Fairmount Families Week END Report

As we head into the final week before winter break, our school is buzzing with excitement! Here's what we have planned:

• Winter-Themed Spirit Week: Our Student Council has organized a fun-filled spirit week with daily themes to celebrate the season. Please see below for additional details!
• PTA Winter Parties: Each class will enjoy a festive celebration, thanks to our amazing PTA. We are beyond thankful for our PTA and family support in order to make these events possible for our students.
• School-Wide Reward: Students have filled the Star Jar, and we’ll be celebrating this achievement with a special activity to recognize their hard work and positive behavior on Friday afternoon (additional details included within the newsletter).

We look forward to making this upcoming week a memorable one for our students! Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Lisa Niforatos

Be sure to follow me on X/Twitter @Fairmount58.

Fairmount School Attendance Form

Past Newsletters

The District 58 Science Fair registration is now open visit the District 58 Science Fair page or scan the flyer below for more details.

Student Council will be collecting new winter hats, scarves, gloves, and mittens to donate to those in need at the DuPage PADS location. We will collect items from December 9-18. Thank you in advance for your generosity and once again supporting the Fairmount Student Council!

Questions regarding 2nd/3rd grade Spanish Club, email Ms. Kozlowski at akozlowski@dg58.org.

We are excited to share that our students have filled the Star Jar by demonstrating respect, responsibility, and safe behaviors. As a reward, we will celebrate with a school-wide viewing of Inside Out 2!

This movie explores new emotions, maintaining relationships and embracing changes - tying into some of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) themes we focus on throughout the school year.

Students in grades K-5 will watch the movie with their school buddies, creating opportunities to build community and connection across grade levels. Sixth-grade students will enjoy the movie together as a whole grade level, celebrating their collective achievements.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to recognize and celebrate positive behavior in meaningful ways.

If you do not want your child to participate in the viewing, please let your child's classroom teacher know and we will support an alternative activity during this time.

District 58 will start residency verification after winter break...

If your family has moved in the past year, or if your student’s address information has changed in any way, please contact Andrea Laama (alaama@dg58.org) and Jill DeRango (jderango@dg58.org) or call 630-719-5830 and provide your updated information prior to winter break. In addition, if you rent a property, please make sure that your school has a copy of your most recent lease. You may email a copy of your lease to the building secretaries (email above) or drop off a copy at our school office.

District 58 will open 2025-26 student registration in February 2025. As part of the student registration process, District 58 works with a third-party vendor to verify that all students live within the District’s boundaries. After winter break, District 58 will begin the student address verification process. By starting this process earlier, we hope student registration will go more smoothly and more efficiently.

If our third-party vendor, Thomson Reuters CLEAR, cannot confirm that a student lives at their registered address, they will flag that student. District 58 will contact the student’s family and request additional documentation to confirm their address. A family will not be able to register their student for the 2025-26 school year until their residency is confirmed.

Keeping your child’s address information up-to-date will help make the registration process go more smoothly and ensure your child’s registration is completed without delay. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter! District 58 will share more information about 2025-26 student registration after winter break.

Monday, December 16th is a Professional Learning Monday. All students are dismissed at 2:00 p.m. according to their regular dismissal plan. Please be sure you have made arrangements for your child to be picked up from Fairmount at 2:00 p.m. each Monday.

Fairmount School is focused on a handful of school improvement goals this year that involve our ELA curriculum implementation, a supportive focus on the Zones of Regulation as well as targeted goals centered around ELA/Literacy for K-2 and 3-6. Each month we will provide information in our "Home Connection to Learning" section of the newsletter focused on one of these goal areas.

Our 3rd-6th grade students are focusing on understanding literary elements. They will do this by analyzing point of view, identifying themes, identifying author’s purpose, and reviewing literary features and structure.

You can help support your child to read a variety of genres within their daily reading at home with books that are appropriate for his/her reading level.

We are fortunate to offer a variety of clubs at Fairmount. These include both teacher/staff sponsored clubs (see above) as well as clubs offered by outside organizations. Clubs will occur at various points throughout the school year, so please watch for sign-up/enrollment opportunities in future newsletters as the school year progresses. In addition to some returning clubs, we will have new clubs offered throughout the year as well. Please see information below regarding three Winter Club offerings.

Our Kindergarten students had an exciting week of learning! From their Creepy Carrots, to phonics work, marvelous math and more... our youngest learners are doing a wonderful job!

From Birthdays (or half-birthdays), Lost Teeth, Positive Behaviors and More... we love celebrating our Falcons!

We are so glad you are part of our school community! Whether this is your child's first or seventh year at Fairmount, we wanted to provide a fun way to get to know the many members of our teaching and school staff. We started this section two years ago and look forward to continuing it during the 2024-2025 school year. This year we have added a "school twist" for our staff.

Role at Fairmount: 4th Grade Teacher

Years at Fairmount: 2 Years

Favorite Subject in Elementary School: Reading & Writing but my absolute favorite to teach is Math!

Least Favorite Subject in Elementary School: Math was very hard for me growing up.

Favorite Grade in School: 4th grade because of my teacher shout out Mrs. Collins for being the best teacher ever!

