Oak Grove News

Superintendent Chat

Don't forget the first Superintendent Chat of the school year is Wednesday, Sept. 13, from 8:30-10:00 am in the Professional Development room. The agenda is based on you! Bring ideas, questions, or concerns you would like to discuss.  Please click here to RSVP if you are able to attend.

Message from the Principal

What a week!
Our students spent last week participating in classroom meetings to build a positive environment, started to engage in academic curriculum, and participated in their first Soaring Eagles! Assembly for the 23/24 school year. At our Soaring Eagles! Assemblies, we spent our time together celebrating the start of the year as well as establishing expectations. I look forward to another wonderful week and hope to see you at curriculum night. 

Safety Drill
The safety of the students at Oak Grove School is of the utmost importance. State law mandates that every school in the State of Illinois participates in an Active Shooter Drill within the first 90 days of school. In order to prepare our students, Oak Grove school utilizes ALICE, which is a nationally recognized program recommended by The US Department of Education, International Association of Chiefs of Police, FEMA, and the FBI. ALICE is a proactive set of responses to an active school intruder that empowers individuals to utilize human action. Oak Grove has set a tentative date to meet this mandate. Please take a few minutes to review the 23/24 school year ALICE family letter for more information. 

Kindergarten Bus Riders
All kindergarten bus riders must have an approved individual meet their child(ren) at the bus stop. This individual needs to be on the students' pick up list. If changes are made regarding the bus pick up then the family must communicate the change directly to the Oak Grove front office (ogsofffice@ogschool.org) prior to 2:00 pm the day of the adjustment to ensure a safe transition from school to home. If there is an older sibling in the family, the family may contact the school, and have the older sibling be the individual to get the student off the bus. Again, this would need to be directly communicated to the Oak Grove front office to ensure that Oak Grove and Durham (bus company) are aware of any changes. Thank you for your support with this process. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Ryan Murray at murray@ogschool.org or directly at 224-716-3601.

Arrival - Reminder
If you arrive to drop off your child(ren) after 8:20 am then you will need to sign your child(ren) in at the main office. Please know that this is a safety precaution as there is no outside supervision after 8:20 am and all external doors are locked. Thank you for your support with this process. 

Oak Grove Clothing Closet
Oak Grove is creating a small clothing closet for any student needs that come up throughout the year. This closet will be put in place to primarily benefit our families who utilize the Helping Hands Program. Please consider donating any clothing in good condition for the fall and winter season as we will be collecting clothing for the spring and summer in the early months of 2024. Please refrain from sending in any items with holes, stains, or personalization. In addition to clothing, we are collecting donations of unused hygiene products such as deodorant, shampoo/conditioner, body soap, and sanitary pads. Bins will be placed outside of the main office as well as the district office. Please reach out to president@ogspto.org or wilgus@ogschool.org with any questions or concerns. 

Thank you!
We teach our students that if they see something, hear something, read something, to say something. I want to thank our families for modeling the same practice. 

Meet Our New Staff

Please enjoy the introduction videos made by our new staff! 

New Staff Introduction Videos

Beginning Band: Do you have a current 5th grader who is excited about making music or possibly on the fence about band? Beginning Band sign-up is coming soon! This week and next week, students will see live instrument demonstrations, learn about the OGS band program and try instruments to see where there’s a good fit. On Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at 6:30 pm in the Oak Grove Band Room, there will be a parent informational meeting about Beginning Band- there will be information about the class, expectations and instrument rental. This year we will have a virtual option in addition to our in-person meeting. This is a can't miss meeting. No commitment required to attend. We will be sending out more specifics via email.

Concert/Symphonic Bands: Lessons start this week on Wednesday. The first lesson schedule will be emailed home this afternoon and students will get paper copies tomorrow in band rehearsal. Please email Rick Frankowski (frankowski@ogschool.org) or Dave Jones (jones@ogschool.org) with any questions.

Important Dates
9/5/23: Curriculum Night Grades 6 - 8, 6-8:00 pm
9/6/23: Curriculum Night Grades 3 - 5, 6-8:00 pm
9/7/23: Curriculum Night Grades K - 2, 6-8:00 pm
9/6/23-9/8/23: Grades 2-8 Fall iReady Testing
9/13/23-9/14/23: Grades K-1 Fall iReady Testing
9/14/23: Candor Virtual Parent Night, 7-8:00 pm
9/19/23: Board of Education Meeting; COW @ 6:00 pm, E-learing hearring @7:15 pm, and BOE Meeting @ 7:16 pm in the JH Cafe
9/20/23: Tentative Active Intruder Drill (see above)
9/21/23: Erin’s Law Grades 6-8 (more details to come)

Athletics
Looking for information about upcoming games or events? Please check the Oak Grove Athletics Calendar

Curriculum Corner

First Curriculum Talk Tuesday
Our first Talk Tuesday will be held on Tuesday, October 3 at Oak Grove from 6:00-7:30 pm in the Professional Development room. These meetings will be hosted by the Teaching and Learning team and will share highlights around the OGS curriculum and programming and to hear feedback from parents on these topics. During our first session, we will share information updating families about current Illinois State Board of Education curricular mandated units of study, K-8 literacy instruction and pilot, and district assessments. Talk Tuesday slide decks will be available on the Oak Grove website after each session. If you will be attending the session, please RSVP using this link. 

