Good Afternoon Highland Families,

It was a week full of fun and learning at Highland! On Wednesday, our Huskies smiled bright as they got their pictures taken during picture day. Picture retake day is Monday, October 21st. It was great to see so many of our Highland families at our One Book, One School night on Wednesday night. I hope you are excited to read this years book, The Wild Robot! This weekend the Education Foundation of DG58 is hosting their annual Oktoberfest downtown Downers Grove. We hope to see many of our Highland families at the event supporting our wonderful Education Foundation. 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

• 09/17/24: PTA Meeting at 7:00 p.m.
• 09/20/24: Fun Food Friday - Pizza Lunch

• 09/23/34: Bus Evacuation Drill
• 09/24/24: Active-threat Drill
• 09/24/24: September All-School Meeting
• 09/25/24: Fire Drill
• 09/26/24: Severe Weather Drill
• 09/27/24: Storm Science Assembly!

On Monday, September 9th, Highland had the opportunity to present at the District 58 Board of Education meeting. As a part of the presentation, 6th grade members of our Highland Student Council presented all of the great work that took place last year, as well as some of their plans for this year. They did a great job representing what it means to be a Highland Husky! In addition, PTA board members Hope Vecellio and Julia Maschek gave an overview of all of the great ways that the Highland PTA supports our school. Mr. Craft presented Highland's Spring data as well as a recap of the Highland School Improvement plan.

Our annual One Book, One School program is officially underway and we are so excited to be reading The Wild Robot! A big thank you to the Highland PTA for making this program possible. For more information about the program, including the reading schedule, click the image above or visit our website

Students in grades K-8 recently took the NWEA-Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment for reading and mathematics.

Depending on your child’s age and educational experience, some students also completed the AIMSWebPlus assessment in reading and/or mathematics.

District 58 sent these reports home electronically on Thursday, Sept. 12.

Score reports from last spring's IAR tests were sent home to students in grades 4-8 last week.

If you have any questions, please contact Liz Ehrhart, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, at 630-719-2768. Please view District 58's assessment calendar to learn more about which assessments students take and when.

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.

District 58 invites parents and guardians to sign up for fall 2024 parent-teacher conferences using the online PowerPTC conference signup system starting Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. via www.PowerPTC.net.

The sign-up window will close Friday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m.

Parent-teacher conferences will be held in person. However, families who require a remote option should schedule their conference in PowerPTC and then change the meeting type from “in person” to “video conference.”

Conferences will take place on the evenings of Tuesday, Oct. 8 and Thursday, Oct. 10.

Please view the parent-teacher conference signup guide (para Español: Registro para las reuniones de padres y maestros) to learn how to sign up for a conference using the system, along with other helpful information.

Bring your family to Downers Grove Oktoberfest this weekend! Oktoberfest takes place Friday, Sept. 13 from 3-11 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 14 from 11 a.m.-11p.m. at the train commuter lot, across from the Downers Grove Public Library.

Oktoberfest will feature live music, a Kids Zone (Saturday only) and authentic Oktoberfest food and brew in a traditional German atmosphere. This year's festival headliner is national recording artist G. Love & Special Sauce.

Oktoberfest is the District 58 Education Foundation’s largest fundraiser, and all proceeds will support the foundation’s programs for District 58 students and staff. Click here to buy tickets and learn more information.

To be a success, Oktoberfest relies on volunteers! We still have volunteer spots to fill. Please click here to volunteer. Thank you for your support!

Mums Volunteers

We are looking for volunteers to help with mum set up on Friday 9/13 for delivery driving and afternoon pick-up! We need as many hands as we can get! Mum Day is always a fun day! Come and help out! Sign up here to help with mums!

Dining for Dollars

Thank you to all who had yummy Gia Mia food for lunch and/or dinner! We raised over $200 for the PTA and you didn’t have to cook! Stay tuned for more details on our next Dining for Dollars!

One Book, One School

Thank you to Katie Hurckes and Courtney Homan for a great evening! Everyone had fun! Highland can’t wait to read The Wild Robot!

Fall Fundraiser

The 3rd Annual Fall Fundraiser is going to be “FIRE”

Get ready to experience the great outdoors... indoors! Join us November 15th at 7pm at Moose Lodge aka “Camp Highland”. Leave the kids and the bug spray at home for this adventure to “pitch” in for a great cause.

Dress in your favorite camping attire or cozy fall classics to enjoy all the best parts of camping - s’mores, spirits and sport. Whether you’re a seasoned camper or a city dweller, everyone will be pine-ing for this year’s gift baskets and donated experiences.

How can you help ahead of time? We're looking for donations! All in-kind donations will be appreciated & we're actively seeking experiences to sell at the event! Last year's experiences included:

• Casino Night

• Kids Kickball Tournament

• Adult Pickleball Tournament

• Blitzen’d Holiday Party

• Wine tasting

For event questions or donation inquiries please contact: Jeannie Binz at Binz.jeannie@gmail.com

Forget the hiking boots and just bring your sense of adventure and generosity for an unforgettable night “under the stars”!

PTA Meeting

It’s the first PTA meeting of the school year! Please join us on Tuesday, September 17, at 7pm, in the Highland Gym, for the first PTA meeting of the year! We would love to pack to the place, so please join us!

PTA Information

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

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.

Please click below to see the most up to date school health requirements. If you have any questions regarding health requirements for your student, please reach out to one of the members of our school nursing team.

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