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Oakwood School is a coeducational K-12 independent day school. It was founded in 1951 by a group of parents who wanted to provide their children with an educational experience that was rich in the arts, sciences, and humanities, challenging to their creative and intellectual capacities and, above all, humane. They wanted a learning community which would foster independence of thought, intellectual integrity, and moral depth, and which would prepare students for participation in a democratic society. Therefore, they wanted classes that invited participation and that were small enough for children to be taught in accordance with their individual needs and abilities.
As Oakwood has grown, our commitment to those goals has not changed. We believe that a school environment should be supportive and stimulating, should hold intellectual attainment in high regard, and should encourage children to exercise increasing independence, to take meaningful risks, and to reflect on their experience. We seek teachers who are competent in their disciplines and creative in their approaches; who are committed to the whole of school life; and who dedicate themselves to the growth and development of their students. We seek students who are capable, curious and eager to learn, and will participate fully in the life of the school. We seek parents who subscribe to our aims and values and are committed to working in partnership with the school.
Our program is college preparatory, but we are equally concerned with the quality of children's experiences in the present. We believe that school must be rewarding in its own right, and not merely a step along a pathway to college.
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We intend an Oakwood education:
- to guide students toward intellectual, artistic, physical, technological, and social competence. We want students to see and use relationships among disciplines; to develop intellectual integrity and curiosity, creativity and imagination, independence of thought, and a lifelong love of learning.
- to spark passion. We want children to become deeply and personally involved in their work, to feel not only accountable, but engaged. We believe that human intelligence and imagination extend to, and are developed through, all areas of human experience; therefore, to involve a child passionately is to involve the whole child. We encourage, in all scholastic and artistic endeavors, a rich variety of modes of expression and forms of creation.
- to cultivate depth of character. We want students to develop empathy, imagination, and moral courage; ethical values; a sense of humility; and a habit of service. We intend for their intellectual and moral development to be intertwined, so that their choices are guided by internal controls and sensitivity to the needs of others.
- to help students gain self-knowledge: to learn about their own strengths and weaknesses within a supportive environment that fosters open and realistic communication. To this end, we seek to accommodate the special qualities of each child, to provide many opportunities for students to succeed and to use mistakes as opportunities for learning. At the same time, and within the boundaries of our curriculum, we seek to accommodate the special qualities each child brings to us. We want each child to be appreciated in his or her own right.
- to foster a sense of community. Accordingly, we strive to create a rich public life in the school, where students learn to express their opinions effectively and responsibly, and to consider respectfully the opinions of others. We strive to create an environment that balances informality with intellectual rigor and seriousness of purpose with a sense of play. Furthermore, we strive for our school to reflect the diversity of the larger community and to foster understanding and an appreciation of difference.
Finally, we recognize that the school can achieve its aims only when students' experiences are predominantly positive and joyful, and when their relationships with teachers are affectionate and trusting.
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More than a statement of general intent, our philosophy is manifest in the richness, warmth, and vitality of day-to-day life at Oakwood, and in the respect Oakwood has for its students. We consider childhood precious, and we take children seriously. We believe that children's feelings and thoughts should be accorded the dignity they warrant.
(Adopted February 18, 1998)
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