Oak Grove News

As part of our commitment to positive, effective and efficient communication, Oak Grove School will be implementing new social media efforts on both Facebook and Twitter. To ensure we reach you where it’s most convenient, we highly recommend creating a Facebook and/or Twitter account that you may use to follow our pages.

To find us on Facebook, simply search Oak Grove School and choose the option that lists our Libertyville address (there is another Oak Grove 68 downstate-and yes, they too are the Eagles!) On Twitter, our username is OakGrovePride. We will begin using both to provide up-to-date information and foster two-way communication between parents, guardians, and the school.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email Julie Waehner, Student Services Director. Her e-mail address is waehner@ogschool.org. Thank you so much for your help in making Oak Grove a collaborative and fun school environment. We are excited for what 2016 has in store!

The Board of Education commissioned an Action Team to review all district communications. One of the goals was to review the Oak Grove “brand” and “logo.” As many of you know, we have multiple variations of the Oak Grove Eagle on our clothing, our gym floors, our stationery, etc. Some we hear even scare our little ones!

To that end, we have been working with BeeLine Communications for the past several months reviewing what we use. We elected to keep “Where Students Come First” as our motto, but have decided to modernize our logo. In both cases, we looked at many options before making the decision.

It is our goal to finally “standardize” our Eagle logo.

We believe the new logo reflects our environment of learning and innovation. Oak Grove has grown and evolved over the past 150 years. The new logo retains the core elements of the old, including the color blue, the O and the G, and as I stated earlier, the tagline, “Where Students Come First.” Our beloved Eagle is now positioned in forward motion, representing our dedication to preparing our students for bright futures ahead.

We hope you like our new logo. We are making the transition to it in all of our communications and will begin using it as we move forward. The new logo looks like this:

Hello Oak Grove Community,

In January, we observed Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and in February we will observe President’s Day, the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Students at OGS have access to digital resources to learn more about these important historical figures.

BrainPop and BrainPop Jr. are available to Oak Grove students to access videos, quizzes, games, and more about educational concepts and themes. This site, designed by a doctor, explains complex concepts through age appropriate activities. The site has a desktop and mobile version and the app is on K-5 student iPads. While much of the content on the site and through the app is free, students at Oak Grove have subscription to access ALL of the material on the site and it is not limited to historical figures. Subjects across all curriculum areas are available for student exploration. Check it out!

Oak Grove School is in the process of determining kindergarten enrollment for the fall of 2016. If you have a student who will be attending kindergarten in the fall, you can click the "Kindergarten 16-17" link from the main Oak Grove web site, or simply go to www.ogschool.org/kindy to pre-register your child.

If you have neighbors who do not have children at Oak Grove and do not receive the Oak Grove News, please share this information with them. We would also like to hear from you if you have a child that will be attending 1st grade at Oak Grove next year and is not currently attending kindergarten at Oak Grove this year.

Save the Dates

• Wednesday, February 10th @ 6:30PM
  
• Kindergarten Parent Information Night, Elementary Library
  

Calling all multi-linguals! The World Language department is in search of a parent or community member who is bilingual and would be willing to speak to our students. This presentation would be in honor of National Foreign Languages Week which is March 7-13th. Please contact Krista Demma at demma@ogschool.org if you are interested. ¡Gracias!

The Oak Grove Honor Society just wrapped up 2 fundraisers. The Junior High students raised over $700 for Orphans of the Storm, an animal shelter. The elementary students raised $375 for the Red Cross. Thank you to our generous students and families!

The Purple Comet! Math Meet is an on-line, international, team mathematics competition designed for middle and high school students conducted annually since 2003. Oak Grove has signed up as a small middle school and will be competing against other teams from small middle schools. The contest is conducted via Internet web form. Middle school teams are given 60 minutes to work on 20 mathematics problems with non-negative integer solutions. Teams may submit solutions to problems until their clocks run out. Mrs. Oesch will be the adult supervisor for each team and will be present during the competition. Each team may have up to six (multi-grade level) members.

The contest runs Tuesday, April 12, through Thursday, April 21, 2016.

(Teams will meet after school at Oak Grove on ONE contest day within the above date range.)

If interested, please contact Mrs. Oesch before March 28th.

Firefighter Jeff from the Libertyville Fire Department has spent time this year at Oak Grove teaching our K-4 students about fire and motor vehicle safety during their PE class. This is part of the Risk Watch program which is an injury prevention program for children designed to create safer homes and communities by teaching them skills and knowledge to make positive choices about their personal safety.

Think First & Stay Safe Parent Guide

Please check your YOUNGEST CHILD’S backpack for the Think First and Stay Safe Guide that was sent home today. During the past few weeks we have been sharing these lessons with you via ClassDojo. “Children are our most precious national treasure, and we all want to do our part to ensure they grow up healthy, happy and safe.” ~ Child Lures @LTD. The parent guide will assist you in discussing safety with your child.

For specifics on your child’s lessons, please be sure to read the Class Story posted each week. I apologize for the multiple emails you receive for the one post. I have contacted Dojo and let them know that their system sends out an email for every photo. I am hoping that they can change their notification system. Please let me know if you have trouble logging into Class Dojo. I try my best to make sure I send you a photograph of your child along with the story. You can use these photos to begin a conversation with your child about what is taking place in class! Please go to www.classdojo.com each week for your updates!

Thank you and enjoy your week! Keep Smiling!

