Grass Lake School News

What a great week at Grass Lake to be a BRAVE! We had so much fun during our first Spirit Week of the year! Students and staff showed off their school pride with exciting themes each day, and the energy throughout the building was fantastic. It was wonderful to see so many students participate and embrace the school spirit!

This week, we also conducted our first fire drill of the year. I’m proud to share that we safely evacuated the building following all processes and procedures in less than three minutes! Student safety remains our number one priority, and we will continue to practice emergency drills to ensure all students are prepared in case of an emergency.

MAP testing has been completed, and scores will be sent home in the coming weeks. Our dedicated staff is now working hard to review the data and develop student groups, ensuring that we create opportunities in the classroom that meet every student’s unique needs. I am so proud of the amazing job our staff does for each individual student and cannot wait to see the growth of our students this year!

PTO Updates

We had our PTO meeting on Monday and some exciting things coming soon for everyone at GLS. Please see not only below but also included in this newsletter is more detailed information about each one of these events:

First up is the Double Good Popcorn Fundraiser, which is entirely virtual and 100% contactless. Each student will create a Pop-Up store to sell award-winning gourmet popcorn. The best part? 50% of the sales go directly to our school! If we beat last year’s total of $9,234, I’ll be spending the night on the roof – so yes, you read that right, I’ll be counting stars from up high! And as an extra incentive, if we break $9,500, I’ll be sporting a Chicago Bears onesie! (Not sure how my Green Bay Packers fan heart feels about that, but hey, it's for the kids!)

And that’s not all! Mark your calendars for Fall Fest on Saturday, October 19th, from 3:00-5:00 PM. This family-friendly event will feature trunk-or-treat, bonfires, s’mores, hot chocolate, games, and even a costume contest! It’s going to be a fantastic afternoon of fall fun, and we hope to see everyone there. Just remember, it’s not a drop-off event – so you’ll want to stick around for all the festivities!

Finally, head over to Jersey Mike's Subs between September 17th and September 19th to support Grass Lake School. Whether you order in-store or online, 30% of your purchase will go directly to support our PTO when you use the promo code GLSD36. This is a great way to grab lunch or dinner while supporting a great cause!

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

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.

Important Dates for the Fall:

August 19th 5pm- ALL SPORTS/ATHLETES Concussion Baseline Testing. This is for any student participating in a sport this upcoming 24/25 school year.

August 23rd- Athletic Packets Due!

August 26th- First Day of Practice: Fall Sports

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