Oak Grove District News

For the first time since 2017, the Northwestern Center for Talent Development performed an audit of the district’s gifted services.

Oak Grove was recognized for its strengths in the following areas:

• Data utilized for identification of students

• Early entrance protocol

• Successful implementation of talent development in grades K-3

The audit also provided a few recommendations including:

• Regular review of individual student data to continually identify students in need of services

• Eliminate weighting of criteria and use of a matrix to promote equity

• Reduce steps and streamline the volume of data used in the identification process

• Provide access to above-grade-level curriculum in English Language Arts and provide additional course selections for math in grades 6-8

As a result of the audit, the district will be making the following adjustments to gifted services for the 2024-2025 school year:

• Math courses for grades 6-8 will expand from two levels to three offering a double-accelerated pathway for students

• TAG ELA for grades 4-6 will adjust from an enrichment delivery model to an accelerated delivery model by school year 2025-2026

For more detail about these changes, please visit the Oak Grove website’s Talented and Gifted services page.

We honored and appreciated our amazing Oak Grove Administrative Assistants on April 24. Their tireless efforts keep our school running smoothly, supporting every student, teacher, and staff member with unmatched dedication. Mrs. Azzato, Mrs. Draths, and Mrs. Gilbert are the friendly faces you see as you walk into Oak Grove each day. Handling tasks behind the scenes are the District Office administrative assistants Mrs. McBride, Mrs. Beres, and Mrs. Lambert. We appreciate and thank these essential members of our team.

On April 19, Oak Grove School hosted our annual Sub Appreciation Breakfast to express our gratitude to the substitute teachers who step in and make a difference every day. Their dedication and flexibility ensure our students continue to receive quality education, even in the absence of their teachers.

Angelo Kouzoukas was surprised when Superintendent Allison Sherman pulled him from class in April. It turned into a great surprise when she shared his family’s silent auction bid at the Oak Grove School Education Foundation Gala had earned him the special honor of being superintendent for a day.

“The most important thing about being a superintendent is making choices,” Angelo explained. “I think I would like to be superintendent someday.”

During Angelo’s busy day as superintendent, he masterfully responded to a possible security threat when the Eagle mascot appeared locked out of the building on the cameras. He made responsible decisions with the building maintenance crew and met with the Board of Education president to recommend that PE games be integrated into instructional time. He met with new students, visited classrooms, thanked teachers, and held an assembly!

“I think the community needs to know that there’s good staff here and good people at the head of the school,” he added. The teachers are nice, kind, and reliable, and if you want your kids to make friends in two seconds, they should come here.”

Each year, the Lake Region Illinois Principals Association hosts a student recognition event for students selected by their school principals and teacher teams for leadership within the school and community. Oak Grove School recipients are Will Johnston and Vasiliki Margiolas. Congratulations!

Board of Education member Cathie DeMoon visited the OGS Early Childhood classroom at the Lincoln Early Childhood Center in Mundelein. For the first year, OGS has its own classroom at the center, where students work with a dedicated classroom teacher, paraprofessional, and related service providers to receive targeted services. The program will continue to be housed at Lincoln next year with plans to develop a blended early childhood classroom in the future. Oak Grove is also in the planning stages to support some of our students who attend various programs within SEDOL (Special Education District of Lake County) at Oak Grove beginning the 25-26 school year.

Thank You/Gracias/Aragato to all the volunteer families, students, and staff who made the Multicultural Fair a huge success. More than 300 attendees visited booths showcasing cultures, traditions, and food from over 20 countries! Guests could choose from multiple backdrops to create “postcards” from various countries and were treated to student performances reflective of many cultures. These performances were broadcast on the new large screen in the gym, which was recently donated by the Oak Grove School Education Foundation. Countries represented in the fair were Hong Kong, Nigeria, Russia, Pakistan, Poland, Palestine, China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Norway, Brazil, the USA, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan.

• May 6-10 - Teacher Appreciation Week

• May 10 - Variety Show, 4:30 and 7:00 pm

• May 13-16 - BOGO Book Fair

• May 24 - Field Day and Early Release Day

• May 24 - 8th Grade Dance

• May 27 - No School

• May 28 - 8th Grade Graduation

• June 3 - Last Day of School

• June 5 - New Kindergarten & New Family Walk-in Registration 1:00 - 6:00 pm

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On Thursday, May 2, Oak Grove School District thanked its volunteers by providing breakfast in their honor, with more than 240 invitations extended. We have so many wonderful volunteers within our community who help in various ways, which makes Oak Grove such an amazing school. This annual breakfast is our way of letting the volunteers know how truly extraordinary we think they are and showing them how much we appreciate the time and support they give our staff and students throughout the school year.

Oak Grove School students were recognized for inspiring others, facing adversity, and success in the school and community. We are grateful to our community partners for supporting and recognizing our students.