Drop-off Dismissal/Parking Lot
We continue to see unsafe practices in the parking lots at morning drop-off and at the end of day dismissal. We ask parents to PLEASE be safe with your students. Dropping off and picking up students only takes a few minutes. Six or seven years ago, the end of the day dismissal was not complete until 3:40-3:42 each day. With our current practice, we rarely go past 3:32.
We ask that parents dropping off in the morning stay in line. Do not drop students off near the tree line and walk them across the parking lot. Cars pull out of the drop off line and we fear an accident is going to occur. There is a designated crosswalk near the entrance of school grounds and Mr. Duenas will be glad to stop traffic to allow your children to use it. We continue to see students and parents darting across the parking lot in an unsafe manner.
Likewise, in the afternoon, we are asking students who are waiting for pickup to stay on the sidewalk areas. Our goal is to have the cars “pull up” in the line. We do not want students walking over to the tree line area to be picked up. For one, it is hard to supervise them, and two, it stops the line of cars, preventing them from pulling up. This, in turn, delays the pickup of students in the staging area.
In the bus pickup area, our faculty and staff do an amazing job of walking the students to the buses. If you are in the area, or are with students, the bus drivers have asked us to be careful and not walk in front of them as they load.
It is our utmost goal to keep our students, and you, as safe as possible, especially at these two most hectic times of the day. We ask that you help us by not rushing as you pick up or drop off your students in our parking lots. Thank you.
Oak Grove School’s Annual Veterans Day Ceremony
Oak Grove is hosting their annual Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, November 9, 2018, at 9:00 am. Please wear red, white, and blue to show your spirit and honor our veterans. Donations will be collected for the Wounded Warrior Project. A reminder for parents, parking in the Junior High parking lot will be reserved for veterans on Veterans Day. This will not affect student drop-offs in the morning; drop-off will remain in the Junior High parking lot, but parents will not be able to park up there.
Band News
All Band info is posted here: http://ogschoolband.weebly.com/
Upcoming Band Dates:
Friday, Nov. 9th - Symphonic Band performs at the Veterans Day Ceremony
Wed., Dec. 5th- Concert and Beginning Bands Fall Concert. Pat Patt Gym, 6:30 p.m.
Thurs., Dec. 13th - Jazz Café (Jazz Band and Jazz Combo) - JH Cafeteria, 6:30 p.m.
Last week, five of our 8th grade Symphonic Band members auditioned to be selected to perform in the ALL ILLINOIS JUNIOR BAND festival held in February at the University of Illinois. We are eagerly waiting the results!
Beginning Band:
Everyone needs to activate their child’s E.E.I. account so they may get started using the online interactive tutorials and Karaoke.
Concert Band: There will be NO CONCERT BAND rehearsal Friday morning (11/9/18). Mr. Farris is helping set up the sound system for the large Veterans Day assembly. Please make sure your student is continuing to practice at home. We are starting to sound very good and we only want to keep moving forward. Practice builds confidence! Don’t forget to put the December 5th band concert into your calendar.
The Concert Band should continue practicing the songs:
- Oh, Canada, Yellow Book 167
- Surprise Symphony, Yellow Book 150
- School Spirit, Yellow Book 152
- American Patrol, Yellow Book 179
- Minuet, Yellow Book 160
- 1812 Overture, Yellow Book 184
- You’re a Grand Old Flag, Red Book 43
- The Victors, Red Book 37
- Grandfather’s Clock, Red Book 24
- Cruisin’ through the Park, Red Book 9,
Symphonic Band:
Congratulations on another awesome festival! This week we will focus solely on the Veterans Day Ceremony this Friday. I would like to encourage Symphonic Band students to wear red, white and blue this Friday for the ceremony. We will have regular lessons and morning rehearsals this week.
Jazz Band:
Parents, It’s time to look forward to the most fun night of the year!
This year’s Jazz Café will be on Thursday, Dec. 13th, at 6:30 p.m. in the Junior High cafeteria.
This is a relaxed, small setting concert held in the cafeteria with fun music, artistic decorations, and best of all, desserts and coffee! Please save the date and set a reminder on your favorite device. Parents, to make this a special night, please reply by email if you can help out in any way such as decorations, baked goods, coffee, etc.
PTO News
PTO Meeting
Please join us for our next PTO meeting, this Wednesday, November 7th @ 9:00am in the PD room near the Elementary Office. All are welcome to attend.
Label Fundraiser
Is your child missing a glove or hat? Perhaps it is time to consider labels. Your purchases made through Stuck On You Labels will benefit the PTO.Lunchroom Volunteers
The PTO would like to remind you that if you'd like to help serve hot lunch in the the Junior High or Elementary cafeterias and spend a little time during the day with your child, all you have to do is follow the links below and pick a time that works best for you!
Jr High- http://signup.com/go/uEYRzzm
Elem-http://signup.com/go/uqDFXtX
Elementary Book Fair
The elementary Book Fair is coming Nov 13th-16th. K-4th grade will participate. We will have classroom shopping times available in next week's newsletter. The Book Fair will be open to everyone 8:15-3:30 Tuesday-Friday. We will be having Family Night Wednesday evening (Nov 14th) from 6pm-8pm.