Curriculum Nights
Curriculum Nights are this week. Each night will kick-off with a presentation from administration in the Patt Gym at 6:00 pm followed by two identical presentations given by the grade level teachers in the locations below. Childcare will be provided by our Honor Society students in the small gym. We hope to see many of you there!

• September 5: 6th grade - elementary library, 7th grade - junior high library, 8th grade - junior high cafeteria
• September 6: 3rd grade - elementary library, 4th grade - junior high library, 5th grade - junior high cafeteria
• September 7: Kindergarten - elementary library, 1st grade - junior high library, 2nd grade - junior high cafeteria

iReady Testing
iReady testing for grades 2-8 begins Wednesday. Students must have working headphones and a fully charged device for the tests. Please encourage your child(ren) to do their best on these assessments. For more information, please review the presentation.

OGS E-learning Plan

Section 10-20.56 of the School Code [105 ILCS 5/10-20.56]  allows local school districts to utilize "e-learning days", where needed, in lieu of emergency days (ex. "snow day"). To participate in this opportunity, OGS must renew our state application to conduct an e-learning program that is in alignment with expectations stipulated by the Illinois State Board Education. 

If our application is renewed again for this year, then in the event of an emergency, we will be able to choose to:
A - Use an e-learning day and keep the intended last day of school, or
B - Use an emergency day and add an academic day at the end of the school year to make up for the lost instructional minutes. Below is the link to the Oak Grove Proposed E-Learning Plan.

OGS is required to give notice to our parent community regarding this plan and you are welcome to share any input you may have with Leslie Weber, prior to September 13. The e-learning plan will go before the Board of Education at the Sept. 19 Board meeting and a hearing will be held on that same evening for any further input from parents. We will also post this information on our school website.

Click Here To Download our e-learning plan draft, and feel free to offer your input to Leslie Weber (weber@ogschool.org). Thank you!

PTO News

First PTO Meeting on Thursday
The first PTO meeting of the year will be this Thursday, September 7 at 9:30 am in the JH Library and on Zoom. For information about this meeting please see the agenda and minutes from our last meeting. If you would like to cast a proxy vote for the Special Fund Request, please complete this form and email it to the PTO Secretary. An email with all meeting information and a Zoom link for remote attendance will be shared if you prefer to attend remotely. We hope to see you there!

Culver's Share Night Fundraiser
Mark your calendar and adjust your grocery list! The PTO is partnering with the Libertyville Culver's to support OGS and to help make your mid-week dinner a breeze! Join us on Wednesday, September 20 between 5-8 pm at 803 E. Park Ave. We want to share a special thank you to the Honor Society for volunteering to support this event! Look for OGS students in the dining room and delivering food in the drive-thru! For any questions on this fundraiser, please contact Erin Liebgott.

Volunteers Needed for K-4 Room Parents & 5-8 Grade Level Volunteers
If you are interested in volunteering with the PTO as a Room Parent or Party Volunteer (grades K-4) or as Grade Level Coordinator/Volunteer (grades 5-8), please see the fliers in the virtual backpack.  For K-4, sign up here and contact Beth Zender or Catie Gelbman with any questions. For 5-8, sign up here and contact Laura Reutzel or Julie Kovach with questions.

Spirit Wear Sale is OPEN!
The OGS spirit wear shop is open for orders through September 6. Items ordered through September 6 will be delivered to OGS in mid-September. We are working with a new vendor who will keep the shop open year round so you will have the opportunity to order additional items later in the year as well. If you have any ideas for spirit wear items, please contact chairs Courtney Johnston and Christine Malkin.

Culvers & Domino’s Lunch Volunteers Needed
Culvers and Domino’s days are the most popular lunch ordering days. In order to help lunch as expeditiously as possible, please consider signing up!

• Elementary Lunch Room volunteer sign-up (K-3)
• Jr. High Lunch Room volunteer sign-up (4-8)

New Family Welcome - Help Needed
The PTO likes to welcome new families to Oak Grove by pairing them with a neighbor. We are currently looking for a Lake Bluff family member to help welcome our new students in this neighborhood.  Please contact Joni Kane if you are interested.   kane@ogschool.org

Battle of the Books

It is time to start the 2023-2024 4th-8th Grade Battle of the Books Competition! The permission form is due by Friday, September 8. Contact Mrs. Osterman in the JH library with any questions. See the Virtual Backpack for more details.

Oak Grove School District 68 Device Insurance

This year, Oak Grove is piloting a partnership with an insurance provider to minimize families’ risks for device repair costs.
For more information and to sign up, please visit https://www.ogschool.org/staff/technology/device-insurance. The enrollment deadline is September 24, 2023.

Virtual Backpack

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our virtual backpack. Flyers are updated weekly, so please check back often so you won't miss any of the events going on in our community.

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