SEL & Elementary Spanish Parent Teacher Conferences
Mrs. Kiefer and Señora Loch will be in the Professional Development room for parent teacher conferences. The PD room can be accessed by going down the steps located in the hallway outside of the Pat Patt gym.
Were all the time-slots full when you tried to sign up for a conference? Don’t worry, you can still come meet with us! Due to the high number of students and conferences we have each year, we blocked out an hour in the afternoon and in the evening to welcome walk ins. Please feel free to stop by between 3:30-4:30 and 6:30-7:30. We are looking forward to meeting with you!
Host a Booth at Oak Grove's First Annual Multicultural Night!!
Attention Oak Grove families!!!
- Are you interested in sharing your family's culture and/or traditions with the Oak Grove community?
- Do you have knowledge about a particular country you have visited or studied and would like to educate others?
- Would you like to take on a simple family project and learn about a country that interests you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, please consider hosting a booth at Oak Grove's first annual Multicultural Night on May 3, 2018!
We are excited to report that several families already have expressed interest in hosting booths on Mexico, India, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, Hungary, Brazil and Armenia! We would love to have even more families become involved and host booths on additional countries so that we can represent all of Oak Grove's rich heritage. (But please feel free to host a booth on a country already represented; booths are not limited to one per country).
The requirements for hosting a booth are relatively simple and you do not need to be from a particular country to host a booth on it! If you are interested in participating, please click on this link Multicultural booth and complete the short questionnaire by March 16, 2018.
Thank you for helping make Oak Grove's first Multicultural Night a success!
Talented and Gifted News
The Center for Gifted Event
The TAG committee is excited to host another unique opportunity for our parents and students. On Saturday, March 17th, from 1:30 - 4 pm, K-8 students can participate in creative workshops utilizing science, technology, engineering and math all while their parents participate in a thoughtful presentation of their own. The parent presentation will be focused on identifying strengths and weaknesses in gifted children to distinguish and support their learning styles.
The parent seminar will be facilitated by Cheryl Lind, M.S., Ed.S., a certified school psychologist who works with The Center for Gifted - Midwest Torrance Center for Creativity in Glenview, Illinois. The K-3 and 4-8 student groups will be facilitated by teachers from The Center for Gifted.
Grades K-3 Class: Powders, Potions and Polymers
Grades 4-8 Classes: Combustion & Pyrotechnics and March Madness Basketball Launcher
Parent Presentation: How Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses in Gifted Children Serves to Distinguish and Support their Learning Styles
Oak Grove School
Saturday, March 17th, 2018
1:30-4:00 p.m.
Pre-registration required
*To register for the event, please enter through their main website.
Scroll down the page and select 'Free! Parent Seminar', featuring Cheryl Lind, M.S., Ed.S. Certified School Psychologist, plus Science Spectacular! Grades K-8. Then, select 'click HERE' to enroll and follow the steps to register.
Please see flyer in the Virtual Backpack for more information about the student classes, parent presentation, and registration information & fees.
Curriculum Corner
Hello Oak Grove Community,
Spring is coming and so is testing season. Testing season started this week with the CogAT assessment in grades 3 & 5. Mrs. Jackson 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 on March 13th and 14th. This is the third year for the updated science assessment since the implementation of the revised science standards. Parents of students in these grades will be informed about the specific testing date next week.
When we return from spring break, students will have a week to get back into the school routine and then PARCC testing begins. Don’t forget that students in grades 3 through 8 will need working headphones for the audio portion of the English - language arts assessments.
From the School Nurses
Parents of K, 2nd & 6th Grade Students
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, 2018. The examination must
have taken place within 18 months prior to this date. Please submit proof of the exam as soon as possible, or contact the school nurses with any questions.
