Highland Happenings

Good Afternoon Highland Families,

I hope this email finds you well. It was a wonderful Fall week at Highland as we planted tulips in honor of Mrs. Wallace on Tuesday, and celebrated Halloween on Thursday. All of our Huskies did a great job planting tulips and they are going to look beautiful in the Spring. A very big thank you to Mr. Hellman for all of his hard work to make sure this project was a success. The weather cleared up just in time for our costume parade on Thursday and everyone looked fantastic in their costumes. Our Halloween parties were a great success with amazing crafts and fun games. Thank you to all of our parent volunteers who made the parties possible. As a reminder, there is no school next Tuesday, November 5th, due to Election Day. 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

• 11/05/24: End of Trimester 1
• 11/05/24: No School - Election Day
• 11/06/24: Student Council Meeting @ 3:00 p.m.
• 11/07/24: Grades 1-3 Art Club
• 11/07/24: Highland Scoop Meeting
• 11/08/24: Fun Lunch - Als Pizza

• 11/11/24: Veterans Day
• 11/12/24: PTA Dining for Dollars @ Chipotle
• 11/12/24: Chicago White Sox Southpaw Assembly
• 11/12/24: Grades 4-6 Art Club
• 11/14/24: Grades 4-6 Art Club
• 11/15/24 Fun Lunch: Culver's Chicken Tenders

For security reasons, District 58 removed its staff email addresses from the school directory web pages. The District replaced it with buttons next to every staff member’s name that say, “Email [Staff Member’s Name]”. When you click this button, a web form will appear. Type your message in that form, and it will immediately be delivered to the staff member’s inbox.

District 58 made this change because we’ve seen an increase in phishing (scam) messages sent to staff. Scammers were previously able to send bulk phishing emails to staff by accessing the email addresses listed in our staff directory. We want our staff to be accessible to our community, while also keeping our staff email accounts secure. We hope this solution will accomplish this goal. Please reach out if you have any questions.

We can't wait to see all of the beautiful tulips that bloom in the Spring. Thank you to the Highland Student Council for paying for all of the tulip bulbs, to Mr. Hellman for preparing all of the planting beds, and to all of the parent volunteers who helped students plant.

Each week, a member of the Highland staff will be highlighted in the Highland Happenings! This is a great opportunity for our Highland community to learn more about our staff members and all of the information featured in the Happenings can be found in the staff directory on our website. Our first featured staff member is Mrs. Padilla!

This year we are excited to bring back The 12 Days of Highland to help us celebrate the final days of school before Winter Break! This year we want to make sure to highlight all of the wonderful ways our Highland families celebrate the holiday season. If your family has a holiday tradition that you would like to possibly see incorporated into The 12 Days of Highland, please fill out THIS form.

An example of a holiday tradition that we plan to incorporate comes from Mrs. Cristobal. She shared that her family celebrates Noche Buena and their tradition of opening gifts at midnight in their pajamas.. We will honor and celebrate this tradition by incorporating a pajama day into The 12 Days of Highland!

It’s time to form your teams and start reading, because The Reading Games competition is returning! The Reading Games is an annual trivia-style reading competition for District 58 and District 61 students in grades 3-8. It will take place Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 at O'Neill Middle School. Registration is open now through Friday, Nov. 15.

To participate, complete the following:

1. Form a team and complete the team registration OR complete an individual registration and The Reading Games will do their best to find a team for your child. Teams must have between five and eight students. They can represent a mix of grade levels and schools, but must attend District 58 or District 61.

2. Collaborate with your team to read nine books from one of two book lists. List 1 is geared for readers in third and fourth grade. List 2 is geared for readers in fifth and sixth grade. To prepare, students can meet to discuss the books and quiz each other.

3. Participate in The Reading Games on Feb. 22, 2025! During The Reading Games, students will face other teams to answer questions about the books they've read. Teams are encouraged to dress up and have fun, and prizes are awarded.

The Reading Games is sponsored by the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 and the Grove Express Foundation.

Learn more about The Reading Games registration process. Visit The Reading Games website.

Fall Fundraiser

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

Tickets Available Now! To join us for the 2024 Highland PTA Fundraiser - Purchase Tickets Here

Join us for a night of fun and adventure while raising money for the Highland PTA! Onsite camp fun will include a scavenger hunt (with prizes), shopping with Keg & Meg, and first crack at signing up for Highland PTA’s legendary experiences! Camp Highland promises to create unforgettable memories while helping us reach our fundraising goals!

Date: Friday November 15, 2024

Time: 7pm-11pm

Location: Loyal Order of the Moose, 1030 Warren Ave, Downers Grove

You can also help us raise money for the event by contributing to the auction baskets with items listed here: Highland 2024 Fundraiser Wish List

Please contact binz.jeannie@gmail.com with any questions!

Shout-Out

If you see Eric Hellman please give him an extra thank you and high five. Eric has done a tremendous job handling all of the landscape needs at Highland. He was also a huge help with the tulip planting this week. Mr. Tony was quoted as saying “no other front of a school looks as good as ours” and you know Mr. Tony is looking and keeping track!

Mr. Tony is accurate- Eric has done an amazing job and we are so thankful to him and all of his efforts!

Art Fundraiser

Highland is participating in a creative fundraiser with Art to Remember that allows you to purchase keepsake products customized with your child's art. There are over 60 products and many are less than $20. These make great gifts and a percentage of every purchase goes right back to our school. You can also upload additional artwork and save it to the gallery.

Click on the link below and enter the name of your student(s) to search for your child's artwork. Then, have fun shopping!

https://arttoremember.com/school/S6GRBS

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.

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