All for Books
One of the goals for this year's Scholastic Book Fair is to ensure as many children as possible have access to books through the All For Books program. In the past, we have asked students to bring in coins to raise money. Because of the increasing difficulty in finding a bank to count coins, we have decided to change our collection to a Classroom Dollar Challenge. We will be collecting dollars in each of the Kindergarten through 4th grade classrooms from November 5th through November 14th. All the money collected during this period will be used to help build the classroom libraries of a local school in need. The classroom that collects the most money will win a shopping spree at the Books Fair. Each student from the winning class may choose one item (book, toy, poster, etc) with a value of $10 or less at their classroom shopping spree.
Junior High Book Fair
The Junior High (5-8) Book Fair starts this week!! It will run from November 6th-9th in the Junior High Learning Center. Everyone is welcome to shop during the shopping hours listed below, as well as after the Veterans Day Ceremony on November 9th.
Book Fair Dates: November 6, 7, 8 & 9.
Shopping Hours:
11/6: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
11/7: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
11/8: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
11/9: 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m
Don't forget to send money with your child. Parents are also welcome to come check out the book fair!
Holiday Halls
Saturday, December 1st from 9am - 12pm in the Junior High Entrance
Join us for our 7th Annual Holiday Halls - a morning of shopping, food and fellowship for the whole family. Please see the Virtual Backpack for details and a list of vendors participating in the Holiday Market.
We hope you can make it!
Spirit Wear Sale
We are offering a special OGS Holiday Spirt Wear sale with NEW items for winter! Sale dates are Nov. 2nd-16th. Visit www.headsupapparel.com to purchase our new apparel just in time for the holidays or shop some of our favorite items from the fall collection!
If you have any questions, please contact Courtney Johnston at johnstoncourtneyr@gmail.com or Shannon Bilcox at shannon.bilcox@gmail.com.
Curriculum Corner
Hello Oak Grove Community,
Another idea to help students be the most successful they can be at school is to provide them with structure during the evening routine. A recent article by Heather Miller out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, shared how “a predictable structure can help families gain quality time and reduce end-of-day frenzy.” The article is a summary of her book which describes the value of “prime-time parenting” identified as the last two hours before a child goes to bed for children between 5-13 years old. Here’s the summary:
6 pm - Check in with your children; ask about their day and help them gather their homework so they can work while you prep dinner.
6:30 pm - Enjoy dinner as a family. Use conversation starters like: What did you struggle with? Did you help someone in need? How were you a good friend today?
7 pm - Homework Coaching. You do not need to do the homework, but it is helpful for you to support them in their work. Coaches work from the sidelines, they do not jump in and play the game.
7:30 or 8 pm - Bath, Book and Bed - Most children need a 30 minute bedtime routine which tells their body its time to rest. Even when in middle school, you can still read to your child right before bed. Everyone loves to curl up with a good book
After 8:30-9 pm - The kids are in bed and you have a quiet house! By allowing your children to get the 9-11 hours of sleep they need, the parents get a couple hours of their evening back to recover from their own busy day.
Oak Grove Chess
REGISTER NOW FOR OAK GROVE’S CHESS ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
SESSION II of the 2018-2019 School Year!
Registration for Session II of the chess program is underway! The 10-week program takes place on Wednesdays from 3:30-4:30 pm and runs from 12/5/18 to 2/27/19. The chess program is taught by Chess-Ed instructors and is open to all Oak Grove students, and students of all chess abilities, novice through continuing, advanced and competitive players. Professional instruction will include the basics for novice players and build with opening theory, middle game planning, and end game combinations for all other student levels. Playing chess improves memory, uses analytical and critical thinking skills, teaches problem solving, responsibility, sportsmanship, social skills and more. The benefits of chess last a lifetime!
To register, please go to www.2018-19oakgrovechess.eventbee.com. DISCOUNTED Registration Fee applies through 11/21/18; Late and final fees begin 11/22/18. For more information about the program, please refer to the program flyer in the Virtual Backpack. Chess-Ed is looking forward to seeing your Chess enthusiast this year!
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC)
Oak Grove School, the PTO, and our local Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts come together to volunteer their time to this worthy cause. We have reserved all 150 spaces on Friday, December 7, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Feed My Starving Children is located at 742 East Park Avenue (Highway 176) in Libertyville.
Please register here. If you have previously volunteered at FMSC, log in using your email and password. If this is your first time, click on “Create an Account.”
Select “Who is Attending” then enter name (s). Adults should provide an email address so they can receive reminders. Check the box to accept FMSC’s guidelines and click “Confirm.”
If the Join URL above does not work, register online at www.fmsc.org. Click on “Get Involved" in the upper right corner of the website, then select “Volunteer Info,” scroll down until you see ”Looking for a Specific Group." Enter Join Code LM4W9Z and click the “Search Groups” button. Click “”Join” If you have previously volunteered at FMSC, log in using your email and password. If this is your first time, click on “Create an Account.” Select “Who is Attending” then enter name(s). Adults should provide an email address so they can receive reminders. Check the box to accept FMSC’s guidelines and click “Confirm.”
Please follow the student-to-adult ratios when registering to volunteer:
• Grade 10-12: 5 students to 1 adult
• Grade 7-9: 4 students to 1 adult
• Grade 3-6: 3 students to 1 adult
• Grade K-2: 1 student to 1 adult
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
