Grove Student Newspaper Club - December 2023 Edition 

Please check out the December publication of our Grove 4th & 5th Grade Newspaper!! The mission of the Grove Newspaper Club is to strive to nurture a passion for writing, promote creativity and collaboration, and foster a sense of belonging. Most of all, it seeks to hear the voices of our students. We continue to share publications with our students, staff, and parents each month! Enjoy!

Updated Information from Specials Classes

Click on the link to the updated newsletter from our special teachers and take a few minutes to see what children are doing in each of our special areas!! 

Winter Break - Home Internet Safety Reminder and Resources

We realize that the break is often less structured than when school is in session, so it is a good time to remember the importance of our students practicing good digital citizenship and making healthy digital choices online. As a result, I am sharing a document below in English and Spanish with some tips for parents to keep in mind over the break for keeping students safe with their digital tools. Please click on this link to view the document and access some great resources that we have included for parents.

Home Internet Security Winter Break Reminder Resource 

Inicio Seguridad en Internet Recordatorio de vacaciones de invierno

Winter Benchmarking Begins After Winter Break

We will begin our winter assessments with students after we return from winter break in January. All students in grades K-2 participate in Fastbridge Assessments for reading and math. The Fastbridge reading and math assessments will be conducted our first two weeks back in January after winter break.  All students in grades 2-5 participate in the MAP Assessments for both reading and math. MAP assessments will begin the week of January 15th. Grove is also piloting the Fastbridge MySaebrs assessment (a social, academic, emotional screener), so students in 2nd-5th grade will participate in this assessment in January. I have included a link directly to the district letter with details regarding our assessments for your convenience. Please reach out to your child’s teacher or Mrs. Matthews with any questions.

Purdue STEM Gift Guide

Every year Purdue University creates an Engineering Gift Guide. "In their newest guide, the INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering's  2023 Engineering Gift Guide is once again filled with toys, games and books to engage children and teens in engineering thinking and design. Items included in the guide go through an extensive review process led by a student team. Faculty in the  School of Engineering Education and the  INSPIRE student research team look for items that promote engineering practices ranging from coding and spatial reasoning to problem solving and critical thinking." Here is the  link to this year's guide. We hope this helps you with your holiday shopping and gives you ideas to bring more STEM into your home! 

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!

Reminders

• Grove Cold Weather Procedures 

• Barrington 220 Inclement Weather Protocols 

Upcoming Dates

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

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

Tuesday, January 9th - School Resumes for Students 

Thursday, January 11th - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Game away @ North Barrington 

Thursday, January 11th - 5th Grade Girls Basketball Game @ home vs. North Barrington 

Thursday, January 11th - 2nd Grade Feed My Starving Children Outing, 4:30 p.m. 

Monday, January 15th - NO SCHOOL, MLK Day 

Grove Gift Ideas

Are you looking for teacher holiday gift ideas? Here is a list of our teacher and staff favorite things!