The Grove

What a fantastic first week of school even with the weather closure. It has been a pleasure welcoming back our returning students and introducing our new students to the Oak Grove family.

The energy and enthusiasm in our classrooms is truly inspiring. Our teachers have worked diligently to create welcoming and engaging learning environments. I am confident that this year will be filled with growth, discovery, and success for all of our students.

Important Reminders

• School Starting Time: Our doors open at 7 AM and we begin instruction with the tardy bell ringing at 7:30 AM. Please help us by having your student arrive to school on time.
• Drop-off and Pick-up: Please remember to use the designated drop-off and pick-up zones to ensure the safety of all students. Students can also be dropped off in the bus loop starting at 7:15 am. Students are to be dropped off only at the breezeway area where staff is ready to assist. For the safety of your children, do not drop them off in the parking lot area to cross traffic. Safety is top priority. Parents are asked to stay in the vehicle as staff is available to assist children.
• Communication: We encourage you to stay informed by checking your child's backpack daily for important notices and following their Parent Square App for updates for the school or district.
• Volunteers: We welcome parent volunteers to support our school community. Please contact the school office if you are interested in volunteering.
• Breakfast: Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria daily from 7:00-7:30. It will no longer be free to all students. If you choose to eat breakfast at school, the cost is $1.90 or $0.30 for reduced cost. If you are interested in applying to see if you qualify for free or reduced lunch, please see the information below in the newsletter.
• Walking Child to Class: Monday is the last day to walk your child/children to class without getting a visitor's pass. Starting Tuesday, please go to the front office with your ID to get a visitor's pass to visit the classroom.

Starting this Monday, August 12, ALL four- and five-year-old kindergarten students will attend school on a regular daily schedule.

The staggered start went very well and created an opportunity for our teachers to foster a more personal and supportive environment for your child while focusing attention on the strengths and needs through individual assessments.

Families are welcomed to walk their student to class through this Monday, August 12th without a visitor's pass. Starting Tuesday, August 13th, if a family member would like to walk their child to class please stop by the front office with your driver license to get a visitor's pass. Teachers will begin instruction with their students at 7:30.

Parents,

As school is off to a great start, we still need to complete fee payments for students. Please scan the QR code above or follow the directions below to log into PowerSchool’s Parent Portal to view and pay school fees online.

​Log in to Parent Portal (Click here if you need directions on how to create your PowerSchool ParentPortal account.)

Click on the shopping cart icon in the upper right corner to enter your payment information and submit payment.

Please note that Lexington County School District One does not store or retain your credit card information. A trusted third party, RycorPay, securely processes all online fee transactions. If you have questions about the classes listed for your student, please contact your child’s school. If you have questions about the online payment system please email onlinepayments@lexington1.net.

If you applied for free/reduced lunch and received an approval email or letter, please bring it by the school or email it to Ms. Shealy at tlshealy@lexington1.net to waive school fees. If approval letter is not received, school fees are the responsibility of the parent/guardian to be paid online through the parent portal website.

If placing a mobile order use the code “OakGrove24”. It is case sensitive. Thank you for supporting Oak Grove PTO.

Doors open at 7:00 am and students will be dropped off in front of the school at the breezeway. Once busses have dropped off, students can also be dropped off in the bus loop starting at 7:15 am. Students are to be dropped off only at the breezeway area where staff is ready to assist. For the safety of your children, do not drop them off in the parking lot area to cross traffic. Safety is top priority and why all students are to be dropped off at the breezeway. Parents are asked to stay in the vehicle as staff is available to assist children.

The tardy bell rings at 7:30 AM. If arrival is after 7:30, parents will need to park and walk their student(s) in to sign them in with the front office.

AFTER SCHOOL PICK-UP: Do you have your car tags?

Pick-up will occur only in the front loop closest to the building. Cars will enter and exit in the same area (closest to the tennis complex) and be double stacked for dismissal. Signs are posted indicating where traffic will merge into one lane. Please see the diagram below for the traffic flow.

