Parent Education at Oak Grove School
In order to help our parents, students, and teachers work together as a “family unit,” we offer a Parent Education program that spans the Oak Grove experience from preschool through 12th grade. Parent Education events are led by teachers as well as outside professionals, covering topics like Growth Mindset, social media wellness, college readiness, inquiry-based dialogue, diversity & equity, teen sexuality, and more. In addition, the program emphasizes building relationships and support networks among parents, teachers, and community members.
Our Parent Education program takes a two-pronged approach
First, the program is designed to support parents in raising children and adolescents through workshops on subjects such as child development, communication strategies, harm prevention, and academic support. As students advance to the secondary level, we also include sessions on college readiness and the transition into adulthood. The second goal of the program is to build relationships and support networks among parents, teachers, and community members. Oak Grove is a close-knit community, and we seek to create a healthy dialogue between staff and families in order to best serve the needs of our students.
You can refer to the button above to see the current Parent Education schedule.
On February 11, 1974, the day the school was officially announced, Oak Grove School founder J. Krishnamurti said:
And this school here, we have been discussing with the teachers, with the parents, and with the architects for the last two years. This school is entirely different from the other schools in India and England. Here the parents are involved in it, which is a new kind of experiment because if the children are going to be different then parents must also be different, otherwise there is a contradiction between the child and the parents, and there will be conflict between them. So to avoid all that we thought it would be right that the parents as well as the teachers and the students work together as a family unit.”
Welcoming Artist in Residence, Benjamin Mertz
Arts, Blog, News, Parent Education, Staff & FacultyThrough student assemblies, class meetings, faculty and staff in-service, and parent education, students of all ages, parents and staff will have the opportunity to engage with Benjamin throughout his stay in April.
Seeds of Belonging
Blog, Events, Parent Education, Staff & FacultySeeds of Belonging Ojai is an anti-bias/anti-racism initiative for early childhood educators and parents that aims to cultivate futures of understanding, accountability, accommodation, and respect among differences in the local community and in the world at large.
How Much is Too Much – Technology
Blog, Parent EducationAt what age should children have a Smartphone? Should an 11-year-old watch PG-13 movies? When is a good time to introduce video games (my child is begging to play!)? How much time in front of a screen is too much?
Podcast Interview with Jodi Grass
Blog, News, Parent Education, Parent PerspectiveIn Episode 23 “Education as a Vehicle for Social Change,” Founding Mothers Podcast host Emily Race and Head of School Jodi Grass discuss the freedom that Oak Grove’s teachers have to implement activities that foster personal and social growth, outdoor and travel experiences to prepare youth and parents for the transition to adulthood, how students can support their mental health, and the value of questioning one’s thoughts to develop compassion.
Communicating with Children
Blog, Parent Education, Parent UpdateBy Will Hornblower Across the Oak Grove campus, parents and staff have been discussing strategies to improve the way that adults connect and communicate with children. Over the course of three workshops, we brainstormed ways to help students develop resilience, autonomy, and rapport with adults. We started by posing a question to a gathering of […]
Friendship in Early Childhood
Blog, Parent Education, Parent UpdateLearning how to make and be a friend is one of the major developmental tasks of early childhood. It’s like learning to read – it’s a foundational skill for building later competencies that depend on this.