A big part of why I became a teacher...There are many reasons why I choose to become a teacher the first is my teachers growing up where all so amazing and taught me so much. I still go back and see many of the teachers I had. Another reason is my mom is a teacher, I grew up listening to stories at the dinner table and loved going to her classroom. Finally, my passion for teaching and helping kids I love school and learning.

A memorable moment of my time in school was... I have many memorable moments of school in elementary school it would be 6th grade the whole year from Camp Edwards, to making mummies, Medieval times, & the content we learned. Another memorable experience for me was my student teaching program in College at a school in Lombard. I worked with a great group of 4th grade students in just math & science and that taught me so much about relationships and planning for my students.

If I wasn't a teacher/didn't work in a school I would... If I wasn't a teacher I would be a neonatal nurse or marine biologist.

Student Council Spirit Week - See Details Above!

12.16: Holly Jolly Hat Day (wear a holiday hat or headband), Monthly Matters Assembly, Student Dismissal 2:00 p.m.

12.17: Candy Cane Day (wear red and white), Yearbook Editors Meeting During Lunch

12.18: Holiday Color Day (wear red, green, white or blue)

12.19: PJ Day (Wear your favorite holiday/winter pajamas)

12.20: Holiday Shirt/Sweater (Wear your favorite holiday shirt or sweater) Winter Classroom Celebrations 10:30 - 11:15 a.m., PTA Fun Lunch; Afternoon School-Wide Incentive

12.21.24 - 01.05.25: Winter Break

12.21.24 - 01.05.25: Winter Break

01.20.25: No School, District Closed

02.17.25: No School, District Closed

2024-2025 DG58 School Calendar (PDF)

Important Calendar Highlights:

• Winter Break: Dec. 21, 2024 -Jan. 5, 2025

• Spring Break: March 31-April 4, 2025

• Last Day of School: Friday, May 23, 2025 (if no emergency days are used)

If you are looking for any information from our amazing Fairmount PTA, please visit their website:

Fairmount PTA

Information regarding upcoming events, spiritwear, membership and more can be found throughout the site.

Please note that information BELOW this point is repeated information that has been shared in a previous newsletter(s), but is still made available here for your reference.

Congratulations to the following students who were recognized at this week's PTA Reflections ceremony:

Zelda A. – Primary - Visual Arts - "Perfectly Imperfect Coconuts"

Rachel C. – Intermediate – Photography - "Weed in a Field of Flowers"
Sophie T. – Intermediate – Visual Arts – "Natural Beauty"
Will L. – Intermediate – Visual Arts - "The Great Pyramid"
Elizabeth L. – Intermediate – Visual Arts – "Anxiety"

A very special congratulations to both Rachel C. and Elizabeth L. who are advancing to the regional level.

If winter weather requires schools to close, District 58 will promptly email and call all families and staff. The District will also post school closure information on the website, www.dg58.org, and social media channels.

District 58 has the option to use an e-learning day or an emergency day (also called snow day) during bad weather.

This year, District 58 will likely use e-learning days. E-learning days do not need to be made up at the end of the school year. District 58 needs to maximize the summer for referendum construction, so e-learning days would allow District 58 to keep on its construction schedule.

Learn more about District 58's winter weather procedures.

Read District 58's e-learning plan.

As we enter the month of December and have now experienced our first snowfall of the year, we wanted to share a few important reminders regarding outdoor gear to help support students during their recess and playtime outside.

Students will go outside, weather permitting, each day. In the event of inclement weather or the combined temperature and wind chill is below 0 degrees and/or if the conditions outside do not support safe play (e.g. extreme ice) students will take part in indoor recess.

It is important that students come prepared for outdoor weather each day. We certainly know that the weather can vary significantly at this time of year, so students are encouraged to have a “gear bag” that includes hats, gloves, snow pants, and snow/winter boots. Thank you, in advance, for writing your child’s name on all of their gear to support finding lost items.

In the event of snowfall/accumulated snow on the ground, students MUST have both snow pants and snow boots to play in the snow. This includes being on the field/grass area. While students do not need snow pants to play on the playground equipment, they do need to have snow boots in order to access the playground area.

If your family faces hardship in purchasing/securing winter gear, please contact Jen Mejdrech (jmejdrech@dg58.org) or Lisa Niforatos (lniforatos@dg58.org) for assistance.

The Education Foundation invites you to thank a special District 58 staff member with a Green Apple Award and donation to the Foundation, which supports many student and staff programs. Learn more. Give a Green Apple.

If your child's dismissal plan will be different (e.g. not taking the bus), please communicate this to both the school secretaries and classroom teacher as promptly as possible. This is especially important for our younger students, so we can support their dismissal process. In the event of a last-minute change (anytime after 11:30 a.m.), we ask that you please call the school office (630.719.5830) as staff members may not check their emails prior to daily dismissal.

Lisa Niforatos, Principal lniforatos@dg58.org

Jillian DeRango, Secretary jderango@dg58.org

Andrea Laama, Secretary alaama@dg58.org

Website: www.dg58.org/fa/

Location: 6036 Blodgett Avenue, Downers Grove, IL, USA
Phone: 630.719.5830
Twitter/X: @Fairmount58