Grass Lake School News

Shout out to our 7/8 grade Girls Basketball team as they are currently undefeated at 9-0 and are seeded 1st in our conference! Come out and support our Braves as we highlight our 8th graders and cheer them on for their final home game! Monday 2/24 against Stanton! 5/6 grade plays at 4:30 followed by our 7/8th graders at 5:45.

What a great week to be a BRAVE! First, a huge thank you to our students and families for braving the extreme temperatures this week! We know it was a challenge, and we appreciate your flexibility and patience. A special shoutout to our pre-K families for their understanding as we navigated a mechanical issue on the pre-K bus. Your support makes all the difference!

After a thorough review of student data, a cost analysis, and valuable input from students, staff, and parents, Grass Lake School will not be offering an academic summer school program this year. Instead, we are refocusing our efforts on enhancing our school-year schedule to better meet student needs year-round, rather than just through a three-week summer program. While GLS will not be hosting a summer school program, we’re excited to share that Stellar Athletics (who currently runs our Friday Afterschool Club) will be offering a summer camp opportunity right here at GLS!

This nine-week program, running from June 4 to August 1, will provide structured and engaging activities for students in grades K-8. Families will have flexibility with daily or weekly sign-ups, as well as half-day and full-day options. Stellar Athletics operates independently from GLS, meaning families who choose to participate will be responsible for the cost. GLS is not financially responsible for the program, but we’re excited to share this opportunity with our school community as it was designed with you in mind! Stay tuned for detailed information will be sent out next week.

As a reminder, N.E.H.S. and N.J.H.S. students are hosting Coin Wars from February 24-28 in the library! Each class will have a jar to collect donations, and the class that raises the most will win an ice cream party. All proceeds will go to Save-A-Pet, supporting animals in need. This is a great opportunity for our students to come together for a cause, practice generosity, and have some fun along the way. Encourage your child to look in the couch cushions, clean the car (bonus if they wash and wax!), whatever they can do so they can bring in spare change and help their class take the lead every coin counts!

Lastly, GLS is gearing up for our first annual book swap! We are asking students to bring in gently used books that they would be willing to trade with other students at our school. Students may swap up to five books each, but families who are able are encouraged to send in extras for students who may not have a book at home to swap. All students will go home with at least one book, regardless of whether or not they bring one in.

Books are due by Thursday, February 27. The swap will take place during library time the week of March 3 - 7. Any questions can be directed towards our librarian, Mrs. Porch, (tporch@gls36.org) or our reading specialist, Mrs. Lowe (elowe@gls36.org).

Thank you, as always, for your help and support and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Warm Regards,

Ryan Wollberg

Principal/Grass Lake School

Your Voice Matters! Take the Illinois 5Essentials Survey

Parents, teachers, and students across Illinois can participate in the Illinois 5Essentials Survey, helping improve schools by identifying strengths and areas for growth. This year, at least 30% of parents must respond for our school to receive a report—this is an increase from the previous 20% requirement. We need your feedback more than ever!

The survey, conducted by the University of Chicago on behalf of ISBE, focuses on five key areas proven to impact student success:

Effective Leaders
Collaborative Teachers

Involved Families
Supportive Environments
Ambitious Instruction

Why is this important?
Schools strong in these 5 areas are 10 times more likely to improve student learning! Your input directly helps guide improvements at your child’s school.

How does it work?

• The survey is online and confidential—your identity will not be linked to your responses.
• If at least 30% of parents participate, the school will receive a report in June with summary results.
• Results will also be included in the Illinois School Report Card in October and made public.

What an amazing turnout for the Afterschool Club's Valentine's Party! Tomorrow the theme is SNOW DAY with hopes to use the sledding hill! Don't forget to register to secure your child's spot!

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 847-603-5160 or kporter@gls36.org. This form and program are confidential.

We were able to get a sneak peek of some of our students practicing for the upcoming musical "Willy Wonka Jr." Don't tell anyone, as it is our little secret and follow this link!

Also, We are looking for volunteers! If you would like to volunteer to sell ice cream, sign up below.

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