Fairmount Families Week END Report

Thank you for joining us this week at our winter parent-teacher conferences. It was wonderful to see so many of you in the building and we continue to appreciate the collaborative conversations and partnerships in support of our students. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child(ren)'s teacher, staff members or myself as the school year continues to progress.

A friendly reminder that supervision does not begin until 8:05 a.m. each morning, so please ensure that your child(ren) is not arriving prior to this time. Thank you for your assistance in keeping our students safe each day.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Lisa Niforatos, Principal

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @Fairmount58.

Please be sure to check out the "Lens into Learning" and "Celebration" sections later in the newsletter for photo highlights from the week.

While Fairmount does not have a Valentine's Day party at school, classroom teachers will allot a short amount of time on February 14th to allow students to exchange Valentine's Day cards with their classmates, if they so choose. This is, of course, completely optional. If you do choose to send cards with your child(ren), please note the following:

• A student must have a Valentine for every child in their class.
• Food is not allowed, however, non-food items are allowed (such as pencils and stickers).

District 58 held staff and community Facility Visioning Sessions on Monday, Jan. 30 to educate stakeholders on our draft facility plans and to seek their feedback before we finalize them. These meetings were very well-attended, and we appreciate the input that was provided!

We realize that many stakeholders could not attend this event in-person; in addition, we know that some who did attend may have additional feedback that they would like to provide. To that end, we posted the Facility Visioning Session Presentation online, and we developed a Facility Visioning Follow-up Survey open to all District 58 stakeholders.

Please consider taking our District 58 Facility Visioning Follow-up Survey here by Wednesday, Feb. 15. The survey will share the same topics presented at the in-person meetings and ask for your open-ended feedback. All feedback shared at the in-person meetings, as well as through this survey, will be considered as District 58 works with its architects and construction management firm on the final designs.

Please see the flyer below for details about the Young Authors Program. We hope to have many creative submissions this year! Please reach out to Mrs. Stroud at estroud@dg58.org with any questions.

Grove Children’s Preschool will hold an open house on Feb. 15

Will your child be 3 or 4 years old this August? Do you have a neighbor or friend with a future preschooler? Please share! Grove Children’s Preschool will hold an open house on Wednesday, Feb. 15 from 5-6:30 p.m. at Henry Puffer School, 2220 Haddow Ave. Parents and guardians may tour the preschool, meet the staff, hear an overview of the program, and ask questions throughout the open house.

Grove Children’s Preschool tuition applications for the 2023-24 school year will open online at www.dg58.org/preschool on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 8 a.m. First priority applications are due Wednesday, March 8. Learn more here.

Thank you to all who contributed to the Student Council's fundraiser benefiting the West Suburban Humane Society. Please look for the winning team to be announced by Student Council next week.

Dear Elementary Families,

District 58’s number one priority is ensuring that all of our students and staff are safe and we continue to be thoughtful and proactive in terms of how we address these critical conversations with our community and with our staff and students. Preventing school violence is the responsibility of us all. In the weeks ahead, our school principals will be meeting with each classroom in their schools to review critical safety measures and reinforce expectations with our students. Below are the presentations and/or talking points that will be used with grade bands for your review.

K-2nd Presentation

3rd-6th Presentation (Will also be used as review with middle school)

We know that while these discussions are crucial to have with our children, as adults, it can be difficult to know exactly how to broach these topics with our children at home. We hope a review of the materials that we have developed will provide you with some of the terms, vocabulary, and developmental approaches that we use to support students’ understanding of these concepts. In addition, the materials provided below are from various organizations that specialize in this topic that can help you prepare for further discussions with your child.

Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers

National Association of School Psychologists

Helping Children Cope with Frightening News and How to Ask What Kids are Feeling

The Child Mind Institute

Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers and Assisting

Parents/Caregivers in Coping with Collective Traumas

The National Child Traumatic Stress Network

As always, our social workers and counselors can assist you in thinking through how best to tailor discussions at home for your particular child or children. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me. Preventing school violence is the responsibility of the entire community and together, we can make a difference in helping our children understand the importance of those collective efforts.

We kicked off our next Falcon Focus "Being Kind". We can't wait to see our Falcon Focus bulletin board fill up with stickers in recognition of all our students' kind actions!

Our next lunch is scheduled for Friday, February 17th, and food will be provided by Home Run Inn. Orders are due by Sunday, February 12th. Ordering is also now available for all the remaining lunches this school year. Place orders at: https://fairmount.h1.hotlunchonline.net/. Contact Tiffany Melnyk at tiffanyjoy21@gmail.com with any questions.

We are so glad you are part of our school community! Whether this is your child's first or seventh year at Fairmount, we wanted to provide a fun way to get to know the many members of our teaching and school staff.

We hope you enjoy learning a little more about each of our staff members in the weekly Teacher Feature.

Role at Fairmount: Nurse

# of Years at Fairmount School: 5 Years

Favorite Food or Restaurant: Italian Food: Capri in Burr Ridge

If she is not at school, you can catch Mrs. Mazur at home hanging out with my family and my dog or reading and working out.

Favorite Quote: "Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier." -Mother Teresa

The best thing about working with children every day is...is helping them get through their school day in a healthy and happy way!

From birthdays (and half birthdays), Positive Office Referrals, Lost Teeth and more... we love celebrating our students at Fairmount.

Monday, February 13th is a 2:00 p.m. dismissal for students. All students are dismissed at 2:00 p.m. according to their regular dismissal plan. Please be sure you have made arrangements for your child to be picked up from Fairmount at 2:00 p.m.