Campaign to Help Puerto Vallarta, Mexico School
As many of you know, Dr. Lemon and the Oak Grove maintenance/custodial staff have collected discarded pencils off the school floors for the past six years. We share them back with teachers at Oak Grove, but also Dr. Lemon has taken them to an impoverished public elementary school in Puerto Vallarta each year. To this point in time, he has given the children nearly 19,000 pencils! Six of our awesome custodians were born and raised in Mexico, so they have been exceptional at collecting the pencils, instead of throwing them away. They know firsthand how little the students have in their schools. Until last March, Dr. Lemon had never met the students, nor been inside the school. They have always been on "break." For the first time, he was able to go inside the school and meet the children and their teachers. What he saw was heartbreaking. The rooms are barren. There are no books, no supplies, and the student desks are in horrific shape. It is quite obvious they need more than pencils. The school educates approximately 800 students each day. They do it in two shifts of 400.
Moved by their abject poverty, Dr. Lemon created a GoFundMe campaign in an attempt to purchase 400 new desks for the students. He is currently working with two vendors in Mexico to purchase the desks locally. It is simply cost prohibitive to purchase them here and then transport to Puerto Vallarta. It appears he will be able to purchase a nice, height-adjustable desk for $65-80 each. Thus, the total cost to replace all 400 is going to be $25,000-30,000. The Daily Herald ran the story last week. Our Oak Grove staff has contributed significantly; they truly are "angels" for these kids. Currently, there is $5700 in the fund. It is a fantastic start!
Below, you will find the link to the GoFundMe page as well as a link to the Daily Herald article. If you are so moved, and would like to consider a donation of any size, it would be greatly appreciated. There is a detailed description of the project with pictures of the desks, the students, and the proposed desk on the GoFundMe site. If the link doesn't open you can also simply type "Puerto Vallarta desks' in the search window at GoFundMe.com
Dr. Lemon and his wife are also committing $1000 to the project. They will also pay the transaction fee to GoFundMe. So, if you do consider a gift, do not feel obligated to add the "tip" that GoFundMe asks when a pledge is made. They will be making some money off the project. Every $10-25-50 adds up!
If you are uncomfortable making online donations, feel free to contact Dr. Lemon. Several people have made offline donations to him towards the project.
We are so fortunate here. If you would, please consider taking a look at the project. Ignacio Vallarta has indirectly become Oak Grove's "sister school." If you can't make a donation, please consider sharing the link and the story on your Facebook page. This campaign has received dozens of donations from people Dr. Lemon doesn't even know; how cool is that?!
Thank you for considering helping our young friends in Mexico. If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact Dr. Lemon at lemon@ogschool.org.
Here is the GoFundMe link:
https://www.gofundme.com/desks-for-puerto-vallarta-school
Here is an article in the Daily Herald regarding his cause:
PTO News
Save the Date! Field Day - Friday, May 18
We are hoping to once again bring back Oak Grove K-8 Field Day on Friday, May 18th! Field Day is a morning spent with teachers, students and families playing various outdoor games with teams of K-8 students. It's a great opportunity to take advantage of our unique school system allowing the students to spend the day with peers of all grade levels. In order for this day to be successful, we are going to need at least 100 parent volunteers to be available from 8 in the morning until at least 11:30! Please be on the look out for an e-mail in the coming weeks to sign-up to volunteer! Unfortunately, if we don’t get enough, we won’t be able to have this fun-filled day! Save the date...Friday, May 18th!! If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at dlfranz@yahoo.com.
Variety Show
Thanks to all the 5th - 8th graders who signed up to try out for the variety show! Tryouts are on Monday, March 19th and Tuesday, March 20. Please refer to your tryout information packet for your exact time and remember to bring your signed permission slip on the day of your auditions.
Important upcoming dates for the show are:
- 8th grade emcee tryouts - March 12 from 3:20 - 4 (sign up in Mrs. Mahoney’s room)
- Tryouts - March 19th & 20th
Mandatory rehearsals for ALL acts and show night:
Thursday, April 5 - 3:30 - 6:30
Wednesday, April 18 - 3:30 - 6:30
Thursday, April 19 - 3:30 - 6:30
The show - April 20th - 3:30 - 10:00
We are looking forward to seeing all of the talent that Oak Grove has to offer!
PTO Meeting
Please join us in the Junior High teacher's lounge for our monthly PTO meeting this Wednesday, January 10th at 9 am. Hope to see you there!
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
