About the cover photos: Left: District 58's bands, orchestras and choirs perform their winter concerts all throughout December. Pictured here: the northside fifth/sixth grade band concert. Right: Several schools participated in Hour of Code last week! Here, Indian Trail students learn coding basics in PE class.

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

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District 58 celebrated all students who participated in this year's PTA Reflections competition during a ceremony on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at O'Neill Middle School.

The District also announced the 31 students whose project submissions will advance to the regional level of the competition.

Congratulations, students! Learn more here.

Voters approved District 58's $179 million bond referendum during last month's election. District 58 is committed to providing post-referendum updates. Here's what we've accomplished since our last update in the Nov. 16 Communicate 58:

• Standard & Poor's and Moody's credit rating agencies both upheld District 58's previous ratings of AA and Aa1, respectively. These are the second highest ratings awarded.

• District 58 sold referendum-approved bonds on Nov. 30. The $124.995 million bond issue will provide just under $140 million for District projects, which should fund the first three years of work. District 58 will hold a second bond sale for the remaining referendum proceeds in the future.

• The overall interest rate on the bonds is 3.39% (or 3.89% inclusive of all costs and assuming they are never refinanced). The District benefitted from more favorable market conditions, as interest rates fell approximately 0.50% since the Nov. 8 referendum.

• District 58 recently held two meetings with its architect (Wight & Company) and construction management firm (Bulley & Andrews) to begin planning the next steps in capital planning.

• The District provided the Board with an update on capital planning next steps during the Dec. 12 Board meeting. View the presentation; a recap will be shared in the Board Briefs later this week.

• Save the date: District 58 will hold Facility Visioning Sessions on Monday, Jan. 30 to gather feedback related to referendum work prior to plans being finalized. A staff visioning session will take place from 4-5:30 p.m., and a community session will occur from 6:30-8 p.m. More details and an RSVP form will be shared following winter break.

District 58 will continue to post facility project updates at www.dg58.org/facility-planning.

District 58 is administering its AIMSweb assessment this week (Dec. 12-16), and will continue during January. AIMSweb is an assessment that measures student performance on specific literacy and numeracy skills. The test is administered to students until they meet its exit criteria.

District 58 will administer its winter Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment to students in grades K-8 between Jan. 4-20. Schools will send out individual testing schedules. Please be extra sure that your child gets plenty of sleep and a good breakfast during these testing weeks!

View District 58's full assessment calendar. Learn more about District 58 assessments.

Reminder: Register your grade 1-6 District 58 student for the Science Fair by this Friday, Dec. 16! The Science Fair is a great opportunity for kids to research any area of science that interests them. Learn more and register here!

If you have a science background and would like to be a Science Fair judge, please fill out this form.

This cold-weather season, Communicate 58 will highlight different FAQs from its winter weather procedures guide. Today's FAQ: What is District 58's e-learning plan?

Please view District 58’s e-learning plan, which was formally approved by the Board of Education in August 2021. District 58 will follow this plan if it uses an e-learning day in lieu of an emergency day (also called “snow day”) during inclement weather this school year.

(Ver el plan de aprendizaje virtual en español.)

After declaring an e-learning day, families would receive additional communication regarding how to access instruction. All elementary students (including morning preschoolers) would begin their day by logging into a Google meet virtual session with their teacher at 8:30 a.m. Middle schoolers would similarly log into their first period class at 8:30 a.m.

Illnesses such as flu, RSV and COVID-19 are spreading in the community. District 58's Health Services webpage has great resources on preventing these illnesses, and steps to take if you get sick.

In addition, winter break is a great time to clean your child's coats, winterwear, book bag, lunch box and anything else your child takes to school to help fight the spread of germs!

The world-famous Harlem Wizards will return for a family-friendly District 58 event on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. at Downers Grove South High School. This Education Foundation event brings together the District 58 community, as District 58 teachers and staff compete against the Harlem Wizards in a fun and high-energy basketball game!

Event proceeds will benefit the Education Foundation of Downers Grove District 58. The Harlem Wizards are no stranger to District 58, most recently visiting in 2019.

Buy tickets at www.58foundation.org. We will email additional details to families soon!

District 58 partners with many local organizations and individuals to help its families in need. We appreciate and thank all of our partners for their generosity, time and support!

For example, District 58 thanks Community Christian Church of Downers Grove for donating 22 pairs of snowpants; Sharing Connections for donating several coats, hats, gloves and blankets, and Stitches to Share for hand-knitting, washing and donating 30 unique hats and scarves.

For other examples, please view the "In the Community" section of past (and future) Communicate 58 issues!

The Reading Games is coming in February! The Reading Games is seeking volunteers to write questions for this year's program. If you are interested, please sign up here. If you have questions, please email rgquestionwriters@gmail.com. Thank you for your consideration!

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

• West Suburban Community Pantry provides free groceries and resources: learn more!
• Benedictine University will offer Toys for Tots Holiday Basketball Camp on Dec. 17 for grades 1-8
• Belmont Preschool will hold open houses on Jan. 7, 14 and 21
• Illinois Extension announces 4-H and Bridge Bust activities
• Darien Woman's Club invites District 58 students to participate in Creative Youth Art Fair
• Creative Youth Art Fair registration form