1/24/25
Upcoming Dates:
2/14- Half Day- Students dismissed at 11:10 AM
2/17- No School
2/18- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM
2/28- No School
3/3- No School
3/20- Early Release- Students dismissed at 1:30 PM and Conferences from 5:00 PM- 8:30 PM
3/21- No School- Conferences from 10:00 AM- 1:30 PM
3/24-3/28- No School- Spring Break
What’s Happening at Twin Groves?
Art: In Art, we are moving right along. 6th Grade just finished glazing their clay elephants. They are now painting a landscape! 7th Grade just finished making a clay coil bowl. They are now shading a 1 or 2-point perspective cube and sphere using 5H-6B pencils. 8th Grade just finished clay slab faces and magazine collages. They are now learning about typography and will create a personal logo using the appropriate font and formatting.
Music: In Music class, we have been discussing the difference between the functions of both melody and harmony. All grades have been exploring these concepts through the use of an instrument. In 6th grade, students have been playing pianos and learning how to independently practice their music. In 7th grade, students have been playing the guitar and learning how to accompany someone while strumming simple chords. 8th graders have been working on piano to further develop their musicianship skills from previous years in music. Each grade is working towards a performance project where they will present the piece they are working on for the class.
TASOL: TASOL has been busy this trimester. The 7th and 8th grade students are working on multiple recipes in the kitchens. They are learning new cooking techniques and familiarizing themselves with different utensils and cooking tools. Students will be continuing to work in the kitchens for the remainder of the trimester. They will also complete a mini-unit on consumerism. They will look at how to make purchases using informative decision-making procedures. Sixth graders are completing their sewing projects which consist of a pillow with details using three different stitches. Starting next week, they will be working in the kitchens with introductory recipes and basic kitchen safety skills.
Orchestra: The orchestra students have been working hard since coming back from winter break! The 6th Graders are learning new notes, the 7th Graders are continuing to work with Smart Music and shifting and the 8th Graders just had a wonderful performance at the SHS 8th Grade Orchestra Consortium event on Jan. 15th! I am so proud of them and hope they enjoyed their experience at SHS!
Just a reminder that if your student is participating in the IGSMA Solo/Ensemble Contest on Saturday, Feb. 8th at Parkland Middle School, please review any previously sent emails that include reminders as well as the schedule. Please let me know as soon as possible if you did not receive any emails or have any questions.
As a reminder, please make sure to review our concert/events calendar below:
2024-2025 Twin Groves/Prairie/Ivy Hall Orchestra Concert/Event Calendar
KCSD96 Parent Network: Please Join Us!
To sign up for the digital presentation of The 5 Principals of Parenting with New York Times bestselling author Dr. Aliza Pressman on February 5th at 7 pm, please visit this link. This event is free and open to the public! Learn more about charting a manageable course for raising good humans, aligning with your own values and your child's temperaments.
Coming February 3rd: Simplifying Stevenson
Save the Date: Monday, February 3rd at 7 pm at Twin Groves, is the date for the next “Simplifying Stevenson,” featuring SHS Principal Troy Gobble and current SHS students in a Q&A about the school. This is designed for parents of Twin Groves and Woodlawn 8th graders who will be SHS freshmen in fall 2025.
This event will be held in the cafeteria at Twin Groves Middle School, 2600 N. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove.
This event does not require participants to register. It is free and open to parents.
Reminder: School Closure Communication
With our first significant cold snap of the winter officially behind us, it's important for us to revisit our Inclement Weather Procedures when it comes to communication. You likely read a message from Superintendent Katie Sheridan this week explaining that school would be OPEN on Tuesday, January 21st. Please note that communicating a decision to stay open was under a special circumstance. Since it was our first weather event of the year, Superintendent Sheridan and her team wanted to put an extra layer of proactive communication in parents' inboxes.
Moving forward, KCSD96 families will only hear from the district if there is a school closure, delayed start, or planned early dismissal. If a decision to close access to our schools is reached, the District will:
-Send a robocall/text/email home to families (please be sure you are signed up or subscribed to receive text notifications)
-If your contact information changes, please be sure to notify the administrative assistant at your student’s school to update our database with your new email/phone number.
-Post on our KCSD96 Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram accounts
-Post a banner with a notification of school closing on the KCSD96 website
Alert School Closures for local news/media outlets
8th Grade Career Day (REPEAT)
On the half day of February 14th, Twin Groves is planning a college/career day for its 8th graders.
We are looking for a wide variety of parent/community presentations.
We are hoping to have fifteen-minute time slots with presenters explaining their jobs, what education they have had, challenging parts of their job, rewarding parts of their jobs, the advice they would give to others interested in pursuing this career, etc.
If you are interested in volunteering for this please fill out THIS Google Form.
The form will close on January 27th at 8 AM so we can finalize our presenters.
ACCESS Testing-English Learner (EL Students) (Repeat)
Parents and guardians, please be aware that the state of Illinois requires identified English Learner (EL) students to annually participate in the ACCESS testing to determine current English language proficiency in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Our ACCESS testing window will occur in the coming weeks. Each school’s testing schedule is unique and will only impact students who take the ACCESS test.
It's important that students taking any testing, including ACCESS testing, get a good night's rest the night before and eat a good breakfast that morning. We encourage our students to always try their best. Students do not need to prepare anything ahead of time, however, it's encouraged that they come to school ready and willing to challenge themselves.
Virtual Backpacks
District Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/about/virtual-backpack
Twin Groves Virtual Backpack: https://www.kcsd96.org/tg/virtual-backpack
Daily Announcements
Please see 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.
Twin Groves Athletics
Please click HERE to access the Twin Groves Athletics site.
This site will be updated frequently.