Podcast: Physics First – Why Oak Knoll Students Learn Physics in 9th Grade
Topics: teaching, education, all-girls, STEM, science, building confidence, academics, podcast
I Asked ChatGPT What Parents Need to Know About ChatGPT
New York City Schools have just blocked access to ChatGPT for all students and faculty. If you aren’t a technical person, you may be asking, “What’s ChatGPT?” If you are a tech person, skim over the next paragraph because you’ve probably been hearing about nothing but ChatGPT since last November when it was released.
Topics: technology, robots, engineering, teaching, education, computer science, high school, parenting, internet safety, academics, writing skills, Artificial Intelligence
Podcast: The Write Stuff–Cultivating Student Leadership in Oak Knoll's Writing Center
"No matter what field you're in–whether you're a scientist, a philosopher, or a linguist–whoever tells the best story is going to win. When I'm competing with all the other people, if I can make my case more clearly, and more persuasively, and actually more entertaining than anybody else, then I'm going to win that argument," says Lisa Levchuck, Upper School English Teacher at Oak Knoll. She is extolling the importance of writing skills and a skilled writer's power to persuade.
In this episode of The Happy Kids Project we learn about The Writing Center at Oak Knoll–a truly distinctive peer to peer service in the Upper School. Oak Knoll's Writing Center provides a unique opportunity for middle and high school students to take on leadership roles while supporting their peers. Hear how the Writing Center increases student confidence, leadership skills, and academic excellence in a safe and supportive space.
Topics: education, Summit NJ, building confidence, growth mindset, academics, podcast, leadership, writing skills
Pre-kindergarten students at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, New Jersey, are immersed in hands-on learning. Through our method of teaching, students actively engage in real-world projects, which leads to competent thinking, better management skills and understanding of complex problems.
Topics: engineering, teaching, education, STEM, classroom, elementary school, coeducation, kindergarten ready, growth mindset, pre-K, academics
Global Maker Day will be celebrated on October 18, 2022. Founded by a group of volunteer educators, the day brings together “makers” from around the world to participate in local maker space events and share ideas and projects globally. Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child Lower School students will be participating in the detailed series of challenges that will be released prior to the event and making good use of our IDEAS Lab, but anyone can participate from anywhere in the world.
Topics: robots, education, STEM, science, lower school, project-based learning, the arts, steam, academics
Oak Knoll’s Upper School offers a wide variety of classes for grades 7-12. From Darkroom Photography to HO Psychology, AP Latin to HO Engineering, the opportunities are limitless. As a student, I’ve enjoyed getting to explore these options and challenge myself academically. However, some of my most memorable experiences have been taking those OKS courses that are on the rather quirky side.
Topics: high school, classroom, middle school, student advice, academics
Summertime is here and children have been trading in their class time for pool time as schools around the country are on hiatus until late August/early September.
Families have started to enjoy day trips, limited schedules, vacations, quality time together, and plenty of outdoor fresh air. However, although children would probably much prefer to shelve their books and ignore practicing those basic math facts – they shouldn’t, especially after this unusual pandemic school year.
Each fall, teachers wrestle with the inevitable “summer slide” – or summer learning loss where studies show there is significant knowledge loss in reading and math over summer break if children don’t practice these skills each day.
Thanks to COVID, learning declines throughout last year were very real for many children. However, it’s not all bad news! Kelly Ross, Oak Knoll's Academic Support Counselor, offers several ways families can help children combat the COVID slide – the gaps of academic growth and lowered expectations due to the learning disruptions from the 2020-21 school year.
Topics: high school, elementary school, learners, middle school, summer, academics
How Online Summer Programs Prep Students to Return to the Classroom
Each fall, teachers and school administrators brace themselves for that inevitable “summer slide” – the time during July and August when students’ math and reading skills slow down while families enjoy the summer months away from school.