An Oak Grove School Update • October 2023

Above: High school students learn the intricacies of data science

October 2023

Jodi Grass

From the Head of School

Recently, Carrie, one of our Preschool teachers, shared a humorous story with me. In Preschool, they had set up a celebration table to acknowledge Dove, one of the three-year-old students. Milo, another three-year-old, was having a bit of a struggle, so Carrie in an effort to focus his attention on something new, asked if he wanted to make a card for Dove. Milo said, “Yes, I do.” A minute later, as they were walking toward the celebration table, he pointed to a painted rock and said, “I love this painted rock, and I just love Dove so much.” After they began to make the card, Carrie asked, “What do you want to write in your card to Dove?” Milo said, “Tell her that I love her so much.”

As Carrie began to write the words onto the card, Milo said, “Carrie, I don’t know who Dove is.”

We may not be able to truly understand love with our minds, with our thinking. Yet, we know love – a first grader delicately holding a ladybug, in search of a safe place to return it to nature; the glow of light where a colleague remains working in an office or classroom, in the darkness of night, long after the campus has emptied; making a card expressing love for a friend even if you can’t exactly remember who they are.

The late Bell Hooks, author, theorist, and educator, said, “To begin by always thinking of love as an action rather than a feeling is one way in which anyone using the word in this manner automatically assumes accountability and responsibility.”

I witness this response born out of love on our campus every day.

Our ability to respond to the needs of the whole child is at the center of everything we do here at Oak Grove.

Where the human structures are kept in balance with the natural environment; where adults see children as competent individuals; where students are given opportunities within the learning day to sit in silence, reflect on their own thinking, inquire into perennial questions, and actively engage with the natural environment; where teaching and learning are not transactional or teachers filling students’ brains, but a relationship where the teacher is also a student and the student a teacher; where students are challenged by rigorous academics and learn functional knowledge through both conventional and progressive approaches to education; where they are learning in a place that offers constant skill-building around conflict resolution, communication, self-awareness, and responsibility for our shared planet.

Here students are known not just by their teachers but by all the staff, including the kitchen, front office, and maintenance workers.

Imagine what kind of world we would live in if we, all people, understood our relationship, and therefore responsibility, to all of life. Imagine a world where each of us felt a sense of love and connection to the stranger tail-gating us, the neighbor who has opposing political views, the person experiencing homelessness, the immigrant, the river, the tree. This, I believe, is the wholeness of responsibility.

— Jodi Grass

Annual Appeal

We Need Your Help

Thank you for supporting our Annual Appeal. Your abundant generosity allows us to provide financial aid to students who otherwise could not afford to attend the school. You are partnering with us to maintain the beautiful, spacious campus and modest buildings. Your gift ensures that we can continue to support our faculty and staff through realistic wages and professional development.

Watch high school student, Mateo, present his speech at our latest Tea event.

Saturday, November 4th

Join Us

OPEN HOUSE & ALL SCHOOL SHOWCASE is on Saturday, November 4th, from 1-4pm.

Join us for a fun and informative day, including campus tours, complimentary vegetarian lunch, meeting with faculty, open classrooms with student exhibits, live entertainment, and more! RSVP or learn more at the link below.

RSVP HERE

Currently enrolled parents — Please RSVP in ParentSquare

Alumni

50th Anniversary Survey

The 50th Anniversary Planning Committee is requesting feedback from the Oak Grove community via a brief three-question survey.

Share your thoughts with us.

Take the Survey

Our Theme for the Year

The Wholeness of Responsibility

View this year's theme video — The Wholeness of Responsibility

Watch the Theme Video

Our Annual Fundraising

Tea

Watch the Annual Fundraising Tea event, including a choral performance by elementary students supported by high school students on guitar and drums, and speeches by alumni, parents, and staff.

Watch

From Our Blog

Dr. Emily Scibetta

We welcomed the second speaker in our 2023-24 Lizard Talk series earlier this week.

Dr. Emily Scibetta spoke to the high school students about her work as a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist at Ventura County Medical Center, where she cares for mothers with high-risk and medically complex pregnancies.