Oak Knoll School Blog

Teachers spend quite a bit of time with students throughout the week. Many are with them before school, during and after school, depending on the activities and needs of each child. The job of a teacher is never easy, and it’s never truly done – even after high school. As we head into the first full week of school this year, we asked teachers of children in grades K-12 to weigh in on what they wished parents knew about the work they do and insight they bring. Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Often seen as summer’s last hurrah – one last chance to enjoy a family barbecue or trip to the shore – Labor Day is among the least understood holidays. And while the meaning of the holiday seems somewhat self-explanatory, its origins are far less obvious, yet very much relevant today.

Balancing school and sports is not always easy, but being a scholar athlete at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child has been one of the most formative and rewarding experiences of my life. A normal night in-season usually consists of me, scrambling to finish what feels like endless homework and studying for my tests and quizzes the next day, after a 2 ½-hour practice at our field complex in Chatham, New Jersey. By the time it reaches midnight, I’m setting an alarm for 6:30 a.m. to do it all again the next day.

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child always seemed like a magical place to me. When I was younger, I had two cousins and an older sister who attended the school and I anticipated the days when one of them would forget a book and I would accompany my mom to drop it off. The campus was beautiful and I loved the look of the uniform.

Campus Ministry is the faith in action arm of a student’s spiritual journey at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child. It’s where students in grades 7-12 come together with faculty members to pray, serve the greater community, attend special retreats and develop a more meaningful relationship with God. While every member of Oak Knoll School will participate in various Campus Ministry activities throughout the year, it’s important to get involved in some of those extra activities that provide meaningful experiences throughout the year.

I think the true beauty of an all-girls’ education is how not-so stereotypically beautiful I can look while I’m at school. Yes, there are tons of benefits to a single-sex education — like a community full of female role models and an empowering, comfortable environment — but, in all honesty, being able to roll out of bed, throw on my uniform and go to school without self-consciousness has been amazing.

Starting at a new school can be tough, especially when you don’t know anyone. I joined my school in seventh grade, which meant many of the girls already knew each other from younger grades, and I figured I would be like an outsider looking in. It’s really hard to get excited about school when you’re worried about being “the new kid.”

Let’s be honest, high school can be a stressful place. With tests, quizzes and homework every week, it can be difficult to manage your stress, along with the high academic workload. And most of us have extracurricular activities outside the normal school day ⸺ like clubs, sports or jobs ⸺ that it’s hard to balance our responsibilities without feeling some level of anxiety. As a senior, my stress level surrounding my college decision and the thought of “the next step” has been on high a number of times this year. Luckily, I’ve had a lot of support along the way.

One of the hardest things in parenting is helping kids stay focused while doing homework because of all the internal distractions, like dread of working on certain tasks, or the desire to check in with friends, and the many external technological distractions that live right on the same device they are using for homework. In a study by research psychologist, Larry Rosen, he found that “students studied less than 6 minutes before switching to technological distractors.” In this same research, he found that students who had study strategies were able to stay on task longer.

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