Pierce Downer This Week

Pierce Downer Families,

Fun Lunch Date Change

Friendly Reminder that FUN LUNCH will be on Wednesday, February 21st, this upcoming week.

Parent Survey Information:

As a reminder, parents are invited to take the District 58 School Environment Survey here. The survey should take just a few minutes yet provides valuable information that guides our school improvement efforts. All responses are anonymous.

In addition, parents are also invited to take the Illinois State Board of Education’s 5Essentials Parent Survey. This survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes. Your identity and survey responses will be kept confidential and will not be connected to you or your child.

Student Survey Information:

Additionally, grade 4-8 students will be asked to participate in a 5Essentials student survey sometime between Feb. 23 and March 22. If you do not wish to have your grade 4-8 student(s) participate in the 5Essentials, please fill out this opt-out form by Tuesday, Feb. 20.

A District 58 email was sent to all parents/guardians about the surveys and the student’s 5Essential opt-out form on Monday, Feb. 12. Learn more about the surveys here.

Personal Electronic/Technology Devices Policy in DG58

It is amazing how far technology has come over the last decade and continues to advance. I recognize the value technology has not just in education, but our world. However, I am hoping 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.

March 19, 2024

We are pleased to report that Tuesday, March 19 will now be an in-person/regular school day, instead of an e-Learning Day. The school day was originally scheduled as an e-Learning Day because several District 58 schools were scheduled to be used as polling places. District 58 closes its buildings when its schools are designated as polling places to provide for the safety and security of its students and staff. After numerous conversations with the DuPage County Election Board, the District was notified that none of its schools will be used as a polling site for the Primary Election on March 19, 2024. Therefore, students will be in school on that day instead of having an e-Learning Day. The District has no control over when its schools are designated as polling places but will continue to advocate that locations other than District 58 schools be utilized.

With that being said, please do not hesitate to reach out. You can email me at LWagner@DG58.org or call the Pierce Downer Main Office at 630-719-5860.

As always, WE are PD!

Dr. Leland (Lucky) Wagner

Thank you Pierce Downer PTA and volunteers for all of your hard work to make our classroom parties so much fun! The students had a blast playing a variety of games, completing crafts, and sharing valentines. The 6th grade dance party was a great time with students getting their pictures taken in the Photo Booth and completing the activities on their punch cards.

We hope you are starting to think about next year! We are! District 58 student registration for the 2024-25 school year will open the week of Feb. 26. The District will ask all returning students to register by April 8. This includes all returning District 58 students who attend an outplacement or specialized program.

District 58 encourages families to register their student(s) promptly before April 8, as early registration helps the District determine its hiring, staffing, classroom and transportation needs for the upcoming school year.

Congratulations to Ms. Peinado on being this week's PD Cup recipient. Ms. Peinado is an instructional assistant at Pierce Downer School. You can often find Ms. Peinado supporting individual students, supporting lunch and recess, and she always has a positive attitude. If your child has ever come home with a birthday origami, you can be certain it was Ms. Peinado that made it!

Thank you Mrs. Peinado for ALL that you do!

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.

District 58 is pleased to continue using the Raptor Visitor Management System in all of our schools to strengthen our program of campus safety for students and faculty. Part of keeping students and faculty safe is knowing who is in our buildings at all times. The Raptor system will better allow us to screen visitors, contractors, and volunteers in our schools and provide us with a safer environment for our students and staff. Community High School District 99 currently utilizes the same platform on its campuses.

Upon entering a district building, visitors will be asked to present photo identification, such as a Driver’s License, which can either be scanned or manually entered into the system. If a parent or guardian for any reason does not have a US government-issued ID, the school staff member can use any form of identification and manually enter the person’s name into the Raptor system. The Raptor system will check to ensure that registered sexual offenders are not entering our school campuses without our knowledge. The Raptor system checks the visitor's name and date of birth for comparison with a national database of registered sex offenders. The registered sex offender database is the only official database checked by the Raptor system. No other data from the ID is gathered or recorded and the information is not shared with any outside agency. Once entry is approved, Raptor will issue a badge that identifies the visitor, the date, and the purpose of his/her visit. A visitor’s badge will not be necessary for those who visit our schools simply to drop off an item in the office or pick up paperwork.

The safety of our students is our highest priority and the Raptor visitor management system allows us to quickly identify those that may present a danger to our students. Thank you in advance for your understanding and your support in enhancing the school safety protocols in our district.

February 19

NO SCHOOL

February 21

Fun Lunch: Culvers

February 29

VIP Day; 1st and 5th grade

March 1

NO SCHOOL: Countywide Institute Day

March 15

Report Cards go home

March 21

Student Council Spirit Day: Wear your favorite band t-shirt

March 25-29

NO SCHOOL: Spring Break

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.