If your child will be a car rider or walker on any given day this year, you will need a car/walker tag for each student. Car/Walker tags are by grade and issued every year. Please get as many as you will need for family members that will be picking them up. Also, please throw away all tags from last school year.

Car tags are available in the front office Monday-Friday 7-4 pm.

If a vehicle does not have a car tag and is in the car line to pick up a student, they will be asked to park and come into the front office with identification to get a car tag. This is for the safety of the student.

• Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria daily from 7:00-7:30. It will no longer be free to all students. If you choose to eat breakfast at school, the cost is $1.90 or $0.30 for reduced cost. If you are interested in applying to see if you qualify for free or reduced lunch, please see the information below in the newsletter.

◆ Breakfast - $1.90

Reduced breakfast - $0.30

Additional breakfast for students is $1.80

We are looking forward to having our families join us for school lunch. We are going to take the first three weeks of school to get the students acclimated to their school environment and learn the lunch room procedures. Starting, Wednesday, August 28th, families are allowed to come to visit their child for lunch.

◆ Lunch - $3.40

Reduced lunch - $0.40

Additional lunch for students is $3.30

◆ Breakfast - $1.90

• Reduced breakfast - $0.30
• Additional breakfast for students is $1.80

◆ Lunch - $3.40

• Reduced lunch - $0.40
• Additional lunch for students is $3.30

Breakfast for a week will cost $9.50

Lunch for a week will cost $17

Thank you for making sure your child's account has money on it to avoid it going in the negative. You may send in money for the cafeteria, add money over the phone via card by calling (803) 821-0153 or by

Early Dismissals of a student will need to be before 2:00 pm and in person. We can not take any dismissal requests over the phone. A driver's license will be needed as well as be on the approved contact list in order to dismiss a student.

If your child will be a bus rider for the 2024–25 school year, please check your student’s bus number, bus stop locations and pick-up/drop-off times in Parent Portal.

1. Log in to Parent Portal
2. Under the Navigation menu on the left-hand side of the screen, click on the Bus Info icon.
3. Review your student’s bus information in the table on the Parent Portal Bus Information screen. The image below is an example of what you should see.

Next steps
If there is no bus information listed in the table, complete annual registration in FinalForms. Your child can not be assigned a bus until annual registration is completed.

Click here for information on how to complete annual registration.

One more step for parents/guardians of Pre-K and Kindergarten bus riders:

The 2024–25 Kindergarten Bus Pick-up Information form in Parent Portal must be completed for bus riders in Pre-K–Kindergarten before the start of school.

A designated adult or older sibling must be present to put the kindergarten child on the bus. They must meet the bus and show an ID to receive the kindergarten child when the bus arrives to drop the child off or the child will be returned to the elementary school.

To complete the form in Parent Portal:

• Click on your Pre-K or Kindergarten student’s name in the top left corner of the Parent Portal screen.
• Select Forms in the Navigation menu on the left.
• In the General Forms tab, click on 2024-25 Kindergarten Bus Pick-up Information.
• Add names and telephone numbers under Authorized Persons.
• Click Submit to complete the form.

Have questions?

Contact your area bus hub:

Lexington/River Bluff: (803) 821-1340
Special Needs (All Areas): (803) 821-1345

The 2024–25 Kindergarten Bus Pick-up Information form in Parent Portal must be completed for bus riders in Pre-K–Kindergarten before the start of school.

A designated adult or older sibling must be present to put the kindergarten child on the bus. They must meet the bus and show an ID to receive the kindergarten child when the bus arrives to drop the child off or the child will be returned to the elementary school.

To complete the form in Parent Portal:

• Click on your Pre-K or Kindergarten student’s name in the top left corner of the Parent Portal screen.
• Select Forms in the Navigation menu on the left.
• In the General Forms tab, click on 2024-25 Kindergarten Bus Pick-up Information.
• Add names and telephone numbers under Authorized Persons.
• Click Submit to complete the form.

