Dental Exams
A dental examination is required by the state of Illinois for all students in Kindergarten, 2nd, and 6th grade, and must be submitted by May 15th, 2019. The examination must have taken place within the 18 months prior to this date. Failure to submit a dental exam may result in registration freeze for the following year. Please submit exam as soon as possible, or contact the school nurses with any questions.
8th Grade Graduation Dance Meeting
Planning for the 8th grade graduation dance will begin soon. Please plan to attend the first meeting on Wednesday, January 30, at 9:15 am in the Junior High cafeteria.
Please note-
The 2019 Graduation Dance will be at Oak Grove School on Friday, May 24, 2019
Please call Kathy Azzato at ext. 2029 or email azzato@ogschool.org if you plan to attend the meeting.
Spelling Bee
Oak Grove School Education Foundation
Oak Grove Rocks ROCKED!
Thank you to everyone that came out to Oak Grove Rocks Post Time last Friday to support the Oak Grove School Education Foundation. Also, a special thank you to our bands – The Bradburys, OTR and HenneBerry – for volunteering their time and putting on an EXCELLENT show. We even had a very special guest appearance by 8th grader Graham Goodman, who joined his dad’s band, The Bradburys, on-stage. Talent runs deep in the Oak Grove community!!
Thank you to the OGS Parents & Staff that Rocked on Stage:
The Bradburys
John Goodman, drummer of the Bradburys, sits on the OGSEF Board. His wife, Julie, formerly president of PTO, is an active member at OGS as well. They have an 8th grade student at Oak Grove and senior at LHS - both with promising musical futures ahead, just like Dad!
OTR
Darrin Fahy is the rhythm guitarist of OTR. His wife, Shellie, is part of the OGSEF board and chairs assemblies and the holiday market for PTO. They have a 4th grader at Oak Grove and sophomore at LHS.
Phillip Chung is lead guitarist for OTR. He and his wife, June, have a 5th grader at Oak Grove.
Jerry Stuteville joined OTR on keyboards. Jerry, and his wife Kirsten, have a Sophomore at LHS and an 8th grader at Oak Grove.
HenneBerry
Dan Henneberry needs no introduction. Mr. Henneberry is an OGS favorite! He teaches 6th grade & coaches at LHS. He entertains in & outside the classroom.
It was a fun night and all monies raised will be used to fund innovative curriculum enhancements and programs at Oak Grove School. Thanks again to our amazing community.
PTO
OGS CALENDARS
We still have a few calendars left. Contact Leah Parr at dlparr82@gmail.com to buy your’s for only $10.
STUCK ON YOU LABEL FUNDRAISER
Is your student missing a glove or water bottle? Try Stuck on You labels and make it easier to get it returned! For every purchase you make, Oak Grove PTO receives a portion of the sale. Please check out the link for more information. https://www.stuckonyou.us/affiliate/fundraiser/OAKGROVEPTO Our fundraising code is: OAKGROVEPTO
K-1 SOCIAL
Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped at the K-1 Social last Wednesday. The afternoon was a success! The kindergarten & first grade students had lots of fun playing soccer, hockey, Gaga ball, basketball, & various relay races. The climbing wall was definitely a favorite!
Thank you again to all of the OGS parent volunteers and the staff at Libertyville Sports Complex. We couldn’t have done it without your help!
PETER DANKELSON ASSEMBLY
Thank you to Julie Kovach for organizing last week's PTO sponsored assembly. Peter Dankelson, of “Pete’s Diary”, came to Oak Grove to share his story during a series of grade K-8 assemblies - reminding our students the importance of embracing differences and practicing empathy daily.
Peter is an 18-year old music-loving humorist who uses his facial difference to show others that being different is cool. Currently a senior at LHS, Peter was born with several birth defects resulting in a diagnosis of Goldenhar Syndrome. He’s had 30 surgeries to improve his vision, hearing, and ability to breathe, chew, and swallow. Since 2013, Peter has promoted #ChooseKIND at schools around the country and connected with 30,000 students. His motto is “Be comfortable with who you are so that others will be comfortable around you".
Everyone just wants to feel someone cares… Peter encouraged all of us to go beyond being friendly and be a friend by asking a classmate the simple question “How are you doing?” and then continue to check back later.
Kindness is Free!
Kindness is Contagious!
Kindness is Cool!
DADDY/DAUGHTER DANCE
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! We must have more volunteers or the event will be canceled. Please follow this link to sign up. http://signup.com/go/icMZFwL We especially need people to help with set up on Saturday and cleanup on Sunday.
Today is the last day to send in pictures for the slide show that is shown at the dance. Email a fun picture of your daughter and her dad/special guy to: daddydaughter2018@aol.com Deadline to purchase tickets is this Sunday the 27th. Don’t miss out on this special event! Follow this link to purchase tickets.
http://howardliz.wixsite.com/daddy-daughter-dance
ULTIMATE NINJAS - ULTIFIT ADULT PROGRAM
The kick-off to the 6-week “Push 4 Progress” is this week! Mention Oak Grove when you register for this $99 program and they will give 100% of the amount back to Oak Grove! Please see the details in the virtual backpack. If you have any questions, please contact Brian Redard, Co-Creator of UltiFit at brian@ultimateninjas.com.
