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!

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.

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.

Entrepreneurs are leaders, strategic thinkers and innovators. They see opportunities where others may see failure. They take risks because they dream big. They are visionaries.

Let’s face it, middle school and high school can be a challenging time. You're trying to figure out who you are and how you fit into the world around you. While we strongly recommend boys and girls learn together during their younger, more impressionable years, going to an all-girls' school during middle and high school helps girls focus more on who they want to become and what their strengths are.

“The right to vote is the right upon which all of our rights are leveraged – and without which none can be protected.” Benjamin Todd Jealous, former President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), spoke these words during the NAACP annual convention. Yet, as Americans, we do not tend to follow his advice. Although, we have seen some improvement in voting turnout for national elections, quite the opposite has taken place in state elections in New Jersey.

When asked what I learned playing private high school sports, I immediately started to smile. My mind was flooded with a lot of amazing memories, great friends and coaches, different games, winning highs and losing lows, all of which shaped me to be the person I am today. I can’t write about all the things I learned playing private high school sports, so I broke it down into four main categories to reflect a few of the lessons learned, including to be respectful and a team player on (and off) the field, how to lose graciously, own up to my mistakes, and to put things into perspective.