Good Afternoon Highland Families,

While we started the week off with extreme temperatures, our new air conditioning system allowed us to stay cool and beat the heat. It was wonderful to see so many of our Highland families at Curriculum Night this week! Whether this was your first or seventh Curriculum Night, we hope you found the experience informative and meaningful. This week Mrs. Cristobal and I also visited all of our classrooms to discuss our District 58 expectations, as well as safety. For us, safety goes beyond a priority and is one of our core values. We shared with students that safety is everyone's job and the importance of if you see something, say something. We ask for your continued partnership in this area and are grateful for families having a conversation with their Huskies at home about the importance of safety. Our new secured entrance is a great step forward in the area of safety and I am looking forward to providing a safety update at our first PTA meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 17th. 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

• 09/02/24: No School, Labor Day
• 09/06/24: 2023-2024 IAR reports sent home (4th-6th grade)

• 09/09/24: Highland spotlight at the Board of Education Meeting
• 09/10/24: PTA Dining for Dollars night at Gia Mia
• 09/11/24: Picture Day!

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.

As the year begins, we’ve noticed an increase in students visiting our health offices for insect bites, particularly on the neck, face, and arms. These bites are often red and itchy, and while we can provide Calamine lotion or an ice pack to ease discomfort, other over-the-counter treatments like Benadryl cream or Hydrocortisone require a completed Medication Authorization Form.

Please ensure that these medications are not sent to school with your child unless proper authorization is in place. If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to contact your school’s health office.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students safe and healthy.

Thank you to those who participated in Summer Math Club! Those that completed all three packets were eligible to enter into our raffle.

Our raffle winners are:

• Wyatt Kruse, 1st grade, $5 Dairy Queen gift card
• Caroline Coyle, 2nd grade, $5 Target gift card

The District 58 Instrumental Music teachers are excited to launch a new school year in BAND and ORCHESTRA and begin making music together again soon! We look forward to seeing returning students and also are thrilled to continue our work with the over 300 beginner instrumentalists who started their musical journey during our summer jumpstart program!

In-school lessons will be starting at each elementary school the week of Sep. 3rd. Once we have established this routine, students will also participate in weekly after-school rehearsals to prepare for their concerts! Please watch for an email from your student’s orchestra or band teacher with details about lesson and rehearsal schedules. Click here to meet your band and orchestra teachers - we look forward to seeing you soon!

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.

Looking for a job? Here are 10 reasons why you should consider applying to be an instructional assistant in District 58!

1. Convenient work schedule -- work the same hours your children are at school!

2. Earn $17.47/hour, plus a $2,000 stipend for some positions.

3. Work close to home.

4. Paid holidays, and no weekend or summer work

5. Paid sick and personal days

6. Medical, dental and vision benefits

7. Generous IMRF retirement benefits

8. Training and professional development

9. Supportive and positive work culture

10. Fulfilling work - make a difference in the lives of children!

Instructional assistants work alongside teachers to help students realize their full potential. Work can include small group instruction, 1-on-1 support, classroom organization and more. Learn more and apply at www.dg58.org/employment.

Mums and Memberships

Please help the PTA reach its goal of 1,000 mums sold! We can do it, Highland!!!

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

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

Outdoor Family Movie NIght

Please join us at DG Swim & Racquet on the evening of Friday September 6 for the annual Outdoor Family Movie Night! This year the movie will be Super Pets!

Join in on the movie fun starting at 7pm, with the movie starting at 7:45pm. Free popcorn!

Bring your own chairs, blankets, snacks & bug spray.

DG Swim & Racquet, 5560 Fairview

Room Parent/Party Host Volunteer

Wondering how you can volunteer this year?! Room Parents and Party Hosts could be that opportunity! Click here to fill out the form!

Dining for Dollars

The next Dining for Dollars will be at Gia Mia on Tuesday September 10 from 11am-9pm. Enjoy tasty food and support your school’s PTA. More information to come!

Fun Food Fridays

It’s time to place your Fun Lunch, Pizza Lunch and Treat Day orders

for September through December!

Season Passes:

• FFF Season Pass - ALL Fun Lunches (FL), Pizza Lunches (PL) and Treat Days (TD) through December (dates: PL 9/20, FL 9/27, TD 10/11, FL 10/18, PL 10/25, PL 11/8, FL 11/15, TD 11/22, FL 12/6, PL 12/13)

• FFF Pizza Only Season Pass - all Pizza Lunches through December (9/20, 10/25, 11/8, 12/13)

A’la Carte:

• Pizza Lunch 9/20 - Al’s cheese pizza slice

• Fun Lunch 9/27 - Outpost beef tacos & chips

• Treat Day 10/11 - Mrs. Field’s chocolate chip cookie

• Fun Lunch 10/18 - Al’s cheese ravioli

• Pizza Lunch 10/25 - Al’s cheese pizza slice

• Pizza Lunch 11/8 - Al’s cheese pizza slice

• Fun Lunch 11/15 - Culver’s chicken tenders & custard

• Treat Day 11/22 - Cakeapop vanilla cake pop

• Fun Lunch 12/6 - Al’s vegetarian chili

• Pizza Lunch 12/13 - Al’s cheese pizza slice

STORE OPEN NOW!!!

You may purchase online now through September 6th at midnight

at highland58pta.givebacks.com/store.

No late orders will be accepted.

Questions? General: HighlandPTA58@gmail.com

• Fun Lunch: Olga Saad Karam (arabqueen2@hotmail.com) or Deanna Smetana (djsmetana.nnp@hotmail.com)

• Pizza Lunch: Jenny Bain (jenny.gallagher.bain@gmail.com) or Melissa Mitra (melissammitra@gmail.com)

• Treat Day: Erin Grady (etgrady32@gmail.com)

Fall Fundraiser

Secure your babysitters now! The date for our third annual Parents Night Out Fundraiser is Friday November 15!!!

We are all so excited to have another great event at the Moose Lodge with all of our awesome parents.

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!

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.

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:

1. Contact Student Services (social workers, psychologists, counselors) to seek out treatment options

2. 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.

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