Principal's Message - February 24, 2023

2/24/23

Upcoming Dates:
There is no school on Friday, March 3rd.
There is no school on Monday, March 6th.
There is an early release on Tuesday, March 14th. Students will be dismissed at 1:30 PM.
There is an early release on Thursday, March 23rd. Students will be dismissed at 1:30 PM.
There is no school on Friday, March 24th.
Spring Break- There is no school from Monday, March 27th to Friday, March 31st. 
There is no school on Tuesday, April 4th.
There is no school on Friday, April 7th.
There is a half day of school on Friday, April 21st. Students will be dismissed at 11:10 AM.
There is an early release on Tuesday, April 25th. Students will be dismissed at 1:30 PM.

 

Congratulations!
Lucy Holloway recently won the Suntimes Student Mural Contest! Congratulations!

 

Congratulations!
Each month, Twin Groves will be recognizing students who are model citizens of our Colts Community!
The Twin Groves Staff would like to recognize the following students who consistently demonstrate that they are Responsible, Respectful, and Safe. In addition to these 3 traits, we are also recognizing students for being leaders, role models, supportive peers, brave, and positive.

Julia Angelow 
Spencer Belinky
Ashley Chen 
Elisabeth Ellis 
Steven Levy 
Jackson Nguyen 
Sophia Peterson 
Alex Zhou
Margad Zolboo 
 

 

What’s Happening at TG?
Orchestra: Congratulations to all of the students who participated in the IGSMA Solo/Ensemble Contest on Feb. 4th! I am very proud of all of you!

We are getting ready for our upcoming “Music In Our Schools Month” Concert next Thursday, March 2nd at 6:30 pm. Please make sure to refer to my previously sent emails for more information. We are looking forward to a fabulous concert!

Upcoming Orchestra Events/Deadlines:
Thursday, March 2, 6:30 pm @ TG Large Gym: 6-8 Music in Our Schools Month Concert
Wednesday, March 22, 7:00 pm @ WL Gym: TG/WL Chamber Orchestra Concert

 
Spanish: In Spanish, the 6th graders have just finished learning their subject pronouns and will use this to dive into a unit on describing themselves and others.  In 7th grade, we are learning to talk about the food we eat and in 8th grade, we are talking about the chores that we do around the house.

Band: 
Celebrations 
The Solo/ Ensemble contest was a success with all of our students doing their best and receiving outstanding ratings. I was extremely proud of them as they were performing and playing at a very high level.
The Band Festival, February 10, was a great success. The Honor band of 59 students and about 50 more students from 5th and 6th grades came together for a great day of learning from master teachers. The students learned much and are incorporating their understanding into their playing now. We are very thankful for the music boosters sponsoring this event.
This Week February 27 - March 3
Monday: Honor Band after School rehearsal
Tuesday: Band lessons during the day, Honor Band after School
Wednesday: 8th-grade band after school
Thursday: Band lessons during the day, 7th-grade band after school

Thursday evening, March 2,  at 7:45 PM Music in our Schools Month Concert. Students should be in the band room at 7:15 PM. Doors will open to parents at 7:40 PM. This concert involves 7th and 8th-grade band students and 6th-grade students in the jazz band or the Honor Band.

Friday, March 3: The Honor band will be traveling to Parkland School in McHenry for the Large ensemble contest. Students have been preparing since December for this event and we are peaking at just the right time. Do your best band!

7th Grade Orchestra and Band Field Trip to the Elgin Symphony. On Wednesday, March 15th, the students in the 7th-grade orchestra and band programs will be traveling to the Elgin Symphony. We will experience the great sounds of the full orchestra and have a fun morning together.

 

 

NEW *Student Led Conferences*

Student Led Spring Conferences will be held on Thursday, March 23rd from 5:00 pm to 8:30 pm and Friday, March 24th from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm.  
Conferences will be 20 minutes in length for students in grades 1 - 8. Students in kindergarten and early childhood will have 15-minute conferences, and students in Guided, Structured, and ILC classrooms will have 15-minute conferences. 
During the conferences, students will be guiding their parents/guardians through a reflective presentation regarding the progress they have made this year as well as areas of strength and growth. After the presentation has concluded students will be able to provide a tour of other learning spaces in the school.
The Meet the Teacher sign-up will be open to parents at 5:00 pm on Monday, March 6th, and it will close on Sunday, March 19th at 11:55 pm. After that, you will need to call the school office to schedule a conference.
Please Note: All student-led conferences will be held in person. There will be no remote option for Student Led Spring Conferences. If you are unable to attend in person, students will be able to share their presentations at home.
Because conferences are student-led, there will be no conferences scheduled or provided between the parent and teacher only.

