Pierce Downer This Week

Pierce Downer Families-

It was so nice to see our families join us on Curriculum Night this week! I encourage you to engage in conversations with your students about the things they are doing in school and the different things you learned about their daily routines.

We are going to begin our annual emergency safety drills in the upcoming weeks. On Friday, September 23, 2022, Pierce Downer School will engage in a safety (active threat) drill. This drill is being held in cooperation with the Downers Grove Police Department, who will be onsite, to observe the drill and provide feedback for the building. This drill is required per the Illinois State Board of Education and would be implemented if there was an unsafe situation.

During the drill, students and staff will gather in a space away from the doors or windows and staff will secure their classrooms. Students will know that this is just a drill and teachers and staff will be able to discuss what steps to enact should there be a real emergency. We are conducting this drill and presenting this information in an age appropriate manner as our students vary widely in age from kindergarten through sixth grade.

If your students have questions or express concerns that you cannot address, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher or myself.

We will also be partnering with the Downers Grove Fire Department on Friday, October 7th, 2022, to perform our evacuation drill.

As always, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns via email LWagner@DG58.org or call 630-719-5860.

We are PD!

L. Wagner, Principal

The PD PROMISE monthly focus starts with the letter P for POLITE. Students are hearing daily quotes during announcements that encourage being polite and kind to others. You can help support these monthly focuses by talking at home about the PD PROMISE and sharing ways we can be polite to one another!

District 58’s Board of Education is one of only 33 Illinois school boards to earn this year’s School Board Governance Recognition from the Illinois Association of School Boards.

This recognition is given to school boards that model behaviors that lead to excellence in local school governance to support quality public education.

Congratulations, District 58 Board of Education! Our Board has accomplished a lot in the past couple of years, all while leading District 58 through a pandemic.

Click here to learn more about this recognition, including some of the reasons our School Board earned it.

Our playground is coming… in Summer 2023!

Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback for the playground this spring. We have been working closely with our playground equipment vendor to finalize plans (see renderings). We have exceeded 80% of our fundraising goal allowing us to go to bid this fall and install next summer. Thank you for all of your continued support!

As we finalize (ever increasing!) costs, we will update our thermometer for our final goal. Stay tuned for more info! If you have any questions about the playground, please email us at infoplayground@piercedownerpta.org.

If you have any questions about the basketball court, please direct them to Mr. Wagner or Kevin Barto at DG58 as this is not part of our fundraising project.

Stay in the know: follow us on Facebook and Instagram @playatpierce or visit our website www.playatpierce.org

Thanks to all who attended our trike event! Special thank you to the Hearne family for a fabulous event that brought incoming PD families together and helped us reach our goal! In addition, thank you to My Special Toy Store, the Stansbury Family and Alex & Meredith from Berkshire Hathaway.

District 58’s Education Foundation is hosting Oktoberfest this weekend in downtown Downers Grove. The event is Friday, Sept. 16 from 3-11 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 17 from noon to 11 p.m. It includes food, live bands and entertainment.

A Kids Zone will be open on Saturday from noon to 4:30 p.m. and will feature a trackless train, carnival-type games (i.e. ring toss, plinko and many more), face painting, art station, balloon artist, caricature artist, dunk tank, petting zoo (starting at 3:30 p.m.) and much more!

Kids are free with a paying adult. Adult tickets are $10; senior tickets are $5 on Friday and on Saturday before 6 p.m. After 6 p.m., all tickets increase to $25.

Please consider volunteering at Oktoberfest! Sign up to volunteer at https://tinyurl.com/58Fest22.

Learn more about Oktoberfest at www.58foundation.net.

All Pierce Downer students have the option to receive white milk at school each day. The cost for milk (for the year, per child) is $23. If you would like your child to receive milk each day, please complete the form linked below by next Friday. If you do not want your child(ren) to receive milk, you do not need to complete the form.

Pierce Downer Milk Form

If you have questions, please contact the school office.

District 58 will place a proposal on the Nov. 8, 2022 ballot to issue $179 million in bonds to improve District 58’s facilities. To learn more about the District 58 referendum, please visit www.dg58.org/referendum.

This website contains helpful information, including the District’s Master Facility Plan, frequently asked questions, ballot language, voter information, tax impact, facility presentation and videos and much more. If you have any questions about the referendum not answered on the website, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Please know, as a school district, we can provide factual information about a referendum, but we cannot advocate for or against it.

Arrival

Students may arrive at Pierce Downer School beginning at 8:05 a.m. each day when adult supervision begins. In order to assist with a timely and safe arrival process, the school playground will be closed before school. Upon arrival, students should line up by their assigned door. Students will be directed to enter the building beginning at 8:10 am*. Anyone arriving after 8:15 a.m. should enter through Door One for an office pass.

*Please note that entrance times may change as students build routines. We have not used our normal entrance procedures in several years, and we recognize that it may take students longer at the start of the school year to be ready to start the school day. The District also recognizes that bus arrival times vary during the first few weeks of school as drivers learn new routes. As students build routines and bus arrival times become more consistent, student entry times may get pushed back. This time will assist our team we prepare for the school day. Supervision times will remain the same and any changes will be communicated in advance.

Dismissal/After School

Following daily dismissal at Pierce Downer School (2:00 p.m. on Monday/3:00 p.m. Tuesday-Friday), all students who are not scheduled to remain in the building must leave the school grounds and check in at their destination as there is no supervision on school grounds. We want to ensure the safety of all students.

Students may return to the playground after school hours and/or on the weekends. This will be done at family discretion, as our district playgrounds also function as community parks outside of school hours.

District 58 has partnered with Safe2Help to give students a safe and confidential way to report potential threats or crises. Safe2Help was launched by the State of Illinois in December 2020 and aims to help prevent suicide, bullying, school violence and other threats to school safety.

With Safe2Help, students can connect with a trained crisis professional during their own crisis, or to report a potential threat. Students can submit a Safe2Help alert via the following ways:

• Website: https://app.safe22helpil.com
• Text: SAFE2 (72332)
• Phone: 844-4-SAFEIL (844-472-3345)
• App: "Safe2Help Illinois" app available in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
• Email: HELP@Safe2HelpIL.com

All alerts are responded to by a trained Safe2Help crisis professional. Safe2Help is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

District 58 staff are not the initial responders to the alert and will receive each alert after the Safe2Help professional provides support. District 58 staff will review alerts sent by Safe2Help during regular school hours, unless the nature of the alert necessitates immediate school action.

September 16 & 17

DG58 Foundation Oktoberfest

September 21

PTA General Meeting

7pm

September 23

Fun Lunch: Zazzos

Email: LWagner@dg58.org
Website: www.DG58.org
Location: 1436 Grant Street, Downers Grove, IL, USA
Phone: 630-719-5860
Twitter: @LWagnerDG58