It seems that school’s have been teaching the sciences in a certain order dating back to the launching of Sputnik and the cold war period, but Oak Knoll has decided to re-order that sequence in a way that makes more sense for students of today. We sat down with Upper School science teacher Jeff Yuhas to learn the rationale behind this decision. Mr. Yuhas also explains the benefits of teaching science in an all-girls school.

Topics: teaching, education, all-girls, STEM, science, building confidence, academics, podcast

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

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, NJ, will be actively participating in Computer Science Education Week from December 5-11, 2022, with daily coding and computing activities across all grade levels. Parents and caregivers can reinforce these in-school activities with assignments at home. Here are some suggestions and some helpful web resources.

Topics: technology, robots, engineering, education, computer science, STEM, Math, elementary school, project-based learning, activities with kids, steam, family

"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

There are a variety of strategies a single-sex school can employ to capitalize on an all-girls environment and provide an array of opportunities for students to grow in confidence and hone their leadership skills. Running for office on a student-council may seem an obvious choice, but not all students have that comfort level. Oak Knoll deploys the following strategies to ensure that all students can explore leadership (whether with a lower case “l” or an upper case “L”) throughout their Middle and Upper School years.

Topics: education, all-girls, high school, independent catholic school summit nj, middle school, success skills, building confidence, leadership

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

October 11, 2022, marks the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl (IDG). The United Nations General Assembly declared IDG as a day dedicated to recognizing and highlighting the rights and challenges of girls around the world. The theme for this year is “Our time is now - our rights, our future.”

Topics: education, all-girls, building confidence

Each year, January is a month packed full of New Year’s resolutions and quiet reflection, but this winter month also highlights the importance of Catholic education in the United States a the annual National Catholic Schools Week celebration takes place.

During National Catholic Schools Week, it’s prime time for Catholic schools to celebrate through various Masses, open houses, service projects and other activities for students, families, parishioners, and community members. Keeping this year’s theme in mind – “Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service,” – there are several reasons why Catholic education is important now more than ever.

Topics: education, religion, independent catholic school summit nj, social and emotional learning

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced countless changes since March. Absent of a vaccine, and with the start of the school year just weeks away, parents everywhere are wrestling with the fact that the return to the classroom is going to look very different this fall.

Topics: education, students, student advice, social and emotional learning, mental health, Coronavirus, COVID-19