We provide student support services to develop the whole child.

The mission of Oak Knoll speaks to the development of the whole child and critical to this development is support for the student that embraces each element of his or her progress, encouraging full growth. At Oak Knoll, a nurturing and supportive environment that meets this mission involves many different adults — and some student leaders — as support persons who provide guidance in many ways, including:

• Anti-Bullying Curriculum
• Academic and emotional counseling services
• Full-time Reading Specialist for grades K-3
• Secondary school placement
• Nurturing guidance and support in elementary school

With a commitment to the growth of the whole child, student services in the elementary school helps parents, students and teachers for a variety of needs.

We provide a full-time assistant division head who takes on the responsibility of looking after the academic, social and emotional well-being of students and to work on behalf of each child. The assistant division head meets with students and parents on a regular basis to discuss age-and-stage related issues such as peer relationships, problem solving and group dynamics. The assistant division head also meets regularly with teachers to discuss academic concerns for individual students and facilitates communication between home and school.

Success Skills/Formative Five

More recently, the entire student body has benefited from a new schoolwide Success Skills curriculum that has provided additional age-appropriate instruction on “The Formative Five” – labeled after the title of Thomas R. Hoerr’s book of the same name.

These skills provide our students an understanding and active development of empathy, self-control, integrity, embracing diversity and grit.

Advisory Groups

All students in grades 5 and 6 participate in advisory groups. Each advisory group is led by a teacher, and groups meet for lunch regularly to enjoy conversation together and to discuss various topics on the minds of middle school students. Recognizing the need for male role models for boys approaching adolescence, we provide advisory groups where boys in grades 5 and 6 enjoy lunch with a male faculty or staff member.