Grass Lake School News

Please follow the link below to sign up for your child's Fall Conference that will be held on Monday, December 2 (and December 3 for our Pre-K families). The link will close on Friday so sign up today! While you are at Grass Lake, don't forget to check out our Book Fair in person and online from December 2 through December 13. For more information, please follow this link.

We look forward to seeing you there!

What a great week to be a BRAVE! Our Spirit Week was a roaring success and the students and staff had a great time dressing up this week! At GLS we organize spirit weeks to build a sense of community, boost school pride, and create a fun, engaging environment for students and staff. These themed weeks foster connections, encourage participation, and enhance the overall school culture by celebrating unity and creativity. Thank you for your participation and for making this week so fun!

Speaking of unity and building a sense of community, I want to thank you all for making our first-ever Bingo Night such an incredible success! It was wonderful to see so many families come together for an evening of fun and community spirit. Your support helps us continue to create engaging experiences for our students and families. As announced at Bingo Night, we will host another Family Engagement Event in May with the focus on celebrating the many cultures that we have at GLS. Look for more information in the coming months!

As we prepare for Thanksgiving Break next week, I want to take a moment to express how truly thankful I am to be part of the Grass Lake School community. The support, kindness, and collaboration of our students, families, and staff make Grass Lake a truly special place. I am grateful every day for the opportunity to lead such an incredible school.

Next week, as students enjoy their Thanksgiving break, I hope your family has the chance to rest, recharge, and create lasting memories together. When we return, the holiday spirit will continue with Breakfast with Santa brought to you by our amazing PTO! The flyer is included above and please mark your calendars and join us for this festive event. We can’t wait to see all our families there!

See below for some great pictures from last month's 5th Grade Field Trip, our second edition of our Blue and Gold brought to you by Mrs. Lubar and our student Newspaper Club, and so much more!

Thank you, as always, for your help and support. I hope everyone has a great weekend and we look forward to another great week of learning next week!

Warm Regards,

Ryan Wollberg

Principal/Grass Lake School

On October 29th, the 5th grade class took a field trip to the Chicago Wolves game! They were the first class from GLS to experience the “Schooled by Skates” program. For this program, the students observed the game while correlating everything back to our core subjects of ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The 5th graders had SO much fun and got to learn about school in real-world settings!

Each week throughout the school year, families enrolled in our Backpack Program will go home with pre-bagged, shelf-stable, nutritious food items. Items may include: milk, pasta, canned fruit, canned vegetables, cereal, tuna, beans, rice, and more! Please complete this form if your family would like to be enrolled. The food will come home with your student once a week. If you decide your family would no longer like to be part of the program, or if you have any questions, please contact Kelly Porter at 847-395-5160 or kporter@gls36.org. This form and program are confidential.

We had a blast in Guitar Club this year! The students were eager, excited, and ready to learn. We learned about the parts of the guitar, how to read individual notes on the first and second string, and several chords.

Please also see below for information about our annual Winter Fine Arts Night on December 12 along with our PBL Showcase!

Please follow the link below for more information about our Winter Athletics.

Please follow the button below to be directed to our GLS website for more details related to our Breakfast/Lunch menus and ordering information. If there are any questions, please contact our main office. As a reminder, our lunch fees are $3.75.

This year, you will continue to see important updates from me regarding the importance of attendance every day at GLS. More information will be forthcoming in upcoming newsletters but we wanted all of our students to start the year off headed in the right direction. Please follow this link to view our Academic Calendar for the upcoming school year and we encourage all of our families, to the greatest extent possible, to schedule doctor and dentist appointments, vacations, etc. on days off. While we understand there may certainly be extenuating circumstances out of your control, your help in sending your child to school every day will help them continue to excel at GLS.

As a reminder, Grass Lake encourages you to send your child to school every day, unless they are exhibiting one or more of the following symptoms:

1. The student has a temperature consistently above 100 even when taking medication in the last 24 hours.
2. The student is throwing up or experiencing diarrhea in the last 24 hours.
3. The student has pink eyes that are crusty and not receiving medication for them for 24 hours.

