About our cover photos: Sneak Preview at O'Neill (left) and Herrick (right). Sneak Preview is a middle school orientation event sponsored by the Education Foundation.

Throughout this publication, you will see the following color-coded dots beside each article. The dots represent which strategic goal the article addresses:

• Focusing on Learning • Connecting the Community • Securing the Future

Have feedback regarding Communicate 58? Click here!

Please click the links below to help prepare for the new school year!

• School day schedule 
• Back-to-school toolkit
• Family resources
• 2022-23 bus routes
• 2022-23 school supply lists
• 2022-23 calendar
• Immunization requirements
• Kindergarten resources
• Technology Help Desk request form

Curriculum Night is a time for parents and guardians to meet as a group with their children’s teachers to learn about the curriculum for the various grade levels and ask questions. Schools will email families detailed grade-level schedules.

Please see the 2022 schedule below.

• Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 6-7:30 p.m.: Belle Aire, Highland, Henry Puffer, Lester, Pierce Downer, Whittier

• Wednesday, Sept. 14 from 6-7:30 p.m.: El Sierra, Fairmount, Hillcrest, Indian Trail, Kingsley

• Thursday, Sept. 15 from 6-7:30 p.m.: Herrick 7th Grade

• Monday, Sept. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m.: Herrick 8th Grade

• Wednesday, Sept. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m.: O'Neill

• Wednesday, Sept. 28 from 6-7:30 p.m.: Grove Children's Preschool at Henry Puffer and the District 58 Gifted Program at Henry Puffer

• Thursday, Sept. 29 from 6-7:30 p.m.: Grove Children's Preschool at Indian Trail

Google. Clever. Seesaw. IXL. These are just a few of the many digital tools used by District 58 students. It can be overwhelming to keep track of your child's digital resources! District 58 is here to help.

Please view the District 58 Digital Resource Guide for instructions on how to access the different types of digital resources and apps that students use. 

Parents and guardians may access the District's assessment calendar, which outlines each assessment, its purpose, testing dates, target audience, and estimated length.

View the 2022-23 assessment calendar.

Please note: our fall testing period begins the first full week of school! Schools will email families their specific testing days.

Eleven of District 58's 13 schools are not fully air-conditioned, and schools can get hot. To alleviate the heat, our schools use their resources and building spaces wisely to provide heat relief for students and staff on hot days. Please click here to learn some of the ways our schools keep students and staff cool on hot days.

Looking long-term, District 58, with community input, developed a comprehensive facility proposal that includes over $50 million to install air conditioning and improve ventilation/air quality. This summer, the Board of Education voted unanimously to place the facility proposal on the November 2022 ballot. In addition to installing air-conditioning and improving ventilation/air quality, the full $179 million facility proposal includes adding more secure entrances at all schools, completing school maintenance work, and building additions to the middle schools to provide space for sixth graders and relieve elementary school overcrowding.

If voters approve the referendum in November, District 58 would be able to install air conditioning and improve ventilation at schools. Please click here to learn more about District 58's facility planning. Please note - District 58 will be publishing a new webpage that provides an overview of referendum facts within the next two weeks.

District 58 has an urgent need for additional lunchroom supervisors and instructional assistants. Please consider applying for one of these roles!

Apply to be a lunchroom supervisor:

All District 58 schools are hiring lunchroom supervisors. Lunchroom supervisors earn $15/hour and typically work one hour per day. To apply or learn more, please call the school where you'd like to work. School phone numbers/addresses are available at www.dg58.org/school-boundary-map (scroll down). 

Apply to be an instructional assistant:

District 58 is hiring several full-time and part-time instructional assistant positions at various schools. Instructional assistants help supervise students and support classroom teachers through small-group or individual student instruction, under the teacher’s guidance. The starting salary is $16/hour. Some instructional assistant positions that work in specialized programs also will receive a $1,200 stipend.  Learn more and apply at www.dg58.org/employment.

District 58 annually provides students and families with the Schools of 58: A Handbook for Families. Please review this important handbook with your child, as it offers an overview of the District’s policies, procedures, resources and student expectations. 

Handbook links:

2022-23 District 58 Family Handbook

2022-23 Manual Familias del Distrito 58

During the first full week of school, District 58 will send home a packet of information with your child. This packet will include a handbook receipt that asks parents/guardians to acknowledge that they and their child reviewed and understood the Schools of 58: A Handbook for Families. When you receive the handbook receipt, please sign it and return it to school. by Curriculum Night.

This year’s handbook is only available electronically. If you need a print copy, please contact your school office.

The Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58 will host their annual Oktoberfest on Friday, Sept. 16 from 3-11 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 17 from 12-6 p.m. in the parking lot on Burlington Avenue between Main Street and Forest Avenue.

The event includes family-friendly activities and entertainment, including a concert by the event headliner, the Freddy Jones Band. All event proceeds will benefit District 58 students through the Education Foundation's programs. 

Sponsors and volunteers needed! The Foundation relies on support from sponsors and volunteers to make its annual Oktoberfest fundraiser a success! Click here for sponsorship information. Click here to volunteer!

Visit www.58foundation.net to learn more.

Save the date! The Reading Games will take place on Saturday, Feb. 25 at O'Neill. The Reading Games is a friendly District 58 book trivia competition for students in grades 3-8 that encourages teamwork, reading and fun! 

Students form teams of five-to-eight students and collaborate to read 12 books from one of two book lists. During The Reading Games, teams compete by answering questions about the books.

Visit The Reading Games website for the book lists and to learn more information!

The Reading Games also seeks volunteers to write questions. As a question writer, you will work in pairs to develop a set of 11 questions for a book. You can grab a friend or pick a book and be paired with a partner. Questions are due January 7, 2023. Learn more and sign up to be a question writer. Please send questions to rgquestionwriters@gmail.com.

District 58 includes relevant e-flyers in the Communicate 58 newsletter and online. Learn more.

• D58 Building Bridges will host Special Needs Resource Fair on Sept. 20
• District 58 families invited to Decades Trivia Night on Aug. 27 and to support Mum Sale (both led by Kingsley PTA and Kingsley Plays Together)
• Cub Scout Pack 57 will host Cub Scout Carnival on Sept. 18, seeks Hillcrest, Whittier and Fairmount students to join
• Sokol Chicagoland Gymnastics will begin classes this September
• Glenbard Parent Series announces upcoming virtual family events
• Techgirlz host free virtual tech workshops for fifth-through-eighth grade girls