Cell Phones In Parking Lot
Please be reminded that state law prohibits cell phone use on school property in a motor vehicle. We continue to see many drivers using cell phones during morning drop-off and afternoon pickup. As you know traffic is heavy at these times and there are many students in our lots. Please help us keep our students as safe as possible by not using your cellphone in the parking lots, or use them in handset mode. Thank you.
Morning Traffic
We are starting to see an increased number of students being tardy to school in the morning. Most arriving late are being dropped off by guardians driving them to school. Car traffic is very heavy, coupled with nearly 100 more students this year than last, exacerbating the situation. If you are eligible for bus service, please consider using it. If you must drop your students off in the morning, please remain in your car and allow our staff to assist the students getting out of your vehicle. This will help us “move the line” more efficiently. Thank you.
Give the Gift of Reading
School Library Journal has just released their "Best of 2017" list at http://slj.com/bestof2017/index.php and The Center For Children's Books has released their annual list of "Gift Books for 2017" at http://bccb.ischool.illinois.edu/files/2017/11/GBGB20172.pdf
Most book stores have bibliophiles who can also offer great recommendations.
Happy Holidays!
Curriculum Corner
Hello Oak Grove Community,
Looking for a new way to have conversations about number sense with your child? Here’s a great website, hosted by Pierre Tranche, that provides pictures to inspire fun math chats. By asking questions related to these pictures, you’ll be having your child practice subitizing (recognizing smaller groups within larger groups), unitizing (treating multiple objects as one object), and efficiency with number facts.
Looking at the raspberry picture below, let’s try one together:
How many raspberries?
How did you see them?
Did you see the raspberries organized from left to right as 4-3-4?
Did you see the groups horizontally or vertically?
What about groups of 2 dots - 1 dot from top to bottom?
Or 3 groups of 3 and a pair of 2?
Another way?
Here are some suggestions provided by the website when trying these conversations at home:
Choose an image that is accessible for your child
Give your child lots of time to think
Listen to their ideas - it’s not a formal teaching opportunity, it’s a chance to ask questions about their thinking
Mistakes are great - keep the conversation welcoming and casual so they continue to enjoy the chat and want to keep trying
Keep it short - no more than 15 minutes are needed to keep it fun and less like a required task
Another neat idea would be to find your own pictures to use. Take a quick picture of your family shoe pile or a stack of couch pillows. The more involved your child is in the process, the more they’ll enjoy the conversation. Happy chatting!
Student Council News
SAVE THE DATE!!!
6th-8th Grade Dance
Friday, December 15
- Right after school in the Junior High cafeteria and Junior High gym- 3:30-5:00
- Music and dancing provided by DJ Fresh Oesch
- Raffles, pizza, concessions, and open gym
Entrance fee: A new, unwrapped toy for a boy or girl, ages 0-12 or a $10 donation to Toys for Tots
PTO News
Volunteers Needed!
Volunteers are needed Tuesday, December 19th from 7:30-8:20 am so the staff can enjoy their holiday breakfast. We need two people to cover each office, starting at 7:30 am and we need 10 playground supervisors (5 at each end) starting at 7:40 am and ending at 8:15 am. Contact Liz Howard if you are able to help. howard_liz@hotmail.com
Save the Date
Oak Grove School PTO is hosting a fundraiser at Potbelly’s in Lake Bluff (945 Rockland Road near Target) on Wednesday, December 13th from 5-8 pm. Potbelly’s Lake Bluff will be donating 25% of all sales to the Oak Grove PTO. Please see the flyer in the Virtual Backpack. Hope to see you all there!
Holiday Halls
The OGS halls were bustling this past Saturday for our 6th annual Holiday Halls, formerly called the Eagle Extravaganza. Thank you Mrs. McCarty and our entire 3rd grade for your beautiful artwork that decorated our entrance to Holidays Halls! What talented children we have!
Candy Cane Lane has never looked better! Shannon Bilcox transformed our gym into a shopping wonderland yet again. It was so fun to see the children dressed in their holiday best, shopping with their personal shopper elves. A big shout out to Ashley Evans for organizing her student council to be elves this year! Thank you to all the other elves who joined in on the fun! They were wonderful and made the event. Also, to all the crafty amazing mama’s for making homemade ornaments for Candy Cane Lane: Beth Zender, Elizabeth O’Neill, Dana Huennekens, Kathy Bailor, Kate Byers, Laura Reutzel, Raabia Mohammed, and the Lyon Family. Also, thank you to Katrina Treutelaar for your help in purchasing all the gifts for Candy Cane Lane.
Libby Caitlina & her amazing chefs treated our Oak Grove families to the best pancake breakfast ever! You could smell bacon all the way down the holiday halls. Its true, we actually fried bacon this year…yummy! (if you eat meat.) The table settings were gorgeous & I do believe we ate the kitchen dry! Great job, Libby & her team.
Tracey Shulze & her incredibly talented vendors drew crowds down & around the junior high halls with new & repeat vendors, better than ever before! Thank you Tracey, for all you do for your nieces!
None of this would have been as festive without Mr. Farris & our amazing OGS Choir. They graced every inch of Holiday Halls with the most beautiful music ever! The talent really does run deep @ OGS!
Thank you to all those who made this happen. It was an all-in effort & it showed. A special thank you to the following volunteers who we couldn’t have done it without.
It takes a village & this is ours…
Thank you to: Shellie Fahey, Maria Roberts, Nancy Fink, Monica Poonia, Stacy Cerwin, Sheli Naqvi, Laura Espinoza, Ramanan Shangari, Eve Wallin, Jennifer and Brian Tippett, Jessica Reed, Nikita Sinder, Melissa Moynier, Tara Southwell, Joanna and Mark Wimmer, Christina Gomez Anez, Matt Cathlina, Shagoon and Elena Punia, Shane Wimmer, Gretchen Wimmer, Christian Roberts, Maryah Karim, Brodie Kaufman, Sophie Verkoulen, Andrew Brooks, Dylan McCarty, Nikhil Patel, Colin Tippett, Gianna Cathlina, Celia Catalina, Kathryn Kasten, Sophie Barnas, Kathy Bailor, Kate Byers, Susan Kurland, Christine Merrild, Ashley Wilson, Beth Zender, Dana Huennekens, Patrice Drometer, Melody Lyon, Martin, Stacy Hornaday, Nakita Sindermann, Diana Servatius, Melissa Sallmann, Elizabeth O'Neill, Jamie Evans, Melissa Thoune, Sarah Roe, Nancy Johnson, and Amy Fiore. Anyone else we may have missed - Thank you!
PTO Checks
If you have a check written from the PTO dated prior to 10/1/17, please contact Ashley Wilson to have it re-issued. We have opened a new bank account and these checks are no longer valid.
PTO meeting this Wednesday, December 6th at 9am in the teacher's lounge. All are welcome!
Oak Grove Wrestling News
SAVE THE DATE! Thursday 12/7 @ 4:30pm in the Jr. High Gym
The 2018 IESA Wrestling Season has begun! Come see your Oak Grove Wrestling Eagles compete in the "Battle of the Eagles" this Thursday in the Junior High gym. The Oak Grove Wrestling Eagles intersquad scrimmage will also have performances by the Oak Grove Cheer & Poms teams. Concessions provided by our Oak Grove Student Council and Oak Grove Winter hats will be on sale to support the wrestling program. Perfect for the holiday season! We hope to see everyone there.
Go Eagles!!!
Geography Bee Reminder
Just a reminder our Geography Bee will be held on January 17th at 6:00 pm in the Junior High Learning Center.
Visit Mr. Henneberry’s website for registration and preparation activities.
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
