Oak Grove News

Dear Families,

I want to thank each of you for your patience and understanding as we consider our mitigation options as a result of this recent ruling. As you have heard, the verdict lacked clarity -- and it did. Over the next week, this litigation will continue to play out through appeals and applications for a "stay." An appellate court is expected to issue a ruling that is binding for all districts across the state on or before 2/17. In addition, our Board will be convening their regular meeting on 2/15 with a discussion on this topic and will weigh their legal options in the best interest of our school community. I share this, because firm decisions will be coming shortly that will address the lack of clarity in the verdict.

In the meantime, I commend our entire school community for the compassion and respect we continue to show each other despite our personal convictions. And more than anything, I know we do not want our children at the center of this disruption. Bullying or unwanted persuasion to wear or not wear a mask will not be tolerated amongst our students and we will continue to reinforce this in our classrooms. As I walk the hallways today, I am pleased (though not surprised) that our students are maintaining the same respect for each other that is modeled to them by all of us adults.

I will continue to communicate with you any updates this week.

Over the last couple weeks, OGS has received complaints from parents and neighborhood residents regarding vehicles parking on Lexington (behind OGS) during pick-up times. This is a friendly reminder that Lexington is not a location reserved as a formal pick-up spot for students after school. Please use our parking lot to pick up your child(ren), as we have protocols in place that ensure safety. In addition, we've been reminded that the area behind the building already has signs indicating no parking. We recognize our pick-up lines continue to be longer in inclement weather and due to the double routes our buses have to run at this time. Administration is working with an outside contractor to conduct a traffic study to determine how we can improve our systems. We will continue to research ways to make our pick-up and drop-off more efficient for our families.

5Essentials Survey

Research derived from the Five Essentials for School Success has proven that schools strong on at least three of the 5Essentials are 10 times more likely to improve student outcomes. We are highlighting survey implementation THIS WEEK for all OGS families and staff and for students in grades 4-8. The survey participation rates of each group impact our standing in the Illinois accountability system. Parents may use THIS 5Essentials LINK to take the survey.

Early Release - Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Dismissal will begin at 11:15 AM next Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Please mark your calendars for next week’s Early Release.

PTO Pantry

The PTO now has a Pantry ready for all K-8 students who forget their lunches or in case something inadvertently happens to their lunch. Items in the Pantry include Nutri Grain Bars Soft Baked, Go Go Squeez Applesauce, Kraft Easy Mac Cups, and Goldfish Crackers. The ingredients information for these items can be reviewed at

www.ogschool.org/pto-pantry-ingredients .

If you would like your child/ren to be able to access the Pantry, they will need your permission to do so. We had a lot of families sign up for this last week, and we've sent another letter with login instructions to the remaining families earlier this morning.

Prayer Group Time and Space

In order to better prepare adult supervision of the prayer spaces in the building, I would like to invite parents of students who pray during lunch-recess to a virtual meeting THIS Tuesday evening. Please join me virtually in a Google Meet this Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 7:00 PM. I look forward to learning from you and helping to make a prayer space and time possible for your child/ren.

Meeting ID - meet.google.com/dyf-mmxx-qrw

Also, in order to know which students have parent permission and to be prepared for the number of students visiting the prayer spaces each day, we would like you and your child/ren to complete THIS FORM by Friday, February 11, 2022.

Mid-Year New Family Orientation - Parents Only

We would like to invite all of our new families since September 2021 to a parents-only informal meeting on February 23, 2022 from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM in the Pat Patt Gym where you can learn more about Oak Grove School and the community. If interested, please complete this RSVP. If unable to attend, please complete the form and let us know what else you would like to know about OGS and the community and we will get someone in touch with you soon.

SEL at Oak Grove (Updated Weekly)

The theme for the month of February is kindness. Please take a few minutes to view the February page of our website to see what’s happening in SEL.

Please click here to access the Oak Grove SEL website.

If you have any questions, please contact Susie Kiefer at skiefer@ogschool.org.

Mental Health Minute

The Mental Health team at Oak Grove, consisting of our School Social Workers, our School Psychologist, and the Social Emotional Learning Coordinator, will be providing you information on several social emotional topics throughout the 2021-22 school year. Twice a month, we will provide you with a brief overview of a topic as well as at least one resource for additional information. Please feel free to reach out to Ryan Murray, SEL Coordinator, if you have questions or need help finding more information.

Please click on the link below for this week’s issue

February- Kindness

Past Issues

*If you need support or are looking to support someone else please visit Safe2Help Illinois and/or our website for valuable information.

Important Dates

• Feb. 8 - Prayer Group Meeting 7:00 PM

• Feb. 9 - 11:30 AM Early Dismissal for SIP Day

• Feb. 10 - 8th Gr Musical Rehearsal 3:30-5:30 PM

• Feb. 14 - 5th Gr to FMSC, K-4 Parties

• Feb. 15 - Committee of the Whole Meeting 6 PM, Regular BoE Meeting at 7:15 PM

TAG Identification Webinar-Date Change

The Information meeting for TAG identification has been changed to Thursday, February 24th at 7:00pm. The webinar will focus on the identification process for 3rd and 5th grade students for the 2022-23 school year. If you have not already registered and If you would like to attend the webinar, please register here.

