In episode 9 of the Academically Speaking podcast, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist — sat down with Melissa Nelson, Oak Knoll's Lower School Guidance Counselor, who talks about the pandemic's impact on the mental health of our youngest learners and how parents can support their child during this time. This is the first in Oak Knoll's special four-part parenting series, Parenting During the Pandemic. 

In episode 3 of the Academically Speaking podcast, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist — sat down with Athletic Director Dr. Kelly Childs to speak about navigating athletics during a pandemic and how the school is preparing for athletes to return to the playing field safely this fall.

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In our brand new podcast, Academically Speaking, Laura Perillo — Oak Knoll's Marketing Content Strategist in the Office of Marketing and Communications — sat down with new Lower School Guidance Counselor Melissa Nelson on re-entry anxiety in children as they return to campus this fall under COVID-19 restrictions.

We keep hearing the term “social distancing” as one of the key measures to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus to others. And with state and national guidelines restricting large gatherings, what does this really mean? Must we remain quarantined inside our homes? Is it OK to have a playdate with a friend? Can you still host that birthday party this weekend? Should you go for a walk in the park?

With all of the news and social media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, children may be confused and frightened by what they see and hear. Imaginations run wild on the playground and parents may feel that the topic should remain off-limits to avoid sparking fear in their child more than necessary. But according to The Child Mind Institute, children are actually more fearful when they are kept in the dark.

When you hear the name Taylor Swift, what comes to mind? Pop music, blond hair, little miss perfect? Or, if you’re like me, you think all of those things but with a little more country twang. Wait, it isn’t 2006 anymore and I am sad.

If your kids have an internet connection, they are likely using TikTok. It's a free, engaging, short-form video-sharing app geared toward teenagers that allows users to express themselves with filters, music and other features. Users can watch and record videos of themselves lip-syncing to music as well as create short, shareable videos so they can interact with friends through likes, comments, songs and livestream.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 during Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, February 2, 2020. But it's not all about hot wings, cheese platters and face painting. There are at least three crucial life lessons that can be learned by paying attention to the events on and off the field that should be shared with students and beyond.

If you’re like us, you can barely go an hour without receiving an email or seeing a social media post related to the COVID-19 infection, a new strain of coronavirus that is responsible for a “deadly outbreak” in China that has spread across the globe. Images of people wearing masks in New York City, news about travel restrictions to CDC Warning Level 3 areas and school and other business closures have likely flooded your digital inbox. But what do you need to know? Are you at risk?

Eating healthy doesn't need to be hard or, worse, taste bad. It also doesn't need to be part of some self-imposed stressful attempt to force New Year's Resolutions that we ultimately never achieve. It should be part of a positive, overall healthy lifestyle for #livingyourbestlife.

As part of health and wellness education at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, seventh- and eighth-grade students learned about healthy eating and the health of the planet. Throughout the fall, students were tasked with creating healthy recipes that they would then share with the school community. Below is just a sampling of some of the recipes created. Have your own healthy recipe to share? Leave it for us below in the comments!

Interested in more healthy recipes from Oak Knoll? Follow #healthyrecipesOKS on Twitter.