Enrichment

Drama

Viva Voce classes provide students the opportunity to explore creative movement, dramatic interpretation and learn the basic elements of effective public speaking. Through improvisational exercises, monologues, debates and more, Viva Voce is aimed at building critical-thinking skills, while allowing students to creatively stretch themselves.

Bible & Character Education

Oak Hill School creates an environment that enriches a child’s spiritual development and helps them understand their identity as a child of God. Through a story-based approach, children gain familiarity with the narrative arc of the Bible, build Biblical literacy skills, and discover a variety of prayer practices that are accessible to children of all faiths.

Life at Oak Hill models Christian faith in word and example. Our Bible classes help students apply spiritual principles such as humility, service, and integrity, and help students show the fruits of the spirit in their own lives. It is our mission to help children express their personal faith in their own voice. We pray that as they find that voice, they will be able to face life’s challenges with perseverance, knowing that God is always with them.

CoLab (5th-6th grade)

CoLab classes are offered for students in fifth and sixth grades as a way to build 21st-century skills such as problem-solving, collaboration and resiliency. CoLab isn't simply about typing code into a computer. Coding requires students to think differently. It involves students navigating a large problem and being able to break it down into smaller pieces to develop an effective solution. Students will begin to learn coding languages and programming concepts while also focusing on the development of computational thinking through unique challenges and experiences. Students will have opportunities to apply their newfound knowledge in realistic ways through the use of robotics.

Music

Music is an integral part of each child’s education at Oak Hill School, as it helps them gain a greater understanding about the world around them and foster self-expression, communication, imagination, observation, perception and thought. Our music classes meet twice during a six day rotation, offering a sequential and well-articulated course based on the national standards and geared to the developmental level appropriate for each child.

Students experience music through singing, playing instruments, moving, listening, folk-singing and dancing, analyzing, evaluating, creating, notating, improvising, and composing. They share musical ideas and show support for each others’ abilities through classroom activities, technology tasks and public performances.

Physical Education

Every day, Oak Hill School provides physical education for every student, Kindergarten through sixth grade. Developmentally appropriate programs are designed to encourage every child to participate at their own unique ability level. Our intent is to provide children of all abilities and interests with a foundation of movement experiences that will eventually lead to active and healthy lifestyles.

SALT (4th-6th grade)

The SALT (Serving and Leading Together) classes are designed as a comprehensive service and leadership curriculum that builds on the character strengths taught throughout the OHS curriculum. During SALT classes, students identify their own strengths while also recognizing the strengths of others when serving and leading.

As students go through the curriculum, they begin to critically think about solving real life issues such as hunger and poverty and devise action plans to help on the local level. Through field trips to our community partners, students actively serve and gain a broader understanding of service in our city.

Visual Arts

Art is an exciting and vital component of the Oak Hill School education. The art curriculum is designed to stimulate students’ creativity, encourage self-expression and help the students’ perceive the world in new and different ways. In the art room, students investigate famous artists of the past, examine work by contemporary artists, and explore arts and crafts of many cultures around the world. Students experiment with a variety of tools and techniques to create unique artworks that link to their personal interests and experiences.

Much of the comprehensive visual art program connects with units of study in the classroom curriculum with interdisciplinary links to math, history, language arts, social studies, science, and music and beyond. Local artist visits and demonstrations, as well as field trips to local museums, enhance art education experience at Oak Hill School.

Library

The OHS Library pushes forward a vision for reading and learning, inspiring children to read and motivating teachers with new books to use in their curriculum. PreK - 4th grade students visit the library weekly through scheduled classes and 5th-6th grade students visit during open library times.

Our library collection contains more than 20,000 books on a variety of levels and features classic and modern fiction as well as nonfiction books, including biographies, graphic novels and reference.

Many authors and illustrators visit the library during the academic year to share their new works and experiences with our students. This list includes Mac Barnett, Loren Long, Matt de la Pena, Kate DiCamillo, James Dean, Chris Grabenstein, Nathan Hale and many more.

The installation of a new StoryWalk allows students to read a story while walking along an outside path—great combination of outdoor fun and reading!

Spanish

Based on a unique approach combining Total Physical Response (TPR) with songs, stories and art projects to support language acquisition, Spanish is offered to all students beginning in PreK. Lower School students follow the model of circle time, story time and art time for an engaging and fun introduction to the Spanish language. Upper School students focus on developing language skills through grammar instruction, conversation practice in small groups as well as project-based learning. Additionally, a Spanish language lab elective is offered for 5th and 6th graders, providing increased exposure to the Spanish language and allowing time to dive deeper into the topics covered during the Spanish enrichment class.