While this list is not all-inclusive your help is appreciated as even missing 2 days a month equates to missing almost 10% of the school year. Also, as a reminder, any absence due to illness that lasts for more than three consecutive days may be verified by a medical note, which must be produced within two days of the student’s return for the absence to be considered excused. Thank you for your help and support!

Grass Lake School hours of attendance are 7:45 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. on regular schedule days and 7:45 a.m. until 1:15 p.m. on early release late-start days. When reporting an absence please indicate the reason for the absence and if it is due to illness, please report symptoms including if your child has a fever, cough, or sore throat. This will assist the district in assessing when a student will return and whether it must comply with any reporting or notice requirements.

Please report absences by phone OR by email:

• Call (847) 395-1550, or
• Email attendance@gls36.org

If the school has not heard from you and your child is absent, you will receive a call to verify the absence. School code provides that parents/guardians/other persons having legal custody of a child provide telephone numbers at the time of enrollment to enable the school to notify the parent/guardian/other person with legal custody of the child’s absence from school. Accordingly, this verification of absence call will be made to the numbers provided at registration and not necessarily the parents’ places of employment.

This year, we have adjusted and included bus information in Infinite Campus. You can view your child(rens) bus information by following these steps or going to our website by following this link:

1. Sign into Infinite Campus
2. Select your GLS Student(s)
3. Select "More"' in the column on the left
4. Select "Transportation"
5. Under "Bus" it will read one of three numbers GLS00# (# indicates what bus 1, 2, or 3) to indicate if they are on bus 1, 2, or 3. This year we are running three routes for K-8.
6. If you are a Pre-Kindergarten parent it will read GLSPK# (# indicates what bus 1(AM), 2(AM), 3(PM), or 4(PM).

As a reminder, for Friday early release, please plan for students in grades K-8 to be home 1.5 hours earlier than Monday through Thursday.

We’ve also posted this information on our website, which you can access by following this link. As a reminder, during the first few days, the buses may run approximately 5-10 minutes off schedule, so we kindly ask for your patience. Additionally, all Pre- K and Kindergarten families, please plan on meeting your child at the bus stop, as the drivers will not release them unless an adult is present for safety purposes. We truly appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

Below, you’ll find a map for your convenience, detailing our drop-off and pick-up procedures. We ask that parents remain in their cars during drop-off and pick-up to ensure smooth traffic flow and student safety. The only exception is for Pre-K families, who may require the need to get out to get their child(ren) out of a 5 point harness car seat.

Please note the following morning waiting areas for students:

- Pre-K: Will enter in the main entrance but have a separate waiting area in our main foyer/hall.

- K-3: Library

- 4-6: MPR (Multi-Purpose Room)

- 7-8: Basement near their lockers

If you plan to pick your child up early from school, kindly email your child's teacher as well as Cristina Monroy, our administrative assistant. Early pick-up and late drop-off should be done through our main entrance. Please remember to bring your ID when picking up your child, as we want to ensure they are sent home with an approved individual.

When your child is dropped off in the morning, they will enter through the main entrance. In the afternoon, they will exit through the same doors (marked by the yellow box below). Please wait in your car, and we will release students to you as quickly as possible. Again, we ask for your patience at the beginning of the year as we refine our procedures—rest assured, the process will become faster as everyone gets accustomed to it. Additionally, please do not drop off your child until the front doors open at 7:30 am.

Thank you for your continued support!

GRASS LAKE SCHOOL

26177 W. Grass Lake Rd. Antioch, IL 60002
Phone: (847) 395-1550 | Fax: (847) 395-8632

Email: rwollberg@gls36.org
Website: www.gls36.org
Location: Grass Lake School District 36, West Grass Lake Road, Antioch, IL, USA
Phone: 847-395-1550