Oak Grove News

CogAT testing for all students in 3rd and 5th grade will take place Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th. Please be sure that your child gets a good night of sleep and has a healthy breakfast before testing. Screening results will be emailed home with additional information indicating if your child will have further TAG screening later in the month.

To learn more about what to expect during the screening process, you can refer to the matrices and placement flow chart on pages 10 and 13 of the TAG handbook or click this link to watch the TAG Placement Process Presentation shared with families on February 3rd. Contact Lilli Melamed, melamed@ogschool.org with any questions.

On the evening of February 18th, at New Trier High School, the two You Be The Chemist Challenge (YBTCC) regional qualifying teams from Oak Grove were able to compete with other area schools at the YBTCC regional competition. Members of the two qualifying teams competed against other members of Oak Grove's Science Club back in February in order to qualify for the regional competition. The team of Adithya Gopal, Abishai Jaladi, Karim Alaoui, and Aryaman Hati as well as the team of Jack Davis, Teja Patil, Ahan Dey, and Thomas Teixeira both represented Oak Grove proudly while being cheered on by family members, Oak Grove Science Club Advisor - Mrs. Edelson, and Assistant Science Club Advisor - Mr. Mehnert.

After four rounds of timed and scored questions and answers, the team of Jack Davis, Teja Patil, Ahan Dey, and Thomas Teixeira were declared regional champions! They move on to compete at the next level of competition this spring. A great job was done by both teams!

Do you still have one (or four) bright blue OGS graduation robes in your closet from your older children? Are you ready to part with them? We need old OGS graduation gowns for one scene in Mary Poppins, JR. Please drop your donation off for Mrs. Ludington in time for the show, which is only days away!

Performance Dates
Thursday, February 27th 1:15 PM

Thursday, February 27th 7:00 PM

Friday, February 28th 7:00 PM

Saturday, February 29th 11:00 AM

Tickets are now on sale for the 8th grade play on RevTrak. Avoid the line and buy in advance!

The Judges of the Nineteenth Judicial invite the students of Oak Grove to participate in the annual Law Day activities. There is a coloring contest for grades kindergarten – 3 grade; a poster contest for grades 4 – 6, and an essay contest for grades 7 – 8. The information can also be found at the following link: http://www.19thcircuitcourt.state.il.us/1446/Law-Day-Activities.

The illustrations for that contest were drawn by students in Lake County and will be honored at the awards ceremony on May 1, along with all winners of the contests. Additional flyers are located in the virtual backpack. If you have any questions, contact Arminda L. Badgerow at 847-377-3903.

Dear Families,

First-grade has elected to change the date of our Open House to coincide with Kindergarten. The new date will be Thursday, March 19th from 6:30-7:30. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's teacher.

Thank you,

The First Grade Team

Attention 4th and 5th grade students:

Intramural basketball will begin on Monday, March 2, 2020.

We will meet Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30-4:30 in the Patt Gym. We will have a total of 8 sessions. Parents pick students up from school promptly at 4:30. We will not meet over Spring Break.

This is a nice opportunity to learn some basketball basics and play in some games with classmates.

Cost is $10 per player. Parents can pay through the school website.

https://ogs.revtrak.net/Student-Fees/AthleticsActivities/#/list

Be sure to wear gym shoes and basketball playing attire.

Questions? karolewicz@ogschool.org.

Please watch the video for the 2nd clue about our wonderful, whole school activity planned by our Multicultural Committee! We are excited that all administrators, custodians, families and teachers and every staff member will participate in this fun activity!

PTO SURVEY

If you haven’t already done so, please take a minute to fill out the PTO’s Survey on Wish List Items and Library Funding Request. Fill out the survey HERE. We value your input!

VARIETY SHOW – FRIDAY, APRIL 24TH @ 4PM & 7PM

It’s that time of year again! We are looking for all 5th-8th graders interested in trying out for the Variety Show. Here are the important dates/times:

• 8th Grade emcee tryouts: Tuesday, March 10th from 3:20- 4pm in Mrs. Mann’s Room. Sign up sheet will be outside her door March 2-4
• Variety Show Act Sign-ups: March 11th & March 12th - During lunch hours
• Tryouts: April 1st & 2nd - You will be assigned a time when you sign-up
• Pictures: April 9th from 3:20 - 5 - You must be FULL costume ready.
• Dress Rehearsal: April 22nd & April 23rd from 3:20 - 6pm
• The Show: April 24th at 4 & 7pm

A few rules for the auditions:

• All participants in the act must be present at the auditions and have an act name picked out. This act name will be listed on the Oak Grove website if it makes the show. The act name can be changed at a further date.
• Acts cannot exceed two minutes. NO EXCEPTIONS. Practice in advance and time your act.
• Music must have appropriate lyrics. Costumes and movements must also be school appropriate.
• You must bring your music with you to the tryout. It can be on a phone, flash drive, or on a CD.
• Lip syncing is not allowed. Background music must be instrumental only--NO WORDS! If you are doing a vocal performance the lyrics must be taken out.

