Dear District 58 Staff and Community,
As you know, this week we transitioned to a dual system of instruction that incorporates onsite hybrid and full remote learning. We are extremely proud of our students, staff, and families for their hard work and dedication. Seeing our students back in-person has been truly rewarding as we have missed them a great deal. The District will continue with onsite instruction next week as previously shared in my email on Monday.
In order to determine if we can continue to provide in-person learning safely, we are monitoring the transmission levels in DuPage County, District 58, and our 13 schools on a daily basis. In addition to county-level metrics and COVID-19 surveillance data, school-level considerations are important as well, such as case and outbreak activity, specific trends and distribution of cases, absenteeism among students and staff within a school, and alternate remote learning site options and safety protocols (source: DCHD). We also meet weekly with the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) and other school districts for health updates. In the event we would need to go back to remote learning, our goal will be to provide staff and families with as much notice as possible.
Introducing the District 58 Dashboard
Our number one priority is the health and safety of our students and staff. We have implemented a wide range of precautions to help protect our learning community and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. As we welcome students back to in-person learning this week, we feel it is important to provide our community with a clear picture of COVID-19 cases. To accomplish this, we have built a District 58 COVID-19 Dashboard on our website to share important information about the District. It can be found on our website in the “About” section under District 58 COVID-19 Dashboard. The dashboard provides the number of positive cases for students and staff since August 24 (the date teachers returned) and also a weekly count. Additionally, the dashboard provides a weekly count of possible cases of students and staff. Please note a possible case does not mean that an individual has COVID-19. A possible case indicates that an individual has a symptom consistent with COVID-19 (fever or chills, cough shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea) or has been a close contact with a positive or suspected COVID-19 case.
Further information about Downers Grove and DuPage County COVID transmission can be found on the following websites:
We’re in this together in District 58
Our community has always shown its strength through support for each other and the children of District 58. In order to maintain in-person learning for our students, we must continue the District 58 tradition of working together to protect our learning community. Here’s what you can do to help:
- Follow the 3 W’s - Wear a mask, Watch your distance, Wash your hands
- Follow the daily self-certification process for your school found in your inbox each morning
- Participate in contact tracing efforts when necessary
- Keep your child and siblings home if an individual within your household shows any COVID-like symptom
Thank you for your efforts and partnership.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kevin B. Russell
Superintendent of Schools