Oak Grove News

19th Century author Victor Hugo observed: “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” And the passion for learning was on fire Tuesday, April 18, for the 4th-8th grade’s 2nd annual Battle of the Books.

The kindling for the contests was generously provided by the PTO and Foundation who provided funding for books and prizes. Starting late last fall, teams of four to six students who wanted to participate were charged with reading 20 books. The contest was to read, comprehend, and remember the books, and the team with the most winning answers to pointed questions about content would win. Each team competed against other teams in their grade, and then a 4th/5th champion and 6th/7th/8th champion would be crowned. For two weeks in early April, the teams, put in brackets like the NCAA, were whittled down from 39 to 8.

The Finals: On April 18th, the 5th grade championship was up first. Pandas came away with the title edging out Pink Panthers. In the 4th grade championship, the Giggles and Flashlight 5 battled and, after a nail-biting tie breaker, Flashlight 5 won. The match-up was set, and Pandas came away as the Bluestem Champions – winners of the 4th/5th final.

Sixth grade teams, Potato Head Books and Page Eaters took to the stage with Page Eaters winning the 6th grade championship. Next, 7th grade winner, Team 5 is Fine, was bested by 8th grade’s only team, Blazing Bookies, in the penultimate battle. The finale offered up Blazing Bookies vs. Page Eaters, with Blazing Bookies taking home the Caudill Championship – the middle school contest.

Hardware was awarded! Each competitor took away a gold or silver medal, and our champions also won an autographed copy of Hidden by Helen Frost. Demonstrating Oak Grove Eagle sportsmanship, our silver medalists graciously congratulated the gold medalists, as did the audience members consisting of classmates, teachers, and some parents. The Bluestem and Caudill Champions also received a gift certificate to the Scholastic BOGO Book Fair being held in the Elementary Library the week of April 25-28.

A good time was had by all! The heat is already building for next year’s furious, fuel-filled and page-turning BATTLE OF THE BOOKS III. See you there!

Oak Grove families,

Recently, a few of the 8th grade students designed shirts in honor of their dear friend, Alyssa Gillespie. With over 100 shirts ordered, we realize how special this idea is and would like to open up the ordering to the entire school (and anyone in the community that might be interested).

In addition to the long-sleeved shirts the 8th graders ordered, we are also adding a short-sleeved, thinner fabric option for summer - all in purple (Alyssa's favorite color).

The long-sleeved is roughly $15 and the short-sleeved is roughly $12.

The link below will allow you to order whatever size, style and quantity you would like and pay with either Visa, MC, American Express, Discover or PayPal - all online.

The site will close on May 8th. I will distribute the shirts at school on May 19th.

Please pass along to anyone you feel would be interested. If you have any questions, email me at brookebechtold@sbcglobal.net

Thank you!

Brooke Bechtold

http://www.customink.com/g/tfb0-00az-qn0y

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, 2017. The examination must have taken place within 18 months prior to this date. Please submit exam as soon as possible, or contact the school nurses with any questions.

Students, please take a moment to check the Lost and Found areas for any items that may belong to you. We have an abundance of winter outerwear, pants, shirts, shoes, lunch bags, etc. Anything not picked up by May 1st will be donated to the 8th graders collecting clothing for PADS. Lost and Found items can be found in both lunchrooms.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. Parents, please click here to view 15 tips that may help prevent sexual abuse and violence.

Parents, if you have not yet done so, please complete the form below, so that your child(ren) may participate in the PTO spring assembly. This form is due by Friday, May 5th.

Hot Ground Gym Waiver

The PTO will be bringing Hot Ground Gym to Oak Grove School on Tuesday, May 16th for the spring assembly. Hot Ground Gym will be creating obstacle course fitness sessions for each grade level during P.E. classes on Tuesday, May 16th. Students should be dressed in comfortable clothes to participate, with gym shoes. Students in grades 6-8, will not be changing into P.E. uniforms for the day, so students should dress appropriately to participate. This event will be outside, depending on the weather for May 16th.

Please, visit their website here for additional information.

If you would prefer your child not to participate, please contact Michelle Jackson at jackson@ogschool.org and students will participate in regular P.E. class on May 16th.

There's still time to join us, on May 4th, as we host a presentation and discussion with Dr. Michele Kane, Building Emotional Courage; Fostering Gratitude and Compassion. Don't forget to RSVP by Monday, May 1st. Please see the flyer in the Virtual Backpack for more information.

Are you ready for some after school fun this week? Grades six-eight, please join us for a dance and open gym this Friday (April 28) from 3:30 - 5:00 pm. Admission is $5 per person. Pizza, concessions, and raffles await you - along with tunes courtesy of DJ Oesch!

Save the Dates

The 6th and 7th grade social will be on Friday, May 19th from 12 - 1:30 pm at the Glacier Ice Arena. The address is 670 Lakeview Pkwy, in Vernon Hills. Pizza and drinks will be provided! The cost is free for your son or daughter, courtesy of the Oak Grove PTO. Any questions, feel free to contact Dana Huennekens at dlfranz@yahoo.com or by cell 847-867-8120. Please RSVP here.

