Grove Avenue Principal Blog: January 2024

Friday, January 26, 2024

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!!

SOUL Harbour Ranch Animal Therapy Program for Elementary Students

Join Barrington Area Library for the Pet Partners "Read With Me™ program, a reading initiative with the registered Pet Partners therapy dogs of SOUL Harbour Ranch. Students will enjoy some cozy one-on-one reading time with Barrington's favorite therapy dogs!

DATES: October 2023-March 2024 (2nd Saturday of the month)

TIME: 10am-11am (15 min sessions)

Spaces limited. Meets in the Program Room at Barrington Area Library!

Kindergarten Round-Up for 2024-2025

Do you have a child entering kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year? Barrington 220 is implementing free full-day kindergarten at all of our elementary schools in August 2024. Each elementary school is holding an in-person information session on Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6:00 p.m. in their buildings. If you plan to attend, please fill out this form.

In addition to full-day kindergarten at each of our eight elementary schools, Barrington 220 offers three optional programs. These include our innovative new Kindergarten Lab Program or "K-Lab" at Barrington High School, the Spanish Dual Language Program, and the Chinese Immersion Program.

Please check out the Kindergarten Information Hub on the district website for more information about all kindergarten programming in District #220.

Learn More About Barrington 220's New Kindergarten Lab Program!

Do you have a child entering kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year? Are you interested in enrolling your child in Barrington 220's innovative new Kindergarten Lab Program at Barrington High School? The K-Lab will include two kindergarten classes (46 students total), and it will provide unique learning opportunities to students, thanks to its location on the high school campus. An information session will be held at BHS on Monday, Feb. 5 at 6pm. Click here to learn more!

Winter Benchmarking Assessments

We began our winter assessments with students earlier this month. All students in grades K-2 participate in Fastbridge Assessments for reading and math. All students in grades 2-5 participate in the MAP Assessments for both reading and math. Make-Up sessions for both assessments will be completed this week. 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.

Reminders

Upcoming Dates

Saturday, January 27th - Elementary STEM Event at Station (must be registered)

Monday, January 29th - 5th Grade Challenger Field Trip (2 classes)

Monday, January 29th - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Game away vs. Sunny Hill

Monday, January 29th -5th Grade Girls Basketball Game @ home vs. Sunny Hill

Tuesday, January 30th - 5th Grade Challenger Field Trip (1 class)

Wednesday, January 31st - -5th Grade Girls Basketball Game away vs. Lines

Wednesday, January 31st -5th Grade BoysBasketball Game @ home vs. Sunny Hill

Thursday, February 1st - Grove Kindergarten Round-Up for 2024-2025, 6:00 p.m. in the music room

Thursday, February 8th - Grove Family Reading Program Begins!!!

Wednesday, February 14th - Classroom Valentine’s Day Parties, 1:15-2:00 p.m.

Thursday, February 15th - Family Reading Program (FRP) Week #1 Logs Due

Thursday, February 15th - Family Reading Program (FRP) Week #1 Celebration

Friday, February 16th - NO SCHOOL for Students, Teacher Institute Day

Monday, February 19th - NO SCHOOL, President’s Day

Handmade Holiday - Valentine's Edition
There are a few spots left in the 3rd-5th grade projects. If your child is in K-2 but is interested in attending, they can sign up for the 3rd-5th grade spots.

Saturday, January 20, 2024

D220 Presents our Annual K-5 STEM Family Event for 2024 - A Winter Wonderland

All K-5 students are invited to our Saturday, January 27, 2024 STEM Event. This is a family event so the whole family is welcome. Please come and enjoy self-paced activities for students in grades Kindergarten through 5th grade. Activities include robotic challenges, LEGO building, and an engineering challenge.

This event will be held at Station Middle School

Station Middle School

215 S. Eastern Ave.

Barrington, IL 60010

To maximize participation this year, we are hosting two sessions for this event.

Session One

9:00am-10:30am

Session Two

10:45am -12:15pm

All students must be accompanied by an adult. Registration for each session is limited to the first 200 students, so please see the flyer for more detailed information, as well as the link or QR code to register.