MOTHER/SON DANCE
Don’t miss out on tickets for this event. The dance is Saturday, February 23rd 6:30-8:30. Buy your tickets now!
https://www.ogsef.org/pto-mother-son-dance.html
Also, we need all hands on deck to make this event a success! Please sign up to volunteer.
https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2626947/false#/invitation
5TH GRADE FATHER/SON NIGHT
Please join us for the annual Oak Grove 5th Grade Father/Son night on Wednesday, February 13th. This is a very special night for the 5th Grade boys and their dads; we hope everyone can attend. Pizza will be served at 6:00 with speaker beginning at 6:30. The Junior High gym is reserved for us after the speaker for open gym. Please RSVP as soon as possible to katrinatreutelaar@me.com
Curriculum Corner
Hello Oak Grove Community,
An article was just posted last week about the increased use of social media and the impact of anxiety and depression in teens. While both boys and girls have been impacted by these increasing statistics, girls are being impacted at a greater rate. As educators and parents, we can work together to help support positive self-images in our students and help them make good choices when it comes to their social media use. At school, we use Lightspeed as our educational filter to keep unwanted sites out of access and we also check to make sure our students log into sites that are COPPA compliant. COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) protects against handing out identifying information of a child under the age of 13 to other entities. It is the duty of that site to post that policy and terms of service and have them agreed to by a child over the age of 13 or by a parent if the child is under the age of 13. During our SEL classes, we discuss the staying safe online and encourage students to reach out to an adult if they are struggling with something.
The article also shared some suggestions for home:
Delaying the age kids get smartphones: They did share the importance of being able to communicate with your children and a phone supports that. But if possible, avoid having social media apps on the devices.
Reduce screen time: According to the article, the happiest students are exposed to screen time between 1-5 hours a week. They are happier than students who have no screen time and those with 20+ hours of screen time.
Use apps that help monitor screen time and social media use: There are several apps available to try, two for example are “Screen Time” by Apple or “Net Nanny”
Talk to your kids: Having a conversation is much better received than giving them a lecture. Consider asking them to help establish the expectations and limits for social media use.
To read the full article posted in Emerging Ed Tech, click here.
Geography Bee Reminder
Geography Bee is THIS Wednesday, January 23rd 6:00pm in the Junior High Learning Center. Contestants, remember to arrive by 5:30pm for check-in. All contestants must be accompanied by at least one adult. Looking forward to a great Bee!
Visit Mr. Henneberry’s website for preparation activities.
Science Club
We will meet in Mrs. Edelson's room this Friday, January 25, from 3:30-5:00. Students who attend will be taking the YBTCC Qualifying Exam. Binders were sent home last week with study materials. These resources are also available on the YBTCC website. If you did not get your binder or have any questions, please contact Mrs. Edelson or Mr. Mehnert. Please see the Virtual Backpack for more information.
TAG Update
Continuous improvement is a fundamental process at Oak Grove, and we never stop striving to provide the best learning opportunities for our students. As a part of that process, we assess and evaluate programs as new data becomes available. This past November, the Talented And Gifted (TAG) committee made up of parents, teachers, administrators and a high school student began the process of reviewing the definitions of gifted and talented; for example:
Giftedness refers to a student’s outstanding natural abilities or aptitudes, located in one or more domains: intellectual, creative, social, perceptual, or physical, placing that student in the top 10% of age peers. Talent is the outstanding performance or competency in one or more fields of human activity that places a student in the top 10% of age peers in that field (ACT Government Education and Training, 2017)
The committee continued its work by reviewing and evaluating the standardized and local data for our Talented And Gifted program, and considered minor modifications to the current identification process.
By comparing the local normative data to the national normative data for our students on the CogAT and STAR assessment, we were able to see that a large percentage of our overall population is very high achieving on these standardized assessments. For example: students who were in grade three last year and nationally identified in the 89th percentile on the Quantitative assessment of the CogAT, were in the 54th percentile locally. This means that just under half of our Oak Grove students in third grade last year are in the top 10th percentile in the nation.
This data shows that it is necessary to shift our current identification process to be more reflective of our local norms. One major consideration of the committee has been to shift towards utilizing localized data in order to identify the needs of our specific students for TAG placement.
The identification process will remain holistic (using multiple pieces of data to get a clear picture of each child’s abilities) and the appeal process will stay the same. This ensures all students continue to have the opportunity of TAG placement consideration. A draft of the committee’s recommendations will be presented to Board of Education at the January 29th, 2019. A draft of these matrices will be shared out in the Oak Grove News on February 4th pending discussion by the Board.
Virtual Backpack
Oak Grove School Board of Education
Click HERE to view Board Agenda and Minutes
Email: boe@ogschool.org
Website: www.ogschool.org
Location: 1700 S. O'Plaine Rd. Green Oaks, IL 60048
Phone: 847.367.4120