This is always such a fun show and we are looking forward to seeing all of the talent that Oak Grove has to offer! If you have any questions, please email vshow@ogschool.org

SPRING SPIRIT WEAR SALE

Wishing for warm weather? Check out our Spring Spirit Wear selection! Shorts, T-Shirts, and Tank Tops! Orders are due by March 13th. If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Johnston at johnstoncourtneyr@gmail.com. Order HERE.

Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place on March 5 from 1 to 8 PM. Online registration for conferences will begin on 2/27 at 9 AM. An email message from broadcasts@schoolmessenger.com was sent out to parents today with the URL, student number and password necessary to sign up for conferences. Conferences are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. Time slots are limited, especially in grades 5-8 (where teachers see up to 100+ students), so please consider only signing up for a conference if there is a concern. Thank you!

All K-8 report cards will be emailed home at the end of the day on Friday. If you do not see a report card message in your inbox at the end of the day, please do not contact the school...you can retrieve this (and ALL messages) from your SchoolMessenger Portal. CLICK HERE for instructions.

Oak Grove School uses SchoolMessenger to deliver messages to our parents via email, phone and rarely texts. It is important that parents know how to ensure that they are getting our messages.

Text opt-ins
It is rare for us to send texts, but sometimes there are issues with bus routes and we need to send time-sensitive messages to the parents on a particular bus route. The only way for parents to get messages like this is to opt-in to receiving texts from us. This is an annual requirement. All you need to do is text "yes" to 67587 or scan the QR code below.

Retrieve any message you may have missed
Your email provider most likely tries to shield you from as many unwanted messages as possible. For this reason, it's easy for SchoolMessenger communications to get marked as spam. If you are looking for something important (report cards, PT Conference info, etc) and cannot find it in your inbox, you can see every message we've sent you by going to your SchoolMessenger Portal. Please make sure you can get into your SchoolMessenger portal today and don't miss a thing. CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS.

I know it doesn’t feel like it but spring is coming! And that means the testing season is approaching too...

• Testing season starts next week with the CogAT assessment in grades 3 & 5 on March 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. CogAT stands for Cognitive Abilities Test. This is a three-part test that assesses a student's Quantitative, Verbal and Nonverbal aptitude and results of this assessment are used in TAG placement decisions. Mrs. Melamed will be coordinating make-ups for those students who are absent.
  
  

• The next assessment scheduled is the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) for students in grades 5 & 8 over three days: March 9th, 10th & 11th. Contact your science teacher for specific dates. This is the fifth year for the updated science assessment since the implementation of the revised science standards. Make-ups will take place later that same week.
  
  

• When we return from spring break, students will have a week to get back into the school routine and then the spring set of Illinois Fitness testing the week of April 6th-9th. Ask your PE teacher for specific testing dates.
  
  

• Illinois Assessment of Readiness (formerly called PARCC) testing begins the following week. Students in grades 3 through 8 will need working headphones for the audio portion of the English - language arts assessments. April 14th-17th with make-up testing occurring April 20th-24th.
  
  IAR/PARCC preparation is important. The computer interface is more complex than other digital tests students have done during STAR, ISA or CogAT testing. For practice with this more complex interface, students can take the PARCC practice tests for both ELA and Math at https://parcc.pearson.com/practice-tests. The purpose of the practice tests are not what score a student obtains, but more for gaining a better understanding of the more complex PARCC testing interface as well as the test taking tools that are offered on the tests. Students are encouraged to take the tests at and around their grade level.

• Lastly, we encourage students to get a good night sleep prior to their testing dates, eat a nutritious breakfast, and to get to school on time! Thank you for your support at home.

February 25 - F

February 26 - A

February 27 - B

February 28 - C
March 2 - D

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.

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