2024 STEM Event Registration

2024 STEM Event Registration - SP

Kindergarten Round-Up for 2024-2025

Please check out the Kindergarten Information Hub on the district website for more information about all kindergarten programming in District #220.

Learn More About Barrington 220's New Kindergarten Lab Program!

Winter Benchmarking Assessments

We began our winter assessments with students earlier this month. All students in grades K-2 participate in Fastbridge Assessments for reading and math. The Fastbridge reading and math assessments will continue to be conducted into this coming week. All students in grades 2-5 participate in the MAP Assessments for both reading and math. MAP assessments started this week. 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.

Reminders

Upcoming Dates

Monday, January 22nd - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Game @ home vs. Roslyn Road

Monday, January 22nd -5th Grade Girls Basketball Game away vs. Roslyn Road

Tuesday, January 23rd - PTO Meeting, 9:15 a.m. in the MPR

Thursday, January 25th - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Game away vs. Countryside

Thursday, January 25th -5th Grade Girls Basketball Game @ home vs. Countryside

Friday, January 26th - PTO Code Ninjas Event, 6-9 p.m. in Hoffman Estates (must be registered)

Saturday, January 27th - Elementary STEM Event at Station (must be registered)

Monday, January 29th - 5th Grade Challenger Field Trip (2 classes)

Monday, January 29th - 5th Grade Boys Basketball Game away vs. Sunny Hill

Monday, January 29th -5th Grade Girls Basketball Game @ home vs. Sunny Hill

Tuesday, January 30th - 5th Grade Challenger Field Trip (1 class)

Tuesday, January 30th - 5th Grade Girls Basketball Game away vs. Lines

Tuesday, January 30th -5th Grade BoysBasketball Game @ home vs. Sunny Hill

Thursday, February 1st - Grove Kindergarten Round-Up for 2024-2025, 6:00 p.m. in the music room

Code Ninjas Spirit Night is next week! There are still spots available and PTO would love to fill those up! Kids will get dropped off for 3 hours and be provided with pizza, drinks and a great time to play with friends.

Packs of Plenty: We are looking for volunteers to help with packing and delivering food back to Grove on Thursday mornings. The winter months tend to have less volunteers and we would love your support! This is a wonderful (and very easy) way to give back to our community, and specifically to some of our students! Thank you for your consideration.

PTO Dates to Know: Please note the updated dates for Tae Kwon Do and the time for our Valentine's Day Classroom parties due to the Wednesday early release day schedule.

Saturday, January 13, 2024

Grove Student Newspaper Club - January 2024 Edition

Please check out the January 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!

D220 Presents our Annual K-5 STEM Family Event for 2024 - A Winter Wonderland

This event will be held at Station Middle School

Station Middle School

215 S. Eastern Ave.

Barrington, IL 60010

To maximize participation this year, we are hosting two sessions for this event.

Session One

9:00am-10:30am

Session Two

10:45am -12:15pm

2024 STEM Event Registration

2024 STEM Event Registration - SP

Kindergarten Round-Up for 2024-2025

Please check out the Kindergarten Information Hub on the district website for more information about all kindergarten programming in District #220.

Learn More About Barrington 220's New Kindergarten Lab Program!

Grove Cold Weather Procedures

Our weather is supposed to shift and get much colder this weekend, so we want to make sure parents are aware of our procedures for students being outside before school and at recess during the school day! During the winter months, our students will line up outside or go outside for recess as much as possible. If the temperature or wind chill is zero degrees or below the students will line up inside or 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 in the morning before school and 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 or outside on the playground.

We also want to make sure that parents are clear on the procedures for students playing in the snow at recess. 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. 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. Thank you for your help in making sure our students are warm and ready to play throughout the winter months!!

Winter Benchmarking Assessments

We began our winter assessments with students this past week. All students in grades K-2 participate in Fastbridge Assessments for reading and math. The Fastbridge reading and math assessments will continue to be conducted into this coming week. All students in grades 2-5 participate in the MAP Assessments for both reading and math. MAP assessments will begin this coming week. 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.

Reminders