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Highland Happenings
May 10th, 2024
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A Week of Love and Music!
This week was Staff Appreciation Week and our entire staff is once again so thankful by for all of the appreciation and love. Thank you so much to our Highland PTA and all of our Highland families for making everyone feel so appreciated and loved! This week our Huskies were treated to a concert performed by the Suburban Senior Orchestra. It was amazing to see some of the members of the Highland orchestra join them! Thank you to Mrs. Rose for brining this concert to Highland! We also held our 1st & 2nd grade Spring concert this week and our Huskies did a a great job performing the songs they have been working on all year. We wrapped up the majority of MAP testing this week and will complete make up testing next week. Please feel free to reach out to me at zcraft@dg58.org, or our main office at 630-719-5835 if you have any questions or need any assistance. Take care and have a wonderful weekend!
My Best,
Zac Craft
Principal, Highland School
Thank You to the Suburban Senior Orchestra!
The Mrs. Wallace Walk-A-Thon!
This year our Highland community lost our beloved Mrs. Wallace to cancer. Mrs. Wallace was not only a terrific educator, but an even better person who positively impacted the lives of countless people. To honor her legacy, the staff at Highland are currently raising money to construct an outdoor learning space in her honor. We are very excited to hold the Mrs. Wallace Walk-A-Thon on Thursday, May 16th and look forward to having some fun while raising money for this wonderful cause.
Weekly Preview
- 05/13: 3rd Grade Learn Not to Burn with the DGFD
- 05/13: The Art of Inflation Assembly!
- 05/14: Final PTA Meeting of the Year!
- 05/15: 1st Grade Field Trip to Naper Settlement
- 05/15 Education Foundation Distinguished Service Awards Ceremony
- 05/16: 4th Grade Field Trip to Brookfield Zoo
- 05/16: Wallace Walk-A-Thon!
- 05/16: Art Club Meeting
- 05/16: Highland Scoop Meeting
- 05/17: Fun Lunch!
Later On
- 05/20: 6th Grade Field Trip to the Holocaust Museum
- 05/21: Downers Grove North Senior Clap-Out
- 05/21: Visit from the Downers Grove Public Library
- 05/22: Kindergarten Spring Concert
- 05/22: 5th & 6th Grade 50 States in 60 Minutes Assembly
- 05/23: May All-School Meeting!
Click here to learn more about our end of the year events such as Field Day, 6th Grade Promotion, and Clap-Out!
2024-2025 School Year Planning
As the Highland staff continues to work hard through the end of the 2023-2024 school year, we are also planning for the 2024-2025 school year. Every school year brings new challenges and opportunities. I am excited to share the tentative number of sections in each grade level for the 2024-2025 school year:
- Kindergarten - 2 sections
- 1st Grade - 2 sections
- 2nd Grade 2 sections
- 3rd Grade - 3 sections
- 4th Grade -3 sections
- 5th Grade - 2 sections
- 6th Grade - 3 sections
The number of classroom sections each year is dependent on enrollment, as well as a number of other factors. As always, we will continue to keep your child's needs at the forefront of our planning for 2024-2025 school year. If you have questions about these changes, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Honor a staff member with a Green Apple Award!
an exceptional District 58 staff member with a Green Apple Award.
When you submit a Green Apple Award donation, the Education Foundation will give a specially designed Green Apple Award certificate to the specified teacher or staff member with a short, custom message from the donor.
All donations will support the Education Foundation’s programs, which include the Select 58 Recognition Awards for Eighth Graders, The Reading Games, Sneak Preview, Teacher Grants Program, Distinguished Service Awards, New Teacher Luncheon, and more.
Green Apple donations and messages may be submitted online here. All donations are tax-deductible. While the Green Apple Program is open year-round, if you would like your Green Apple Award to be delivered before the end of the school year, please submit your donation by Friday, May 17.
The Highland Scoop!
PTA All Day
Mrs. Wallace’s Walk-A-Thon
Highland will be having a Walk-A-Thon to remember Mrs. Wallace. Please join Highland staff and students on Thursday, May 16th (Rain Date: Friday, May 17th). All students and staff will participate in walking around HIghland, during school hours, in honor of Mrs. Wallace. Donations for participating are appreciated! Funds raised will go toward an outdoor learning area at our school in honor of Mrs. Wallace. Donations are welcomed here.
Volunteer opportunities are available for the Walk-A-Thon. Volunteer here!
End of Year Family Party
Please help us celebrate the end of another great year at Highland!
Join us Sunday, May 19 from 1pm-3pm at the Highland school yard. We will have games, balloon twisters, face painters, snacks, drinks and ice cream. The ice cream truck will be self pay, so please bring cash or a credit card. The options range in price from $3-$6 a piece.
Please sign up here to help out!! We need people to bring tents, snacks, coolers, monitor activities, set up and clean up!! Contact Suzanne Mraz with any questions. (773)-870-1213 or suzanne.mraz@gmail.com
Fun Lunch May Date Change
Please edit your calendar & lunch plans! Due to 1st & 6th graders having Field Trips on 5/10, we have moved Fun Lunch to Friday 5/17.
Field Day
Signups are open for Field Day volunteers! Please join in on the fun on May 28th!
When you are signing up, please note the K-2 graders don’t attend every station.
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!
School Health Requirements
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.
Community Resources
New service on mental health resources
District 58 strives to create a culture of well-being for students, parents, staff and community. To further support this endeavor, the District has invested in an additional support service through ReferralGPS.
ReferralGPS is a service providing assistance to our community in finding local mental health and substance use-related treatment resources. The service compliments the District’s existing systems of support as a tool for student service teams and families to connect with treatment. Along with a searchable database of treatment options, ReferralGPS assists families in triage and appointment setting.
School district staff and families may access ReferralGPS in two ways:
Contact Student Services (social workers, psychologists, counselors) to seek out treatment options
Visit this link at https://referralgps.com/find-help/DG58 to search for treatment resources or connect with a Care Navigator anonymously
The platform has the ability to filter by mental health concern, clinician gender/specialty, location, and insurance acceptance. The service is available for all types of private and public insurance options including PPO, HMO, Medicaid, and families that are uninsured or underinsured.
ReferralGPS is available for use by district students, staff, and families at no cost. All information entered on the ReferralGPS tool is completely confidential and securely stored.
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.
The 2023-2024 Highland Playbook
The Highland Playbook is your destination for all things Highland. The Playbook includes information about arrival and dismissal procedures, our lunch schedule, and much more! If you have any questions about any information in the Playbook, or have suggestions for additional information that should be included in the Playbook, please reach out to the main office.
Click below to read the 2023-2024 Highland Playbook! You can also find the Highland Playbook on our website: https://www.dg58.org/hg/the-2022-2023-highland-playbook
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