Barrington 220 Winter Wonderfest Returns to BHS - December 8th & 9th

The Barrington High School Fine Arts Department proudly presents the 4th Annual Winter Wonderfest! Winter Wonderfest runs December 8-9, and it will be an open house with activities happening primarily inside the new front atrium addition at BHS. The event will include DJs, carnival games, holiday crafts, hot chocolate for purchase, and more! Click on the link to purchase tickets to attend Winter Wonderfest!! 

Student Contributions to Grove Tree at BHS Winter Wonderfest 

Every school in the Barrington 220 district has the opportunity to decorate a tree outside of the high school to be part of this festive event at BHS. This year, the Grove Ave PTO will be creating a garland of gingerbread people - each one decorated individually by our students, teachers and staff! These gingerbread people will be strung together to create a garland that aligns to our district theme of "Unified for 50" and our Grove theme of "All in this Together"!

Students will be coming home with a sheet that contains a gingerbread person outline and some instructions. This is their chance to get creative and decorate any way they'd like. We ask that students include a picture of their face over the gingerbread face as part of their design. You do not have to cut out the gingerbread person, but simply send it back to school with your student to return to their classroom teacher by Thursday, November 30th. 

We encourage all of our Grove families to attend the BHS Winter Wonderfest and visit our Grove tree!! Thank you for your support!

Take the Barrington 220 External Communications Survey 

In June of 2023, the Barrington 220 Board of Education approved the district’s new strategic plan, Framework 220, which will guide the district’s work over the next few years. The plan consists of six strategic priorities, and within each priority there are several measurable objectives. 

In order to move the work forward on these objectives and ensure that our strategic plan continues to be a collaborative process, Barrington 220 is using a survey platform called Qualtrics to gain your feedback. If you are a Barrington 220 parent/guardian, student, or community member, please take our 3-minute external communications survey.  Please click here to take our 3-minute external communications survey!

Grove Lost and Found

Our lost and found is full! Please have your child check the lost and found for any missing items. Any items that are not claimed before we leave for our Thanksgiving Break will be removed and donated over the break as we are out of space!! 

GROVE Cold Weather Procedures

Our weather is starting to shift and get colder with our first sightings of snow last week on Halloween, so we want to make sure parents are aware of our procedures for students being outside as it gets cold! During the winter months, our students will go outside for recess as much as possible. If the temperature or wind chill is zero degrees or below the students will remain inside for recess. When the wind chill or temperature is above zero students will be outside. As a result, please be sure to send your children to school fully dressed to be outside for recess. It is also recommended that students bring layers such as sweatshirts and sweaters to take on and off throughout the day. Please be sure to put your child’s name somewhere on all items so that they can easily be identified and returned to students if they drop them or lose them in the school! 

I am hopeful that more snow will not be upon us for a while, but wanted to share our procedures for recess when there is snow. In order for students to play in the snow at school, they must have a winter coat, snow pants, boots, gloves, and a hat or earmuffs, as we want them to stay dry and be able to return to the classroom in the afternoon and concentrate on learning. We will try to have extra items for students at school in case they forget, but it is beneficial for students to bring all of these items each day during the winter so they are prepared no matter what. When there is enough snow on the ground, students will be able to participate in sledding at school, so they must be properly dressed! In addition, students should have a pair of gym shoes to wear during the school day while in class and in order to participate safely in P.E. each day. 

Barrington 220 Cold Weather Protocols 

As we head into winter, we would like to remind families of Barrington 220’s inclement weather protocol. In the event of inclement weather, the Superintendent of Schools will implement one of the following three scenarios:

School Canceled: All school buildings will be closed and students will make up the inclement weather day at the end of the school year.

Early Dismissal: There may be some rare occasions where it will be necessary to dismiss school early. On these days, middle and high schools will dismiss first. Elementary school students will be released at their regular dismissal time.

E-Learning: All school buildings will be closed, however students and staff will complete the school day from home. This would eliminate the need to make up days at the end of the school year. Teachers will check their usual electronic communication methods throughout the day during regular school hours, in order to support students. Students will have five (5) school days to complete their assigned work for the day and receive additional assistance from their teacher as needed.

• Elementary Schools/ELC: Early childhood through fifth grade children will have access to their assignments through their teacher’s usual electronic communication method of See-Saw or Schoology. Additionally, kindergarten through fifth grade students will receive assignments for Specials (art, music, physical education, library, and STEM) that they would typically have for the day from their teachers.

• Middle School/High School: Students will have access to their assignments through the normal electronic method of Schoology. They should have an assignment/learning experience for each class.

Inclement Weather Communication: School closings due to inclement weather or other unusual circumstances will be announced on the district website, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram social media pages. Families will also receive a text, phone call and email through the Infinite Campus emergency notification system.

Emergency Notification Test: Barrington 220 will send out a TEST of the Infinite Campus emergency notification system to all district parents/guardians and staff members on Friday, Nov. 10 at around 6pm. If you do not receive this test within 30 minutes of 6pm, please email Campus Messenger at campusmessenger@barrington220.org.

Report Cards for the First Marking Period

Our first marking period was over last week. As a result, our teachers are currently working on report cards and the reports will be released to parents electronically via the Infinite Campus (IC) Parent Portal at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 21st. Report cards are NOT printed in paper form, as we went GREEN several years ago, so parents must access the reports via IC.

Attendance the Week of Thanksgiving

School is in session for two days during the week of Thanksgiving. It is important that students are in attendance on Monday, November 20th and Tuesday, November 21st!

 

Barrington Giving Days 

Barrington Giving Day is a Non-Profit organization that invites families in the 220 School District to a Giving Day event where they receive food, warm coats, hats/gloves, blankets, books, toys, and other much-needed items. Over 900 families in our community are in need of help. There are collection boxes in the main entrance of Grove where new or gently used/like new books may be dropped off from now until December 1st. Our PTO will be sponsoring a special classroom lunch celebration for the class that donates the largest number of items.

 

Upcoming Dates

Tuesday, November 21st - November PTO Meeting, 9:15 a.m. 

Tuesday, November 21st - Report Cards Available for Parents in I.C., 5 p.m. 

Wednesday, November 22nd - NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Break 

Thursday, November 23rd - NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Day!! 

Friday, November 24th - NO SCHOOL, Thanksgiving Break 

Thursday, November 30th - PTO Holiday Shopping Event, 4-7 p.m. 

Friday, December 1st - Deadline for Barrington Giving Day Donations 

Tuesday, December 12th - Band and Orchestra Concert, 6:30 p.m. 

Thursday, December 14th - 1st and 4th Grade Musical, 6:30 p.m. 

Friday, December 22nd - Winter Parties, 2:45 p.m.

December 25th - January 8th - NO SCHOOL, Winter Break