Dear District 58 Families,
On behalf of the Board of Education, thank you for your partnership, flexibility and patience during this unprecedented time. District 58 has received approval to conduct e-learning days by the DuPage County Regional Office of Education and the Illinois State Board of Education. Because of this, we have confirmed that while students are not yet engaged in e-learning activities, the teacher preparation allows today to be coded as an e-learning day. The Governor has declared school days that take place between March 17 and March 30 as “Act of God” days. By definition, e-learning and “Act of God” days are not required to be made up at the end of the year. While “Act of God” days do not require a school district to provide instruction, we feel strongly that our students deserve access to educational opportunities. Therefore, the District will continue to follow the schedule sent out last Friday.
Staff members have been busy preparing an emergency e-learning plan to ensure that students will continue to have access to learning during the mandatory closure of classes in all public schools. While staff members have done an excellent job putting this plan together over the past few days, please know that this is a work in progress and is not intended to replace what takes place daily in our classrooms. Additionally, we recognize that families may have many questions about e-learning.
We have prepared a detailed FAQ document intended to answer the vast majority of questions around e-learning. Essentially, you will receive direct communication from your child(ren)’s teachers on the morning of each e-learning day, beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17. While the FAQ document is lengthy, we encourage you to read through it and we appreciate your time in doing so; we value our educational partnership with you especially during this unique situation.
In some cases, there are physical materials that will support e-learning; you will receive direct communication from your building principal or teacher as to when and how these materials can be retrieved. Additionally, we recognize that during this time of stress, your children may also be experiencing an increased level of anxiety and worry around COVID-19. To that end, we would like to provide you with a list of resources available to support talking to your child about COVID-19. If your child’s medications are kept at school, please feel free to also pick them up when you pick up learning materials.
While we have certainly been presented with a challenge, we are choosing to view it as an opportunity; our teaching staff members are excited to be able to continue to provide educational experiences and continuity of learning throughout the next two weeks.
Sincerely, Downers Grove Grade School District 58