 

 

NEW *Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR)*

Students in grades 3 - 8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) each spring. This year the district will be administering the IAR to students from Tuesday, March 7th through Monday, March 13th. Prairie Elementary and Kildeer Countryside Elementary have been selected for a field test this year, which will be administered on Tuesday, March 14th.

 

 

 

Focus Groups
Dear District 96 Parent(s)/Guardian(s), 
The Catalyst Club in District 96 is a drug prevention, education, and awareness club. We work in conjunction with Stevenson High School’s Catalyst Club and community partners, OMNI Youth Services and the Stand Strong Coalition, to create fun and informational programming and events as well as media prevention campaigns throughout the year. 


In order to obtain feedback about this year’s media campaign, OMNI Youth Services, in partnership with the Stand Strong Coalition, will be holding grade-level focus groups in the local middle schools. This will allow students an opportunity to critically inform the upcoming communication campaigns. Prevention research supports students are more likely to remember, understand, and internalize a prevention campaign’s message if the student population's shared views and opinions are reflected in the campaign. Student input is vital to the campaign’s efficacy. 


In turn, we are looking for a small group of 12-15 students per grade to participate in a focus group of their respective grades (6th, 7th, or 8th). The focus groups will be facilitated by prevention specialists from OMNI Youth Services. The focus group data collection will be conversation based with all responses remaining anonymous with no identifying information or names being used in the creation of new media campaigns. The focus group's purpose is simply to gain feedback and observations from a sample of students who have seen and heard the messages shared during this school year. 


Participation is voluntary and optional and if you do not wish for your child to participate, there will be no penalty at all. 


The one-session focus group will take place during grade-level lunch periods on Tuesday, March 21 or Wednesday, March 23rd, and will not interfere with any academic class time. Participants will be able to eat their home or school-bought lunches during the focus group. Additionally, all focus group participants will be entered into a raffle for a gift card prize. 


If you give do not give your consent or you do not want for your child to participate, please reach out to us no later than Friday, March 17th.


Please let me know if you have any questions. You can reach me at 
[email protected] 847-821-8946 X4201

 

 

5Essentials Survey for Parents/Guardians
Beginning January 24 through April 2nd, District 96 invites you to share your thoughts on the inner workings of your child’s school.  On behalf of the Illinois State Board of Education, the Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be administered online by UChicago Impact at the University of Chicago. 


As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness in a survey about your child’s school.   Your participation will help us understand the conditions at your child’s school and guide our improvement. Parent identity and survey responses will be kept completely confidential and will never be connected to you or your child.


Please visit http://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/survey/parent/ to begin the parent survey. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UChicago Impact Client Services at 1-866-440-1874 or [email protected].

 


PTO  INFO!
8th Grade Celebration Committee
Are you the parent of a current 8th grader?  We need parents to join the 8th-grade celebration committee. This committee plans the 8th-grade lunch and helps celebrate our Twin Groves 8th graders!


Staff Conference Dinner
Donations are needed for the staff conference dinner on March 23, 2023.  Head on over to https://linktr.ee/twingrovespto to order from Amazon and ship directly to us.


Book Fair is March 20th-22nd!!!
We are bringing the book fair back to Twin Groves this March!  Students will have the opportunity to walk through the fair during the day.  We recommend setting up at E-Wallet but cash, checks, and credit cards are okay too.  Book blurbs and previews will be posted to our Facebook page! Check out https://linktr.ee/twingrovespto to set up an e-wallet.

Book Fair is coming back to Twin Groves March 20th-22nd.  If you are interested in joining the Book Fair Committee head over to Membership Toolkit.  Committee members are needed to run the cash registers. This will be a case-only fair, so set up and tear down will be minimal. 

Thank you to all of our parents who have volunteered their time or donated items for staff appreciation.  We couldn’t do these fun events for our students and staff without you.

Please click HERE to access the PTO Blog.

 


Twin Groves Athletics
Please click HERE to access the Twin Groves Athletics site.
This site will be updated frequently.

 

 

Daily Announcements
Please see the Twin Groves website for up-to-date school announcements. The announcements let you know what exciting activities and clubs are going on at Twin Groves. Please click HERE to access the Daily Announcements.