Oak Grove News

Hello Oak Grove Community,

As part of our Talented And Gifted (TAG) placement procedures, we are planning ahead for our winter session of Advisory Council. During the winter Advisory Council meeting, the committee will review placement appeals. Parents have the right to request an additional review of student placement into Oak Grove’s TAG program, through a placement appeal which would be reviewed by the Advisory Council. This process is discussed on pages 13 and 14 of the TAG Handbook. Other useful information includes, the placement matrix on page 10 and the placement flow chart on page 13.

Parents requesting participation in the appeal process are required to complete the Parent Inquiry Form beginning on page 22 of the TAG Handbook. The Parent Inquiry Form must be completed and emailed to Michelle Jackson at jackson@ogschool.org no later than January 10th for consideration at the winter Advisory Council meeting. Parents will be notified via email regarding the final committee decisions.

*Please note, appeal process may only be utilized once a calendar year.

There will be no early library hours available on Thursday, Dec. 22nd.

Students in 4th-8th grade, don't forget to register for the Geography Bee, December 19th at 6 pm in the Junior High library. Visit Mr. Henneberry’s website for registration and preparation activities.

Oak Grove students who demonstrate exceptional character and academic achievement are invited to join the Honor Society during their 8th grade year. Members are asked to complete a service project and our 32 members have been hard at work. Grace Muller led a canned food drive, which collected a total of 110 cans for Lake County Cares. These canned foods helped feed 551 families at various shelters! Julia Hasler and Avery Vang raised over $120 for Orphans of the Storm! Thank you to everyone who donated and participated!

Are you looking for more ways to help? Lyann Tam and Paige Vang are supporting Aid for Women by collecting infant supplies for mothers in need. Please consider donating to the box in the Jr. High office. The Junior High home rooms each have a collection box as well.

Over the next week, students in Kindergarten through fifth grade will be performing Random Acts of Kindness! Each grade level will participate in an activity that acknowledges different faculty and staff. They will also be writing special notes to their own classmates. An example from first grade will be an activity where they write special notes on little bus shapes. We make a necklace out of these notes for each driver to thank them for taking care of us each day! The students really enjoy surprising people with Random Acts of Kindness.

Additionally, for the culmination of our Empathy and Skills for Learning Unit in 5th grade, we will be preparing for a “Mix-It-Up” Lunch. The lunch will take place on Tuesday, December 20th! Students will put their skills to work as they enter the lunchroom and are given a card to sit with other students holding the same color card. They will have prompts at the table to start discussions and will practice listening with attention, taking others’ perspectives into consideration, accepting differences and responding with compassion! It should be a fun 20 minutes and will create an opportunity for starting new relationships amongst peers in their grade level!

This is the 3rd year that Oak Grove 5th graders have participated in the “Read With Me” program. The program is run through Lake County Cares, which is a not for profit, volunteer service hub that strengthens communities by operating essential outreach programs. Our 5th graders will work with A.J. Katzenmaier’s 3rd graders, 3 times this year. Each time, the A.J. Katzenmaier student receives a book to keep that they will read with their OG buddy. Everyone has a snack and friendships are made through the reading of books! In December, we went to A.J. Katzenmaier for our session. They will come back to Oak Grove in February for another session and in April for an end of the year celebration! It is a positive experience for everyone involved!

Last Friday night, approximately 150 Oak Grove parents, students, and scouts filled the Feed My Starving Children facility to prepare meals. It was a great time and we packed enough meals to feed ​63 children for a year! This has become a great annual event and we are proud of our Oak Grove community.

The 7th grade girls' basketball team continues their quest for a perfect season with a record of 6-0. They have averaged over 25 points per game and only allowed 10. The girls have worked so hard to achieve their goals this season. Good luck!

Holiday Halls/Candy Cane Lane/Spirit Wear

Thank you so much Shellie Fahy for organizing Holiday Halls. So many fabulous vendors – what a great way to kick off holiday shopping! Thank you to Katrina Truetelaar for coming and selling magnets and ornaments. Also much appreciation to Katrina for all her time and efforts with Candy Cane Lane.

Save the date

The Oak Grove Daddy Daughter Dance will be on Saturday, February 4th from 6:30-8:30.

The Oak Grove Mother Son Dance will be on Saturday, February 25th from 6:30-8:30. See the virtual back pack for more information.

Hot Lunch

Don’t forget – Kiddo’s Catering ordering is now open for session 2. Be sure to check out all the new menu items as well as a new restaurant.

Author Visit

They say a picture is worth a thousand words & clearly this needs no words! Thank you, Jina Rappaport for once again nailing this one. Our children don’t know how lucky they are, but they will some day. David Biedrzycki may have been our best assembly yet!

I have never seen a more engaging speaker nor more excited students & teachers alike.

Not only did David share his process via his stories, he shared his passion!

He connected to students & teachers in a way which makes it obvious why this “authorator” won the Monarch award. He stressed the importance of reading & writing & put his own passion behind it! I, for one, cannot wait for Alien Abduction, the third book in his Bear Alert series. Due to popular demand, we are going to open up David’s book list for anyone who might have been inspired Friday. Book orders will be open through December 22nd. See attached list in the virtual backpack. Thank you to Jina Rappaport & Shellie Fahy for bringing our students the best!

Are you ready for some after school fun? Student Council is hoping that Junior High students, grades 6-8 will stay after school on Friday, December 16 for a good cause. We are hosting an after school dance and open gym from 3:20-5:00 in the Junior High Cafeteria and Gym. Admission to the dance is either a $10 cash donation or an unwrapped gift to donate to our toy drive. Concessions will be sold and we will have some fun raffle prizes to give away. Dance, play, hang out with friends, and support a great cause! See you on Friday!

Toys for Tots Donation Guidelines:

1. No stuffed animals

2. New toys in their original packaging

3. Ages 0-12 Boy or Girl

4. Nothing over $25

5. Please do not gift wrap

Any teacher or parent that has not already opted in to receive emergency text messages from Oak Grove School will receive a request to do so tomorrow morning (12/13/16) at 10 AM.

The administrative team of Oak Grove would like to be able to send text messages to teacher and parent cell phones in rare cases like emergencies, school closings, and bus situations that need timely contact, but FCC law prohibits us from sending text messages in bulk without parents opting into the program.

If you have not already done so, please send "y" or "yes" via text message to 67587. You must do this from a phone number that we have registered for you in PowerSchool. Anyone that has not opted in by Tuesday, December 13th at 10 AM will receive a message from 67587 requesting that you opt in. This is the only opt-in message you will ever receive.

Thank you.

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