Oak Grove News

Message from the Principal

Time to take a break
Happy Monday! Our students are finishing up a busy time of the year. Therefore, as spring break approaches, I hope that all of you are able to relax, play, travel, laugh, and spend time that best meets your needs. If the weather permits, be sure to get some fresh air and be outside. We will miss you all while you're away from Oak Grove but we look forward to your return on April 3. Take care and stay safe. 

Ramadan
Wednesday, March 22, is the first day of fasting for some of our students. If your child is fasting, please be sure to communicate with your child's teacher(s) so that we can provide the appropriate support. In addition, our nursing staff will provide PE exemptions for families that express the need or if the student informs their teacher(s) that they are limiting their participation but want to stay in class. This information would be shared with our PE teachers. 

Clubs, Clubs, Clubs!
iCook and Code Ninjas are offering more sessions! Be on the lookout for additional details soon!

Spring Break - Reminder 
Spring break begins on March 27. We look forward to seeing you all back at school on April 3. Have fun and stay safe. 

Please click here to view the school calendar for upcoming events.

PTO News

Variety Show Important Dates & Info
Acts selected for the Variety Show were notified by e-mail on Friday. The list of selected acts is also available HERE. Please read the e-mail carefully as it includes a lot of important information for students in the show including mandatory rehearsal dates, RevTrak information for purchasing show dinner and program call-outs and much more. If you cannot find that e-mail the content is available on the PTO website HERE. As a reminder to the OGS community, the Variety Show welcomes all ages to attend the performances on Friday, April 14 at either 5:00 pm or 7:30 pm. Please contact Christine Merrild or Ashley Wilson if you have any questions.

Purple Up Day 2023
Did you know April is the Month of the Military Child? The PTO and OGS want to celebrate military children and the sacrifices they make. Please complete this form if your student(s) have parents who are Active Duty, Retired or Reserves. If you have any questions, please email PTO@ogschool.org. Responses are due by Friday, March 24.

Student Absent? Lunch Reminder!
If your student is absent from school and they have a Marla’s lunch order, please call the office and request a lunch pickup by 10am if you intend to pick-up the student’s lunch. You also need to call the office if you’d like the student’s sibling to receive the lunch. If you want to give the lunch to a friend both you and the parent of the student receiving the lunch need to call. Lunch staff cannot release lunches to anyone except the student for which it was ordered unless one of the above protocols is followed.

Lunch Volunteers Needed
We have a number of openings in the lunch volunteer schedule after Spring Break. Please take a look at your schedule and sign up for a shift or two. Elementary cafeteria sign-up is available HERE and Junior High cafeteria sign-up is available HERE.

1st Grade Ice Cream Social Thank Yous
Thank you to Erica Verma and 6th graders Anand Verma, Jack Wolfe and Hailey Byers for helping check-in families at the 1st Grade Open House and for distributing ice cream treats to students and their siblings following the concert. We are so glad to be able to bring back the PTO ice cream social events!

Curriculum Corner

Reminder: 8th Grade Candor Webinar Wednesday
All 8th grade families were previously sent an email regarding the 8th Grade Candor presentation that will occur on Thursday, April 13. There will be a parent information webinar delivered by Candor on Wednesday, March 22 at 6:30 pm. Please RSVP if you would like to attend and you will receive a link to the meeting. This meeting will not be recorded. If your family would like to opt your child(ren) out of the presentation, please email Leslie Weber. 

Curriculum Resource Updates
Over the first half of the school year, the teachers in grades 3-5 have been piloting programs aligned to the Illinois Social Studies Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Oak Grove School follows a 5-year curriculum review cycle, and COVID paused any updates to resources for two years. Our teachers were in need of up-to-date, research and evidence-based resources, and the district will have a proposal for adoption for a science and social studies resource for grades 3 through 5 this spring.

Literacy curriculum is up for review this school year as part of the 5-year curriculum review cycle. In 2017, the school adopted Lucy Calkins Units of Study and Schoolwide Units of Study. As the district maintains its mission to reevaluate resources and programming and utilize only products aligned to recent research, representatives from each grade level along with the Coordinator of Teaching and Innovative Learning are currently reviewing samples from evidence-based literacy programs. Next school year, teachers will pilot literacy programs in all K-8 classrooms with plans for a resource adoption in school year 2024-2025. 

LIBERTYVILLE SNOWFLAKE :  What’s yOUR Story

Friday April 21, 2003    Open to 7th & 8th graders
Click here for explanation of program and sign up flier.

6th - 8th Grade Track & Field starts on 4/3

Practices typically go Monday - Thursday 3:30-4:45 pm.   Don't forget that you must have a sports physical turned into the front office and/or the nurse's office before 4/6. If interested, use this google classroom code to enroll: akiir4x, and then hit “join class”.  Please email Coach Callahan with any questions.

BOARD OF EDUCATION ELECTION

OGEA would like to thank all of the board of education candidates for sitting down and talking with our teacher committee and filling out the questionnaire. We are thankful for your interest and commitment to Oak Grove School.  Please see the link below for the survey results. 
OGEA School Board Candidate Survey 2023

A Message from the Board of Education

Dear Families,
Thank you to those who have submitted questions to support our Frequently Asked Questions page.  Please see Board responses to recent submissions at the end of this newsletter.  

Please continue to use this link to ask any questions regarding Board operations. If a question you submitted did not get answered here, please contact our school or district administration. They are able to address questions that are beyond the scope of Board operations. 

Sincerely,

OGS Board of Education