welcome to School Party - or educational programs - World Cultures Night, One Book One School program. We also support and fund many in-school activities, including school t-shirts, birthday books, additional field trips and assemblies.
One easy way to support the PTA is to purchase a parent membership for $15 (one user) or a family membership (two users) for $20. The purchase makes you a member of the Illinois PTA, and a portion of the proceeds will fund our Highland PTA activities. Members receive a regular newsletter with information about PTA activities and is the only way to access the all-school directory. Link Here Again To Buy/Renew Membership So You Don’t Have To Scroll Back Up
School T-Shirts
Forms were posted in classrooms during Meet the Teacher, but if you didn't get a chance to fill it out, please follow this link. We will be ordering t-shirts soon and want to get the correct size for your child. They will be wearing these shirts for school assemblies and field trips!
Dining for Dollars
Today is getting better and better! First day of school AND proceeds from Oberweis/Burger Joint going to the PTA! All for just having ice cream! A win-win all around. Head over to Oberweis/Burger Joint until 10pm and mention HIGHLAND PTA when you order!
Yearbook
Please send your photos to Yearbook Chair, Christina Zycinski, from the first day of school that you would like to be considered for the yearbook. Photos can be emailed to clzycinski@gmail.com.
Please be sure to include the student's grade and/or teacher name in your email!
Open Committees
There are a few open committees this year! Also, some committees need a shadow for next year due to their chair aging out of Highland in June 2025. Shadows will work with the current chair and then take over after June 2025.
Please email the PTA if you are interested!!
Open Committees:
~Reflections: coordinate with IL PTA, visit each classroom to explain what Reflections is, collect artwork, organize submissions, deliver artwork to council.
~Summer Math Club: coordinate with PTA council to distribute math packets to students, help to recruit volunteers for math packet check sessions at the library over the summer.
~New Committee Idea: do you have an idea for a committee? Let us know! Email the PTA with a plan and proposed budget.
Shadows Needed:
Yearbook
Math & Science (every other year)
Field Day.
Always Here!
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!
Personal Electronic/Technology Devices Policy in DG58
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.
Keep In Touch
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