The Oakhill Difference

My Mom is an avid storyteller (I guess that means I come by it honestly). One of her favorite stories to tell is about her college search. To sum it up, when she was a senior in high school, her college search went like this: Her Dad called her into the kitchen one evening and said, “Mo, next year you’ll attend St. Louis University”. To which she replied, “Ok. Can I live in the dorm?”. And he responded with no. My college search involved visiting a few schools, filling out handwritten applications (and sending them through the mail!) and taking the ACT one time. By the time my daughters began their searches, the process was even more involved, with the Common App, essays, visits, test retakes and tutoring and superscores and so much more. 

At this point you might be wondering what this has to do with lower school, intermediate, and middle school students (even early childhood! This time will be here before you know it!). The great news is that I do have a point! And my point is this: Did you know that your child’s Oakhill education is carefully crafted to lay the foundation to excel when it comes to high school and beyond? Beginning in early childhood our curriculum is written and constructed by faculty to ensure that it teaches all of the necessary skills while challenging students. Often students who join Oakhill in the lower school or intermediate division have a little bit of catching up to do. We work hard to get these students caught up so that they can continue to grow and excel. 

Once students enter middle school, we’ve put some things in place to assist them specifically for high school and beyond. Each fall our 8th graders take the PreACT test. This provides both parents and students with information that can help with selecting the right high school courses, think about ways to target areas for improvement, and even begin discussions about college and career. The 8th grade students and their parents recently got to visit with our PreACT rep so he could discuss the upcoming test in detail and answer any questions. In addition, all middle school students this year use the AceReader program. AceReader helps students improve their reading speed, comprehension, and fluency which will assist them in all aspects of their life, not just continued schooling. I took something similar in high school (back with the dinosaurs, so it wasn’t online) and I still use the skills I learned in that course daily. 

If that weren’t enough, test taking skills are woven into the curriculum, beginning with the lower school so that by the time a student encounters a standardized test, whether at school or for a job or any time, they have tools and skills to help them succeed. 

At Oakhill we are intentional about preparing students for everyday life as well as life beyond the walls of Oakhill Day School.