Oak Grove News

Message from the Principal

What a Week!
Our middle school was busy last week. Our 7th grade spent an entire day at Camp Duncan and our 8th grade spent time at Lamb’s Farm. Each of these events offered our students opportunities to build important leadership skills, develop positive relationships, and have fun! Thank you to all of you that supported and/or coordinated these events for our students.
   

Safety Reminders- PLEASE HELP
It has been brought to our attention that cars are not stopping or coming to a complete stop at stop signs.  Please help us keep everyone safe by always coming to a complete stop at all stop signs in and around the school area.  

In addition, I received several reports from community members regarding potential Oak Grove students crossing St. Mary’s road. If this is applicable to your family, please be sure to remind your child/ren regarding the challenges in crossing St. Mary’s road. Specifically, the change in elevation, lack of visibility, and speed of traffic, as this is a challenging intersection. Thank you for your support. 

Mental Health Minute
The Mental Health team at Oak Grove, consisting of School Social Workers and School Psychologists will be providing you information on several social emotional topics throughout the 2023-24 school year. These topics are aligned with our monthly Soaring Eagles! themes. 

This month's topic is building relationships. Depending on your child’s age/grade there will be a greater level of independence which comes with each new school year. Family relationships are  still the most influential on your child, yet peer and teacher relationships are a close second! Helping your child build security and confidence in relationships is essential as your child makes  new friendships and establishes new connections with the adults in the school setting.

Tips on relationship building skills can be found on these websites:
Ages 5-8
Ages 9-14

Erin’s law reminder w/Zacharias Center (Z-Center)
Beginning September 21, our 6th, 7th and 8th grade students will be receiving instruction focused on the requirements of Erin’s Law. HERE is the presentation for 8th grade and HERE is the presentation for 6th grade as provided by the Zacharias Center. Our students in K-5th grade will also be receiving instruction beginning on the week of October 23.

For those of you that may not be familiar with Erin’s Law, the law requires all public schools in Illinois to implement a prevention child sexual abuse 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

More detailed information was sent to 6-8 families from assistant principal Joe O’Malley.  Please reach out to Mr. O'Malley if you have any questions about how Erin’s Law is being implemented or do not want your child(ren) to participate.

Helping Hands
Financial assistance is available through the Oak Grove PTO's Helping Hands program. Each year the PTO raises money to support this program and funds are directed towards Oak Grove students experiencing financial hardships. If you are in need of assistance, please complete this FORM so Helping Hands knows how to best meet your needs or email helpinghands@ogschool.org. Although the PTO funds and helps coordinate the logistics of the Helping Hands program with Oak Grove staff, no identifying information of the students or their families is ever revealed to PTO representatives. Requests are treated as confidential by OGS administration and staff.

Reminder
We have an 11:30 early release on September 21. Dismissal begins at 11:30 for all students.

Important Dates
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.  Please click here to stream the meetings.
9/20/23 - Tentative Active Intruder Drill
9/21/23 - Early Release 11:30 am (School Improvement Day)
9/21/23 - Erin’s Law Grades 6 - 8 (see above)
10/3/23 - Talk Tuesday presented by the Teaching & Learning Department from 6:00 - 7:30 pm
10/6/23 - Teacher Institute Day (No Student Attendance)
10/9/23 - Legal Holiday (No Student Attendance)

Beginning Band: The start of Beginning Band is this Thursday, September 21!  No instrument is necessary.
Symphonic Band: Wednesday Sept. 27- Our first performance at the LHS Marching Festival. Please check emails for all the details of this fun activity. This week and next, all hands on deck for rehearsals as we continue to fine-tune all the music. 
ILMEA Auditions: Students who intend to audition for the ILMEA district band can turn in their audition recordings to Mr. Jones now until Monday, October 2

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. During our first session, we will share information updating families about our K-8 literacy instruction and pilot, current Illinois State Board of Education curricular mandated units of study as well as assessment. 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. 

Spring 2023 IAR Test Results
In April of 2023, students in grades 3-8 took the Illinois Assessment for Readiness (IAR) in the areas of math and reading. The results of this assessment were recently distributed to school and they will be mailed to families in the next two weeks. Each assessment will have a letter containing information about the assessment and student results. Please feel free to reach out to Leslie Weber, weber@ogschool.org, if you have any questions.  

TAG (Talented and Gifted) Committee/TAG Advisory Committee
The TAG committee is looking to add new parent members for the 2023-24 school year. The goal of this committee is to gather feedback from parents, teachers and administrators in regards to current TAG services, identify the goal and outcomes of TAG services and ensure that we are meeting the needs of our students. This committee is open to all parents, regardless if you have a student currently in TAG. 

We are also looking for a parent representative for our TAG Advisory Council. The Advisory Committee consists of parent and teacher representatives that review TAG placement appeals. If you would like to participate on the TAG committee or be a part of the TAG Advisory Council, please contact Leslie Weber, Assistant Superintendent of Learning and Teaching, at weber@ogschool.org. 

iReady Diagnostic Reports
iReady reports will be sent home via email on Friday, September 22. Please reach out to your child's teacher if you do not receive a report for both reading and math.

SEL Update
This week in SEL, K-5 students focused on listening and paying attention. Our strategies to help us focus and ignore distractions included self-talk and mindfulness with a focus on the five senses. Grades 6-8 are launching their SEL program, Habitudes, this week. The teachers will share specific information about the topics covered with families in the coming weeks. Find out more about SEL on our webpage.

PTO News

THIS Wednesday - Culver's Share Night
Be sure to join us this Wednesday at the Libertyville Culver's to support OGS and to help make your mid-week dinner a breeze! You can choose to eat-in or take your food to-go anytime 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.

Committee Leadership Needed
We are in desperate need of volunteers to step up and help lead committees for the PTO so we do not have to cancel events or reduce programming. If you are interested in any of the following, please contact the PTO Co-Presidents and we will share additional information about job responsibilities.

• Elementary Book Fair Co-Chair - Immediate need to fill this role! The book fair is scheduled for November 13-16.
• K-4 Co-chair for New Clubs & Activities Committee - Join the 5-8 Co-chair in identifying opportunities for the PTO to support K-4 clubs and activities at OGS.
• Winter Market Vendor Coordinator - Do you have an "in" with makers & sellers in the area who'd like to have a booth at the Winter Market or do you love to shop local? This job is for you! Winter Market is tentatively scheduled for Dec. 2 or 3.

Next PTO Meeting: October 4, 2023 @ 6:30 pm in the PD Room

Deadline to sign-up is this Sunday!

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.

 

Follow us on Social Media!