State Law in the form of a proviso included in the 2024-2025 state budget requires the following:

“To receive state funds allocated for State Aid to Classrooms, a school district shall implement a policy adopted by the State Board of Education that prohibits access to personal electronic communication devices by students during the school day. For purposes of this provision, a personal electronic communication device is considered to be a device not authorized for classroom use by a student, utilized to access the Internet, wi-fi, or cellular telephone signals.”

Lexington One will begin the 2024-25 school year following the district’s current cell phone policy, which is explained below. After the State Board of Education adopts a policy, district administrators will work with our School Board to update our district policy.

Cellular telephone and other personal communication devices are used for various reasons, including emergency use and parental communication.

Middle and high school students may possess a personal communication device in school according to the following guidelines:

The device remains silent and is not visible or in use during instructional time. Teachers may allow, however, the instructional use of personal communication devices at their discretion.

Personal communication devices are not permitted to be used in locker rooms, restrooms or other personal spaces.

Middle and high school students may use their personal communication device before and after school, during class changes and during their assigned lunch as long as the use does not disrupt the school environment.

Elementary school students may possess a personal communication device as long as the device remains off and is not visible during the school day. They are not permitted to use personal communication devices during the school day. Teachers may allow, however, the instructional use of personal communication devices at their discretion.

Students and parents should understand that possession of these devices could pose a risk of loss or theft. We encourage students to properly label their devices and take steps to keep them safe. The school/district will not be liable for lost or damaged devices.

The school principal reserves the right to limit and/or confiscate these devices if the use of these devices is causing a disruption to the school.

A person who finds a student in violation of this policy must report the student to the school principal or his/ her designee. Upon notification, the principal or his/her designee will follow these procedures:

Number of offense(s) . . . . . Consequence(s) 1st violation . . . . . . . . . . . . Student conference held. 2nd violation. . . . . . . . . . . . Student / Parent conference held.

3rd violation . . . . . . . . . . . . Student / Parent conference held. Student receives detention.

Additional violations . . . . . Student / Parent conference held. Student receives in-school or out-of-school suspension. Continued violations may result in a recommendation for expulsion.

Violations of the laws of the United States or of the State of South Carolina may subject students to criminal prosecution.

Remember to purchase your All-Sports Pass for the 24-25 Athletic Season! Student All-Sports passes are on sale for $40 until the day of the first home football game (Aug. 23rd)!

Green, Gold, and Super Gator passes are also now available. We have limited parking spots available, so buy those Super Gator passes early!

Let's show our Gator pride and support all our teams this season!
Purchase your passes at https://riverbluffathletics.com/

#GatorNation #UsWeRB #GatorPride

Website: https://sc50000473.schoolwires.net/Page/45
Location: 479 Oak Drive, Lexington, 29073
Phone: (803) 821-0100
Facebook: facebook.com/oakgrovepatriots

PTO Facebook: Facebook.com/OGE Patriots Pto
X: @ogelementary

Instruction Begins 7:30 AM

Dismissal 2:20 PM

Lexington County School District One’s

Nondiscrimination Statement

Revised 06-02-2023

Lexington County School District One is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all students, parents/legal guardians, staff, visitors, personnel and community members who participate or seek to participate in its programs or activities. Therefore, the district does not discriminate against any individual on the basis of race or ethnicity, religion, sex, pregnancy (including childbirth or any related medical conditions), color, physical or mental disability, age, ancestry, genetic information, national origin, immigrant status or English-speaking status, marital or family status, or any other protected characteristic as may be required by law.

The district will use the grievance procedures set forth in policy to respond to complaints based on alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Equal Pay Act of 1963; the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008; and Titles I and II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

The district designates specific individuals to handle inquiries or complaints. To find out whom to contact and how to contact them, please go to our website at http://www.lexington1.net/contact-us.