Message from the Office
We had an action packed first week of school together at Grove! We started the week with the solar eclipse viewing on the first day of school, students enjoyed the launch of our Positive Behavior System with the Peanuts Characters assembly, and our summer study sharing closed out the week! Pictures of each of these events will be highlighted on our new Principals’ Blog and our social media platforms where Miss Boskelly and I will post information for parents and share pictures throughout the year!
I have included a few reminders for parents below as we continue to work together and ensure that our students’ safety is always taken into account.
- Please communicate with the classroom teacher via an e-mail or note first thing in the morning if there is a change to the way a student is getting home. We want to make sure that classroom teachers are aware of any changes so they can help remind the children and facilitate plans with other school staff in order to ensure that all students go to the proper location at the end of each day. If there is a change of plans to the way a student is getting home in the middle of day, please call the main office so we can ensure that a message gets to a classroom teacher, as they may not check messages during the day while classes are in session. If a child has a schedule that is not the same each day, but consistent from week to week, it is beneficial to share that schedule with the classroom teacher and have it in a folder or on a tag connected to the child’s backpack that he/she can check as a reminder. Please remember that school ends at 2:10 p.m. on Wednesdays and ensure that school staff are aware if students have alternate plans at the end of the day on Wednesdays.
- All visitors that come to the school during the school day, while students are in class, must enter the building on the Cook St. and Illinois side doors and go directly into the main office. Visitors will not be permitted to enter on the Grove Ave. side during the school day, as everyone must check-in and sign-in with the secretaries in the main office.
- Once again, our students in grades 1-5 will be permitted to bring their iPads home each evening. When students are at school, our district filters are in place to keep students safe, however, district filters only work when the students are at school. Please be sure to keep in mind that the filters are not in place when students leave school and use iPads at home or public places. The filters that parents put into place on wireless modems are what will filter content from the internet when students are at home. Check out our One to World website for more information about guidelines for student use of iPads at home, as well as, other helpful information about getting access to internet and recommendations for filters at home.
https://www.barrington220.org/onetoworld
Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS)
We have officially launched a new Positive Behavior System at Grove. We implemented components of this system at the end of the school year last year with our expectations for the hallway, however, we are now implementing the system throughout the entire school and each area of the school. This is an initiative that has already been implemented in other schools in the district and all the way through Barrington High School. It is referred to as the Bronco Way in both the middle schools and the high school.
At Grove, we have established the Grove Avenue Way which consists of the following expectations:
- Be respectful
- Be responsible
- Be safe
- Be a learner
This week, our staff explicitly taught the expectations for each area throughout the school and established with students what it means to follow the Grove Avenue Way of being respectful, responsible, and safe in each unique area of the school. Posters have been created and hung throughout the school with the expectations for each area as reminders for students and as a tool for them to also help each other remember the Grove Avenue Way. One of the major components of this program is to recognize and celebrate students for demonstrating the Grove Avenue Way and to encourage students to help each other do what is right. As a result, we started the year with a skit from our Peanuts Characters from the Family Reading Program last year. In the skit, the characters demonstrated the incorrect and the correct way to conduct themselves in the lunchroom, office, hallway, bus, playground, bathroom, and classroom. The characters also modeled for students how to help one another follow expectations and the type of language students can use with each other.
We will continue to recognize students by handing out “Positive Claws” for demonstrating great behavior. One student from every class will be recognized each week over the morning announcements and in the Grizzly based on a drawing of the “Positive Claws” that are turned in to the office. Entire classes of students will also be recognized with a “Golden Claw” and will be recognized on the morning announcements when the class earns twenty “Golden Claws”. Every “Positive Paw” that is earned by students will also contribute towards earning an all school reward once the container for “Positive Paws” is completely filled.
School staff will continue to support students throughout the year by reviewing, re-teaching or reminding students of the expectations when necessary. We will also work with students and families to positively support students as they continue to learn the expectations.
Solar Eclipse Recycling Project!
5th grade extended reading class is collecting used solar glasses for Astronomers without Borders. The collection of glasses will be sent to Astronomers without Borders who will redistribute glasses for other eclipse events around the world. For example, there will be two eclipses in South America and one in Africa between now and 2020.
Great work 5th grade extended reading class!
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