Pierce Downer This Week

Pierce Downer Families,

I hope you all had a wonderful winter break, it was great welcoming the students back to school! I want to give a special thank you to the PD staff, students, and families for their support in e-learning today. I recognize these days can have challenges, but I saw so many successes throughout the day.

With the return to school from winter break, also came the return of our NWEA MAP testing for the winter term. Your child's teacher will be sharing specific schedules with you. We are encouraging students to do their best, make sure they are well-rested, and eat a healthy breakfast.

As a friendly reminder, there is no school on Monday, January 15th.

Speed Stacking Club

Second, third and fourth grade students are invited to join Pierce Downer’s first ever Sport Stacking club and become one of the district’s fastest stackers. Coach Filus’ team will train in various cup-stacking skills that accelerate hand-eye coordination as well as concentration and confidence during high speed competition. Our training sessions will conclude in our 1st annual sport-stacking tournament and celebration!

Use this link to register:

Grades 2-4

2024 Bookmark Contest!

Students can participate in the Downers Grove Public Library Bookmark Contest this year. All students that want to participate got a bookmark entry form from the PD library. Entries are due to Ms. Minardi by February 16th or to the Public LIbrary by February 19th.

Winter Weather in DG58

Winter Weather Procedures in District 58

Air temperature: How cold is it? What is the wind chill? Can children safely walk to school? There are times when schools may need to be closed due to dangerously cold temperatures. In these situations, wind chill is also taken into account, as well as the extent to which the temperatures are sustained throughout the school day. District 58 has collaborated with District 99 and the elementary districts that feed into District 99 to develop consistent standards. We will likely close school based on extremely cold conditions when a wind chill warning is issued by the National Weather Service during the times students are traveling to or from school. A wind chill warning is typically issued when the wind chill will be -25 degrees Fahrenheit or colder or the actual air temperature is -25 degrees Fahrenheit.

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

District 58 invites parents and guardians to sign up for winter Parent-Teacher Conferences using the online PowerPTC conference signup system starting Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 at 11 a.m.

• Kindergarten through sixth grade conferences:

  • Feb. 1, 2024 4:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

  • Feb. 7, 2024 4:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

    
    

The signup window will close on Tuesday January 30, 2024 at 11 a.m.

View conference signup instructions here. (para Español: Registro para las reuniones de padres y maestros). If you still have questions, please complete a District 58 Technology Help Desk ticket at dg58.org/help.

If you miss the deadline and would like a conference, please contact your school.

We value communication with parents, but we have received feedback that as a result of strong and ongoing communication between home and school a winter conference may not be necessary for all families. You can simply choose not to sign up. As always, whether you participate in a conference this winter, please know that you can request a conference with your child’s teacher at any time throughout the year. Additionally, your child’s teacher(s) may contact you at any time if they feel a conference would be helpful.

Thank you to all of our parent volunteers that made our winter parties a major success! The students were smiling and laughing while playing games, doing crafts, and having fun.

The Chicago Wolves’ “Read To Succeed” community initiative has been a successful library-based program since 1996 — encouraging more than 650,000 students to make reading a fun and rewarding part of life.

Targeting students in kindergarten through eighth grade, the “Read To Succeed” program serves as a reward and inspiration for students to excel at existing or new reading programs at school. The Wolves supply free reading logs to help support these reading programs as well. Students who complete their reading programs, as determined by schools, receive a certificate for a complimentary ticket to a select 2023-24 Chicago Wolves home game.

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.

Parents should have received an email on Thursday, Oct. 19 inviting them to sign up to purchase lunch for their elementary-age student (K-6) if they choose. Parents can sign up and begin ordering lunch now but the program begins the week of Monday, Oct. 30.

The lunches can be ordered through MyMealOrder (www.MyMealOrder.com) and are made by District 58’s food service provider Quest. The online program gives you the ability to manage and pay for your student’s meal purchases and they will be delivered to your child’s school. To sign up, visit: https://MyMealOrder.com and click the login button, then click on “Register for a Free Account.”

You will need your student’s ID number, last name and school to complete registration. In the Oct. 19 email, you received your student’s ID number. This document shows detailed step-by-step directions to set up an account and to begin placing orders. Once you finish registration, you may log in to begin managing your student’s account instantly. Students who currently receive a lunch under the free/reduced lunch eligibility will continue to do so, and should not use the MyMealOrder system at this time.

Congratulations to Mrs. Waughop on being this week's PD Cup recipient! Mrs. Waughop is one of Pierce Downer's resource teachers. She is regularly working with students to provide targeted instruction and collaborating with grade-level teachers to help support instruction within their classrooms.

Thank you Ms. Waughop for ALL that you do!

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.

January 15

No School: MLK Day

January 19

Fun Lunch

February 1 & 7

Parent Teacher Conferences: 4:45pm-8:00pm

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.