The K-1 social is Friday, May 19th from 1 - 3 pm at Libertyville Sports Complex. Please contact Kirsten Willis at jkwillis@sbcglobal.net with any questions.

4th Grade Ice Cream Social

The 4th grade ice cream social is this Thursday, April 27th at 6:30 pm in the elementary cafeteria. Stop by during the open house for a complimentary frozen treat. It will promptly end at 7:30.

You Can Make A Difference

The PTO needs your help for the 2017-2018 year. We are looking for people to chair the following committees: Nominations, JR Book Fair, K-1 Social, 4-5 Social, and 6-7 Social. If you are interested in helping please contact Katrina Treutelaar at katrinatreutelaar@me.com.

Thank You

We had a great turn out for the 4th/5th grade social on April 13th at Rockin' Jump in Buffalo Grove. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to help at the event especially Susan Brooks, Jamie Hill, Julie Baker, Perry Tarica, and Missy Crovetti. Thank you to Liz Howard for organizing!

The 2nd -3rd grade social was a huge success. Thank you to Kristin Golumbeck, Sarah Roe, Dana Huennekens, and Laura Espinoza for all your help. Thank you also to Mrs. Saia for coming. Thank you to the parents for helping kids get their skates on. We had over 100 kids!

Thank you for coming to this year's Variety Show! We hope you enjoyed the incredible talent we have here at Oak Grove. The PTO would like to thank our directors: Susan Brooks, Mia Hughes, Kelli Kuypers, Heather McCarty, & Stacie Nevins. A special thanks goes to the backstage crew: Ryan Allen and Ian Jun. They worked tirelessly to help each act shine. Thanks to our Oak Grove custodial staff for their help throughout the month. Our emcees were incredible! Thank you Jane Arnold, Julia Hasler, Marc Michelotti, Jack Regan, & Olivia Sauers. Thank you to our script writers: Breana Jordan, Olivia Pittam, & Anna Zhang as well as to Gavin Brown & Jayson Rebmann for handing out programs.

The following parents were also critical to the show's success:

Susan Kurland-volunteer coordinator

Julie Block-Terson-decorations

Julie Goodman - dinner

Joanie Sauers -dinner

Jon Goodman-crew

Maria Roberts

Tricia Regan

Nicole Marselle

Julie Kloser

Jaclyn Urbanski

Jen Sahagian

Amy Sekili

Kathy Arnold

Kris Wilson

Kirsten Stuteville

Renee Tam

Becky Sims

Jennie Schlitt

Tiffani Baffico

Krista Sorensen

Reyanne Berner

Shellie Fahy

Jill Lex

Ashley Wilson

Christine Merrild

Nicole Marselle

Katrina Treutelaar

Lisa Mudd

Tricia Baczek

Amy Sekili

Nikki Krakowski

Jen Klainos

Anne Nostrand

Stacey Ramstedt

Midori Gromacki

Kevin Griffin

It is time for the annual Oak Grove Yearbook cover contest. All Oak Grove students are eligible. If you would like to design the cover for the 2016 – 2017 Yearbook, please turn in your entries to Mr. Huber's mailbox in the JH office on or before Monday, May 8, 2017.

For all the details, please visit https://www.smore.com/euw1c

There will be no early hours on Monday, May 1st due to the library being used for an 8th grade guest speaker.

Hello Oak Grove Community,

Parents with students in grades 3 and/or 5 received CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) results Wednesday, April 5th. One of the uses of the CogAT is to assist with students qualifying for Oak Grove’s TAG (Talented And Gifted) program.

Based on CogAT results, parents were notified if their child would complete additional assessments, a writing assessment and/or math problem solving assessment. These additional assessments took place on Monday, April 10th and/or Tuesday, April 11th. Completing additional assessments does not guarantee placement in the TAG program, nor does having a CogAT verbal, quantitative, or nonverbal SAS at or above 120. Students are considered for the TAG program with a SAS at or above 120. Please, reference the flowchart on page 13 of the TAG Handbook.

Placement is based on a matrix, that is on page 10 of the TAG Handbook. Typically, students who qualify for Talented And Gifted (TAG) services are at the upper extreme with a score at or near 130 on the CogAT which correlates to a national percentile of 97% or higher, along with other data that strongly suggests high achieving abilities.

Parents will receive final placement letters at the end of this week. These letters will be sent to parents who were notified that their child was taking the additional writing and/or math problem solving assessments.

Parents with current 3rd grade students, please remember that we revisit all placement decisions at the end of 5th grade as students transition into the middle school. This includes all students in both TAG classes as well as on-grade level classes. Placement in a TAG class in grades 4 and/or 5 does not guarantee placement in TAG classes beginning in grade 6. Those decisions will be based on more current data gathered at that time.

Parents with current 5th grade students, please remember TAG placement and/or placement in on-grade level classes does not determine the placement decisions that will be used in eighth grade for high school transitioning. Those decisions will be based on more current data gathered at that time.

We encourage you to reference Oak Grove’s TAG handbook regarding the placement procedures. Page 13 presents the process in a visual flowchart and page 10 is the matrix that is used to determine qualifications for placement. In addition, the TAG link on the website includes an overview video explaining the program and placement process.

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