Oak Grove News

Message from the Principal

What a Week!
Thank you to those of you who were able to attend our curriculum nights last week. If you were unable to attend, each grade level has shared their slide decks via email and HERE is the admin presentation that was presented each night. Also, thank you to those of you that were able to provide feedback regarding curriculum night. If you were unable to share feedback at this time, please click HERE. Your feedback is extremely beneficial for future planning and helps ensure that we are providing you with the information that you need. The Google form will remain open until Friday, September 15. Finally, a huge shout out to Mrs. Edelson and the Oak Grove Honor Society for providing childcare each night!

Erin’s Law
Erin’s Law is a requirement for all public schools in Illinois. Erin’s law is a child sexual abuse prevention program which teaches:

• Students in grades pre-K through 8th grade age-appropriate techniques to recognize child sexual abuse and how to tell a trusted adult
• All school personnel about child sexual abuse
• All families about the warning signs of child sexual abuse, information to support sexually abused children, and where to find support

Please click HERE to learn more about the instruction of our students regarding Erin’s Law.

Social Media
Over the weekend, administration became aware of the inappropriate use of TikTok by Oak Grove students. This anonymous account posted several inappropriate items. Even if not posted at school, these posts can cause a significant and negative impact on the learning environment.  Even if not posting, it is inappropriate for students to like, comment, or follow these fake accounts.

We want students to know they can trust the adults at Oak Grove to respond appropriately to these situations. It is also important that families emphasize the importance of safe social media usage and do not allow students to have anonymous accounts. Together as a school and a community, we need to have conversations with our students so that we can prevent these situations in the future. Thank you all for your support, continued conversations at home, and willingness to work together.

Safety
Fire Drill - We had our first fire drill of the 23/24 school year on Wednesday, September 6. All students did a wonderful job exiting the building in a timely and quiet manner. I was extremely impressed by their efforts and our local Fire Department Lieutenant provided us with praise!

ALICE (Active Intruder) Reminder - Please take a few minutes to review the 23/24 school year ALICE family letter for more information. 

Indoor Recess & Devices
There is no device usage during indoor recess. In case of inclement weather and students are supervised indoors, phones are not permitted to be used during this time. However, cell phones are permitted during outside morning arrival but must be turned off and placed in students’ lockers upon entering the building before 8:20 am.

Rotations Curriculum Update
What is happening in all our amazing rotations classes? See the September newsletter HERE to find out what each class and grade is working on in Fine Arts, STEM, Spanish and Library.

Oak Grove Clubs
Interested in signing up for a club this year?  Find more information and sign-ups for all of our clubs HERE. Please be sure to review and sign up as soon as possible as many of these clubs fill up quickly. 

Beginning Band Night
Who: 5th Grade ONLY
When: Wednesday, September 13, 2023 
Where: OGS Junior High Cafeteria and virtually (link to be sent out ahead of time)
Time: 6:30 pm

What to expect: Information about the OGS band program, Beginning Band schedule and what the commitment looks like, instrument rental information, live Q/A with the directors and more.

If your child is interested in signing up for band class or even if they are on the fence about joining, you should attend our meeting. There is no commitment necessary, but you will get all the information to help you and your child make an informed decision. When attending in-person, we would greatly appreciate it if students and small children remained at home. In an effort to start collecting a head count for who will be joining us (for band and the meeting) please complete THIS form. 

Symphonic Band: Due to the 7th grade Camp Duncan trip, on Tuesday, September 12, morning Symphonic Band rehearsal is cancelled and will be optional work/help for students working to audition for ILMEA. We will resume our regular rehearsal schedule on Wednesday, September 13 at 7:30 am sharp.

Concert Band/Jazz Band: There will be no changes to the Concert Band rehearsal schedule this week.

Important Dates
9/13/23 - Beginning Band Night (5th Grade Only) 6:30 pm
9/14/23 - Candor Virtual Parent Night 7:00 - 8:00 pm
9/19/23 - Board of Education Meeting; COW 6:00 pm, E-learning hearing 7:15 pm, and Regular Meeting 7:18 pm in the JH Cafe
9/20/23 - Tentative Active Intruder Drill (see above)
9/21/23 - Erin’s Law Grades 6:00 - 8:00 pm (see above)
10/3/23 - Talk Tuesday presented by the Teaching & Learning Department from 6:00 - 7:30 pm

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. 

iReady Testing
iReady testing for grades K & 1 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.

If any students in grades 2-8 were absent for testing last week, students will have time to complete the tests this week.

iReady reports will be sent home to families via email the week of September 18.

PTO News

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.

Last Call for 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.

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!

 

Superintendent Chat

Don't forget the first Superintendent Chat of the school year is this Wednesday, September 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.

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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