You will receive an email this coming Monday, February 27 with a link to our 23-24 Intent to Return Form. Please take a few minutes and complete this form to let us know if you are planning on your child(ren) returning to The Grove for the 23-24 school year. Please make sure to complete this form by Monday, March 6. With more than 1,100 new student applications, we want to make sure that we can offer as many seats as possible.

We are excited to announce that Orange Grove has the first school bus in the state operating on both diesel and natural gas. This partnership, through a generous grant from a local business, Ingevity, is the first of its kind in South Carolina but has recently been picked up by the State Department of Education for a similar program. Bus number 1 will now be running smoother, quieter, more fuel efficient, and with fewer emissions.

Sincerely,

John H. Clendaniel

CEO

If you or someone you know has a child who is hoping to attend Orange Grove for the first time in the 2023-2024 school year, don’t forget that the 23-24 CCSD School Choice application window CLOSES today Friday, February 24, 2023.

• You must apply during the application window (now - February 24) to be included in the lottery.
• This includes siblings (rising K-8) of enrolled Orange Grove students who do not currently attend The Grove.
• For students currently enrolled at Orange Grove, you do not need to reapply.

For information on how to apply, key updates, and important timelines, visit CCSD's School Choice website here.

For families applying to our 4-year old, Child Development program, completed applications must be turned into the Elementary Front Office no later than today Friday, February 24, 2023, at 4pm.

Orange Grove Robotics is virtually unstoppable this year! Both our FLL (6th & 7th Grade) and our FTC (7th & 8th Grade) teams recently took their skills to the stage in two different settings. The FLL team competed in challenges like bridge building at Storm the Citadel, while our FTC team headed to Daniel Island for the FIRST Tech Challenge program. Check out the video below for our FLL Team's Storm The Citadel competition recap.

The OG Hurricanes FTC team took first place in multiple areas at the FIRST Tech Challenge and qualified for the East State Qualifier tournament in Columbia this weekend! The Hurricanes also walked away with one of the top awards you can receive called the Inspire Award. The team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and a role model FIRST team. This team is a top contender for many other judged awards and is a gracious competitor. The Inspire Award winner is an inspiration to other teams, acting with Gracious Professionalism both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm, and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the judges. Working as a unit, this team will have shown success in performing the task of designing and building a robot.

See our FTC Team in action at the FIRST Tech Challenge in the pictures below.

OG Hurricanes FTC Team Awards

• 1st place Inspire Award- This is the highest overall award you can win.
• 1st place Winning Alliance in Robot matches
• Promote Award
• Compass Award for Andrea Daniels a mentor

OG Hurricanes FLL Team Awards

• 1st place Lego Mystery at Storm The Citadel (7th Grade FLL)

Best of luck to the FTC team this weekend in Columbia - Go Hurricanes!

February 24: CCSD School Choice Application Window CLOSES / Q3 Progress Reports home / Bingo Night @ Middle 6p

February 26: Elementary Chorus practice 2p

February 28: PTO Board Meeting 1:50p @ Elementary

March 1: March Madness EXTRA Style Day - Bring $1 / OG 2023 Summer Camp Registration opens @ 4p

March 2: West Ashley High School Information Night 6p @ Orange Grove Middle Cafe

March 8: March Madness EXTRA Style Day - Bring $1

March 10: Early Release (11:40a - Elementary / 12:15p - Middle) / 3rd - 5th Grade Career Day

March 14: PTO General Meeting & 4th Grade Show (5:45p - doors open / 6p - start)

March 15: March Madness EXTRA Style Day - Bring $1

March 16: OGCS Charter Board Meeting 6p @ Elementary

March 19: Elementary Chorus practice 2p

March 21: Elementary Spring Pictures

March 22: March Madness EXTRA Style Day - Bring $1 / Middle Spring Pictures

March 24: End Q3 / Teacher Workday / No School

March 27 - April 5: OGCS Book Fair

March 28: PTO Board Meeting 1:50p @ Elementary

March 29: March Madness EXTRA Style Day - Bring $1

March 31: Q3 Report Cards home with students

April 4: PTO General Meeting & 2nd Grade Show (5:45p - doors open / 6p - start)

April 5 - 7: 5th Grade Barrier Island Trip

April 7: Early Release (11:40a - Elementary / 12:15p - Middle) / CD - 2nd Grade Career Day

April 10 -14: Spring Break / No School

View the 2022-2023 OGCS Academic Calendar here.

Dear OGCS Families,

THANK YOU for supporting the Orange Grove PTO with your Nothing Bundt Cakes Orders! This year's fundraiser was a GREAT success! Together we sold, packed, and distributed over 4,000 bundlets and bundt cakes - raising a total of just under $9,000 for our school! We've said it before and will say it forever, we could not be more appreciative of the constant support of our OG families & community. We hope you all have thoroughly enjoyed your sweet treats!

We'd also like to extend a great thank you to all of those who volunteered their time to tackle order-packing and distribution! We could not have done it without you!

And finally, we'd like to offer our sincere thanks and high praise of fundraising to Rick Giecek of Nothing Bundt Cakes Mt. Pleasant. They were truly a joy to work with!

With Gratitude,

Orange Grove PTO

Parents/Guardians,

There are several illnesses currently going around. Please keep your child home if they are not feeling well. If they visit a Doctor and get a Doctor’s excuse, they must not return to school before the date of return listed. If they return to school before the day of return on the Doctor’s excuse, they will be sent home.

If your child has a fever, they must be fever free for 24 hours without fever reducing medications (Ibuprofen/Tylenol) before they can return to school. A fever is defined at 100 degrees or higher.

Thank you for helping us keep our students and staff healthy!

South Carolina law requires that all students entering seventh grade receive one dose of Tdap vaccine. The Tdap vaccine protects children from three serious diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (often called whooping cough). If your child has already had the vaccine (this vaccine is usually administered at their 11 yr old well check), you must provide the school with proof that they have had it on an official DHEC Immunization form provided by their health care provider.

If your child hasn’t received the vaccine, please contact your health care provider to schedule an appointment. Once your child has received the vaccine, please remember that you must provide proof to the school nurse. Students entering the seventh grade who have not received the Tdap vaccine by the beginning of the next school year (Aug. 2023) will not be allowed to attend school until they have received the vaccine and provided proof to the school nurse.

If you have any questions, please contact our nurse at 843-852-7927 or email leah_mosqueda@orangegrovecharter.com.

For information about this vaccine click here.

Thank you,

Leah Mosqueda, RN

Thankfully, Dr. White and Dr. Holmes showed up just in time to help them finish the job! This is always a special day for our students that really helps them remember this important material. See our third grade "text surgeons" in action in the video below.