Susie Kiefer

Social Emotional Learning Teacher Kindergarten-Fifth Grade

Dear Parents,

Illinois State Code Health Law, Section 27-8.1 requires a dental exam by a licensed dentist for all Kindergarten, 2nd and 6th grade students. If you have not already done

so, please provide the school with a completed dental form or a waiver no later than May 15, 2016. The dental exam must be dated after November 15, 2014. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact your school nurses.

Thank you!

Callie Johnson and Judy Klosterman

Spring Session to begin 2/24/2016

The game of chess is both magical and fun. We will provide instruction, chess puzzles, game playing and more. A professional team of United States Chess Federation certified instructors from Chess-Ed will provide this exciting program. The class will be held on Wednesday afternoons 3:30-4:30. We are beginning the Spring Chess Enrichment Session on February 24th. Instruction will include the basics for the beginning player and then move through opening game theory, middle game combinations and ideas, plus endgame patterns for the continuing and advanced player. Beginners are always welcome. This is a parent paid fee-based program. Register today at: www.ogchess.eventbee.com

Important Dates to Remember

• 2/24 - Informational mtg. during lunches
  
• 3/7 - Emcee Tryouts
  
• 3/14 & 3/15 - Variety Show Tryouts
  
• 4/29 - Variety Show (new: Friday show)
  

February 8, 2016

A Message from PTO Co-Presidents Lisa Perrone and Mia Hughes:

Lunches this Week
Monday - Jersey Mike's
Tuesday - Panera
Wednesday - Pasta
Thursday - Culver's

Fannie May Candy Sales

The Oak Grove PTO Spring Fannie May Candy Fundraiser is going on again this year. Order forms are due no later than February 19th. Return the white and yellow copies of the order form with your payment. All orders will be shipped directly to your home (via UPS) the week of March 14th. Fannie May will be giving away FREE CANDY to those with the highest sales.

Please contact Cristina Buelow at 847-367-7998 or Carlene Lichter at 847-816-3925 with any questions.

Box Tops
Our second collection of the year will be this Friday, February 12th. Please turn in your Box Tops this week so we can see who's in the lead for the K-5 classroom contest! Though not eligible for the contest, Junior High students, faculty and staff can still support our school by dropping off Box Tops in the Junior High office. Keep clipping! You can make a difference a dime at a time!

Ice Cream Socials
Ice Cream Socials are starting soon!! The ice cream socials coincide with the school open houses for Kindergarten through 4th Grade. This year the event will be complimentary courtesy of the PTO. We will have two frozen treats to choose from. The dates are as follows in the elementary cafeteria:

• 3rd Grade: Wednesday, February 17th
  
• K & 2nd Grade: Thursday, March 17th
  
• 1st Grade: Thursday, April 7th
  
• 4th Grade: Thursday April 28
  

2nd & 3rd Grade Social - Save the date
The social will be on Friday, April 15th from 2-4 at Just for Fun Roller Rink in Mundelein. More details will follow at a later date.

K-1 Social - Save the date
The Kindergarten & 1st grade social will take place on Friday, May 20 from12:45-3pm at the Libertyville Sports Complex. More details will follow at a later date.

Variety Show
Save the dates:

• Informational meeting during lunch - Wednesday, February 24
  
• Tryouts after school - Monday, March 14th & Tuesday, March 15
• Variety Show - 4pm & 7pm Friday, April 29

The show is open to all 5th-8th graders.

The Grove Gala 2016
We only have about 50 tickets remaining, so secure yours today!
www.ogsef.org/gala-2016.html

Our biennial Spring Gala will take place on February 27th, 2016 at Independence Grove. The Gala is OGSEF’s biggest fundraising initiative and we need the support of our community, parents, faculty and students to make it a great success. In addition, this year we have a spotlight project we are funding: The Oak Grove Green Screen Room, which offers our students a unique opportunity to intersect creativity, technology, science, math and communications.

The Gala features food, open bar, entertainment by CoverGurl, and more. The Silent Auction features priceless classroom projects, amazing Teacher-led experiences and plenty of fun items including sports outings, sky diving, golf, pampering, great food and much more! This is an event you will not want to miss!

FAQ: There is no formal dress code for the Gala

To purchase tickets or commit to one of our Sponsorship Packages, please visit http://www.ogsef.org/gala-2016.html and click the "Buy Gala Tickets Now" tab at the bottom of the page or visit our event campaign page.

Thank you for your support!

The Oak Grove School Education Foundation
www.ogsef.org

The Oak Grove Eagles competed in the 42nd Annual Deer Path Wrestling Invitational on January 30th. With only 10 wrestlers, out of 19 available classes, the Oak Grove Eagles placed 10th in the tournament. The Eagles beat out 5 full squad teams. Oak Grove had four wrestlers place in the tournament. Caelen Riley placed 2nd @ 70lbs, Ian Riley placed 2nd @ 100lbs, Gavin Brown placed 5th @ 90lbs and Diego Norena placed 6th @ 95lbs. The Oak Grove Eagles return home on February 10th versus Palombi.

In a tough match up versus Hawthorn North last Tuesday, Caelen Riley defeated his opponent 10-3 to improve to 7-1 on the season. Gavin Brown added another victory by pin, improving his record to 10-1. Ian Riley wrestled smart and tough to take the 1st takedown in overtime to improve his record to 9-4 on the season.

Jack Nevins ended the night with a great 1st period pin versus Hawthorn North, improving his exhibition record to 3-1. The Oak Grove Eagles will be at home on Wednesday at 4 PM. Our 8th grade wrestler, Ian Riley, will also be celebrated on Wednesday for 8th Grade Appreciation Night. Come on out to support your Eagles as they make the final push before the State Series!

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our Virtual Backpack.

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