02.13: Happy Monday! Wear orange! 2:00 p.m. Early Dismissal

02.14: Happy Valentine's Day! Wear Red, Pink or White

02.15: 3:00-3:45 p.m. Sign Language Club for Registered Students; 3:00-4:00 p.m. Bricks for Kids for Registered Students

02.16: Happy Thursday!

02.17: Falcon Friday: Wear School Colors or Spiritwear; PTA Fun Lunch

02.20: No School: President's Day

02.23: 5:30 p.m. PTA Meeting

02.25: The Reading Games at O'Neill Middle School

02.28: (Tuesday): No School Students - Teacher Institute Day!

03.03: 2nd Trimester Ends

03.17: Report Cards sent home

2022-2023 School Calendar

Calendar Highlights:

• Spring Break: March 27-31, 2023

• Last Day of School: Wednesday, June 7, 2023 (if no emergency days are used)

The Board of Education approved the District 58 2023-24 school year calendar.

Highlights include:

First Day of School: Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023

Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 22-24, 2023

Winter Break: Dec. 25, 2023-Jan. 5, 2024

Spring Break: March 25-29, 2024

Last Day of School: Friday, May 24 (if no emergency days are used)

Please note that information BELOW this point is repeated information that has been shared in a previous newsletter(s), but is still made available here for your reference.

To help us ensure a nurturing, supportive and child-centered learning environment for every student, we ask our parents/guardians to please participate in District 58’s annual Parent/Guardian School Environment Survey. This survey should take just a few minutes, yet the valuable input you provide will help guide the work of our principals, teachers and district administrators as they plan school improvement efforts. All responses are anonymous.

Parents may take the Parent/Guardian School Environment Survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/2023District58Survey now through Friday, Feb. 17. The survey is also linked online at www.dg58.org/surveys. If you do not have access to the Internet, please contact your child’s school for a paper copy. If you have a child attending more than one District 58 school, please complete a separate survey for each building. We value your responses and thank you for your time and effort!

We also invite parents/guardians to take the Illinois State Board of Education’s 5Essentials Parent Survey at https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/ now through Friday, March 31. District 58 will receive 5Essentials Parent Survey data if 20% or more of a school’s parents/guardians participate in this survey. This survey gathers data related to five indicators that can predict important student outcomes, including improved attendance and larger test score gains. Your participation in this survey will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide improvement. Your identity and survey responses will be kept confidential and will not be connected to you or your child.

In addition to the parent/guardian surveys, fourth through eighth grade students will be asked to participate in a 5Essentials Student Survey sometime between Jan. 31-March 24. If you do not wish to have your fourth through eighth grade student(s) participate, please complete this Opt-Out Form and return it to your child’s school office by Friday, Jan. 27.

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey: Organizing Schools for Improvement was developed by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The survey’s results will become part of the 2023 Illinois State Report Card for your child’s school. Student, staff and parent identities will be kept confidential, and responses will not be linked to any individual. To view the privacy policy related to this survey, visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/privacy. To view the 5Essentials survey that will be administered to fourth through eighth grade students, visit https://impactsurveyshelp.force.com/s/article/illinois-5essentials-survey-questions. The survey results will be used by your child’s school to inform planning.

If you have any questions about these surveys, please contact District 58 Community Relations Coordinator Megan Hewitt at mhewitt@dg58.org.

Consistent, on-time attendance at school is critical to academic success. Please assist your child in arriving to school each day on time, as well as, support them in their regular attendance. While we understand there are many circumstances that may prevent a timely arrival (doctor appointment, family emergency, etc.), we ask that you please continue to stress the importance of being present and ready to learn when school begins.

If your child is going to be absent or late to school, please call the Fairmount Office at 630.719.5830 to report his/her absence. If you call before or after office hours, you are welcome to leave attendance information on the school's voicemail. We kindly ask that you do not email attendance information to the teacher or principal.

If your child's dismissal plan will be different (e.g. not taking the bus), please communicate this to both the school secretaries and classroom teacher as promptly as possible. This is especially important for our younger students, so we can support their dismissal process. In the event of a last-minute change, we ask that you please call the school office (630-719.5830) as staff members may not check their emails prior to daily dismissal.

Please see the attached informational fact sheet from the IDPH regarding influenza. The flu is different from the common cold and can cause fever, cough, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, and vomiting. We appreciate your support in keeping your child home from school if they have a fever, are vomiting, and/or exhibiting other signs of influenza. Students are encouraged to hand wash and/or utilize hand sanitizer at school and additional surface cleaning is conducted, as well.

If your child would like to play in the snow/be on the field (assuming conditions are safe to do so), they must have both snow pants and snow boots. We also appreciate your support in making sure your child(ren) comes prepared for the weather/elements each day as we will typically go outside for recess if the conditions permit and the feels like temperature is above 0 degrees.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Lisa Niforatos (Principal) or Jen Glynn (Social Worker) if you do not have access to the resources to secure cold-weather gear for your child(ren).

The Reading Games will return for its ninth year on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 at O'Neill Middle School. The Reading Games is a fun and friendly reading competition open to District 58 students in grades 3-8. Visit www.readinggamesdg58.com for detailed information. The Reading Games also seeks question writer volunteers! Click here to learn more information and to sign up to volunteer.

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.

Learn more about Safe2Help and District 58's crisis resources.

Visit the Safe2Help website.

Lisa Niforatos, Principal lniforatos@dg58.org

Jillian DeRango, Secretary jderango@dg58.org

Jill Darrah, Secretary jdarrah@dg58.org

Email: lniforatos@dg58.org
Website: www.dg58.org/fa/
Location: 6036 Blodgett Avenue, Downers Grove, IL, USA
Phone: 630.719.5830
Twitter: @Fairmount58