The Oak Grove Wrestling Eagles were busy this week with two dual meets and a tournament. The Eagles finished 2-0 and took 3rd place in the 10-team Hawthorn Eagle Invite. On Tuesday, The Eagles defeated Hawthorn South 91-12. Thursday night Oak Grove Wrestling traveled to Deer Path and defeated them 77-33.

The 10-Team Tournament was tough as the Eagles finished in 3rd place behind Johnsburg Tournament Champion Antioch and MacArthur Middle School. Oak Grove had ten top-4 finishers. Alexander Osborne, Matthew Liu, James Liu, Logan Tayfel, and Jack Treutelaar placed 1st. Will Kelton placed 2nd. Brayden Liu, Elliot Hibbard, and Colten Siebert placed 3rd. While Luke Castro finished in 4th place.

This week, Oak Grove will host Daniel Wright on Tuesday night. Wrestling will start at approx. 4:30 pm. On Thursday, The Crosstown Classic, Oak Grove vs Highland, will be held at Libertyville High School. Wrestling will begin at 6:30 pm. The Eagles will finish the week with the Round Lake Magee Quad on Saturday. Wrestling will begin around 9 am.

Beginning Band: Things are shaping up with the Beginning Bands. Students are covering 1-2 new notes as we move forward. This week during lessons students will be playing on an individual basis through “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” and will be receiving feedback on what’s going well and areas of improvement.

Concert/Symphonic Bands: Solo/Ensemble sign-up has been extended through this Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 10 p.m. This is a voluntary event; however, all students are asked to complete the form (posted on Classroom) to let the teachers know what their commitment is.

Our early spring concert will be taking place on Wednesday, March 9 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Selections will be performed by both the bands. This is a mandatory event.

Jazz Band: There is still room if current music students are interested in joining the Jazz Band. Rehearsals are Monday/Friday before school starting at 7:15 a.m. Please reach out to Mr. Jones, Mr. Frankowski or Mr. Farris if you are interested.

Junior High Book Fair

The Anderson Junior High Book Fair was a hit! Thank you to Alyssa Osterman for generously allowing us to use the library all week & for helping the students with book selections. Thank you to Susan Gilbert, Kathy Azzato & Karen Draths for helping coordinate the details & the schedules. Thank you to Ozzie Suarez, Carlos Lemus & the maintenance staff for moving books & tables & helping with the set up. Thank you to all of the ELA teachers for bringing their students to the fair & supporting the PTO. Last, but certainly not least, thank you to the volunteers who helped organize, set up, tear down & run the fair: Beth Zender, Kate Byers, Haeli Byrnes, Elizabeth O’Neill, Lynsey Wolfe, Jill Giovanetti, Raabia Khan, Debbie Greer, Annette Ferstenfeld, Katherine Harris, Jen Tippett, Sylvia Siwinski, MaryAnne Korkut, Keli Likosar, Mia Hughes, Katie DuClos & Ponni Nainar. We couldn’t do it without everyone’s help! We hope the students enjoy their new books!

Feed My Starving Children

THANK YOU to everyone who signed up to serve this week and next at Feed My Starving Children. As a reminder the dates are Thursday, February 10th (4:30-6:15pm), Saturday, February 12th (7:00-8:45pm) and Monday, February 14th (7:00-8:45pm). Some spots remain on Monday, February 14th, but they have been released back to the public for booking so you can book directly on the FMSC website (rather than using the OGS code) if you still want to come. Please reach out to Brooke Schamber (brooklee5@gmail.com), if you have any questions.

Lunch Pantry Announcement

Don’t miss the lunch pantry announcement from Admin! We’ve all been there as parents– a lunch box is left at home or we didn’t get our Marla’s Hot Lunch order in on-time. Make sure you register your student(s) because lunch staff and volunteers cannot distribute food to students not signed up.

Show Your Love with Valentines to OGS Staff

February is the month to show your love! The PTO has a collection of coloring pages for students to create valentines. Students can color a page and add personalized notes to staff members. Classroom teachers, specials teachers, aides, Nurse Callie, Nurse Jen, Resource Teachers, the front office staff, district office staff, the lunch room staff, after-care staff, the librarians, Mrs. Barnabee, Mr. Murray, Mrs. Weber, the custodial staff, and Ms. Sherman would love to receive one!

Mark Your Calendar - March 2 @ 9:30am

The next PTO meeting will be March 2, 2022 at 9:30am. This is a change in meeting time to the previously published schedule. Please plan to join us!

The OGS Multicultural Fair is finally back! OGS administration, staff, and parents are excited to begin planning for this spring event. To accommodate mitigations and large numbers of participating families, we are planning for an outdoor event in mid-May. Details will follow as they are confirmed.

In the meantime, we are asking our families to complete this survey to let us know if you have an interest in hosting a table for the event, volunteering your time, and the best time of day for this event. For our new families, our survey descriptions and event pictures will give you an idea of what you can look forward to! Please complete this survey by Friday, Feb. 18.

Please click HERE to view the flyers in our virtual backpack. Flyers are updated weekly, so please check back often so you won't miss any of the events going on in our community.

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