Fairmount Families Week END Report
02.09.2024
Happy Friday, Fairmount Families!
Thank you to all our parents and families who joined us this week for our second evening of Parent Teacher Conferences. We truly value the home to school partnership and I hope you found this time with your child(ren)'s teacher valuable.
We are so proud of our student council and school community for their amazing efforts this week in donating items to benefit the Downers Grove FISH pantry. This also led to a friendly competition ahead of this weekend's Super Bowl. See below for specifics on how many items we were able to collect.
I hope everyone is able to enjoy this unseasonably warm February weather!
Sincerely,
Lisa Niforatos, Principal
Be sure to follow me on Twitter/X @Fairmount58.
Quick Links:
Information & Reminders
Valentine's Day
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).
Surface Wipes & Tissues
Many of our non-classroom spaces, such as the main office, support rooms and specialists are in need of both surface (e.g. Clorox) wipes and tissues. If you are able and willing to donate either of these items to Fairmount we would certainly appreciate it. Your child is welcome to bring any donations to the office.
Grove Children’s Preschool holds Open House Feb. 15
Preschool parents and guardians are invited to an open house to learn more about the District’s gold-rated Grove Children’s Preschool program. The Open House will be Thursday, 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 2024-25 school year will open online at www.dg58.org/preschool on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 8 a.m. First-priority preschool applications are due Monday, March 11.
Grove Children’s Preschool is located at Henry Puffer School and Indian Trail School (6235 Stonewall Ave.) in Downers Grove. Students attend school five days per week during either a morning or an afternoon session.
School Improvement Focus
Do you know about Dreambox?
This year our school improvement goal is focused on utilizing the Bridges curriculum and tailored small group instruction. Dreambox is an app that your child can access through their Clever account to continue working on this goal at home. Please encourage your child to access this individualized math tool at home. We understand that it can be challenging not to assist your child while they are working at home, but it is important that this application is used independently in order for your child to receive the appropriate support and instruction.
Numbers & Operations
Additionally, this year at Fairmount we are targeting improvement in Numbers & Operations in mathematics at all grade levels. A key part to this focus is looking at the delivery of small group instruction to meet the needs of all students. The photos below capture Bridges Number Corner, partner collaboration in math as well as small group, tiered instruction.
Fairmount PTA
Fairmount PTA
Fairmount is lucky to have a very active PTA. We encourage all parents/guardians to join the PTA. Please see the the PTA website for detailed information related to membership, events, and to subscribe to the weekly Falcon Flyer. We also encourage you to visit the events page on the PTA website to view all upcoming and ongoing events hosted by the PTA. As always, thank you to our wonderful PTA!
Orders due 02/11 for February PTA Fun Lunch
The next PTA Fun Lunch is scheduled for Friday, February 16th. Cozzi Corner will provide the food and orders are due by Sunday, February 11th. The ordering platform is now open. All meals are $5.00, and you can order for the remainder of the school year, if you wish. Contact Tiffany Melnyk at tiffanyjoy21@gmail.com with any questions about ordering, forgotten login information, or setting up an account.
Teacher Feature
Teacher Feature
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 started this section last school year and look forward to continuing it during the 2023-2024 school year. Our teachers and staff have been asked new questions, so you can learn even more about them.
Meet Ms. Armbrust
# of Years at Fairmount: 6 Years
Favorite Movie: Finding Nemo
Favorite Place to Go/Travel to: My lake house in Wisconsin or the National Parks
Favorite Dessert or Sweet Treat: (frozen) Sour Patch Kids
A fun or unusual fact about me is... my first job was the robin mascot at Red Robin.
Lens into Learning
Talk about Tuesday
Geoboards
Art Appreciation
Fairmount MVPs - Celebrating Students
ILMEA All-State Choir
A special-shout out to some of our falcons who participated in the ILMEA All-State Choir in Peoria, Illinois.
Calendar & Important Dates
Early Dismissal Monday, February 12th
Monday, February 12th is our next Professional Learning Monday. 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. each Monday.
Mark your Calendars!
02.12: Happy Monday! Wear Orange; 2:00 p.m. Student Dismissal
02.13: 3:00-3:45 p.m. Sign Language Club for Registered Students; 3:00-3:40 p.m. Yearbook Editors Meeting (for registered students)
02.14: Chess Wizards for Registered Students
02.15: 3:00-3:45 Sign Language Club for Registered Students
02.16: Falcon Friday: Wear School Colors and Gear! PTA Fun Lunch!
02.19: No School - President's Day
A Look Ahead...
03.01: No School Students - Teacher Institute Day
03.25-03.29: Spring Break: School and Office Closed
2023-2024 School Calendar - Updated
Spring Break: March 25-29, 2024
Last Day of School: Wednesday, May 29, 2024 (if no additional emergency days are used)
Below the Line: Repeated Information
Below the Line
Science Fair
Congratulations to all of the Fairmount Falcons who participated in the 2024 Science Fair. We are so proud of the effort and energy these scientists put into their projects.
Referral GPS
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:
Contact Student Services (social workers, psychologists, counselors) to seek out treatment options
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.
Safe to Help
- Click here to connect with Safe2Help Illinois. Students can contact Safe2Help Illinois to safely and confidentially report a crisis or threat involving themselves or someone they know. Safe2Help is monitored 24/7 by trained crisis professionals. District 58 staff will receive an alert after the Safe2Help professional provides support. Through Safe2Help, students can report a crisis or threat through 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
- Call or text "988" and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will provide 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones.
- Text “ACT” to 741741: The National Crisis Text line will connect you with free, confidential assistance.
Fairmount Office Contact Information
Lisa Niforatos, Principal lniforatos@dg58.org
Jill DeRango, Secretary jderango@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