Oaks Christian High School
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| Oaks Christian High School |
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| Motto | Preparing Minds for Leadership and Hearts for Service |
| Established | 2000 |
| Type | Private/Secondary/Coeducational |
| Headmaster | Jeffrey H. Woodcock |
| Dean | Timothy H. Fenderson (Academics) and Karen Coyle (Students)and Jeffrey Gardella (Students) |
| Students | approx. 1,000 |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Location | 31749 La Tienda Blvd. Westlake Village, California, USA |
| Colors | Cardinal Red (Burgundy) and Vegas Gold |
| Mascot | Lion
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| Website | http://www.oakschristian.org |
Oaks Christian High School is a private non-denominational Christian school located on 18 acres in Westlake Village, CA off the US 101. Since 2000, it has been well known[citation needed] throughout the Ventura and Los Angeles counties for its highly ranked athletic teams, fine arts, Christian values, and academic programs. Recently, the school has come to national prominence with its football team and several nationally ranked players[citation needed].
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[edit] History
Oaks Christian was founded by David and Dallas Price, two wealthy philanthropists, who sought to build an excellent academic, athletic, and Christian environment for their grandchildren after having found no suitable alternatives in the greater Los Angeles area. In 1997, they were approached about a large piece of land originally owned by the Eaton Corporation for military operations (a tactical target during the Cold War), and made an agreement to take an 18 acre western portion of the site adjacent to Calvary Community Church.
The high school opened in 2000 to approximately 160 students with the completion of the Price Academic Building. By the year 2002, most of the school and campus infrastructure had been completed, with the exception of the new Bedrosian Pavillion, a fine arts wing scheduled for completion in 2007.
[edit] Enrollment
Oaks Christian has a current enrollment of approximately 1,000 students, with approximately 70-75% of those students at the high school level and 25-30% at the middle school level. Admission is competitive, based on a variety of criteria ranging from primary school grades, ISEE score, an interview, essays, and interests. Students of any denomination are considered equally for admission.
Nearly all of the graduating students matriculate at four year colleges and universities, with a handful of students going off to schools such as Yale, Stanford, Duke, Boston College, University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and others.[citation needed] Oaks Christian participates in the Advanced Placement Program, and the majority of students graduate with college credit.[citation needed]
Oaks Christian is also known for educating the children of prominent celebrities such as Will Smith, Nikki Sixx and Tom Selleck.[citation needed] Also attending are the children of the wealthy residing in the Conejo Valley and Western Los Angeles area. The demographic population of the school follows the surrounding community closely, being predominately upper middle to upper class and white. Oaks Christian also awards approximately $3 million in financial assistance to students each academic year.
[edit] School Facilities
The Dallas Athletic Center includes a 2-court gym, multiple locker rooms, a weight room and an olympic size swimming pool.
The Price Academic Center, which houses all the academic and office operations, is a three floor 110,000 square foot building located around a central courtyard atrium. It features science labs, over 60 classrooms, a theatre, music studios, piano labs, a visual arts wing, an administrative wing, multiple computer labs, and teacher facilities. The Shiley Family Library, located adjacent to the Price Academic center's atrium, currently possesses more than 10,000 cataloged art posters, books, and audio-visual titles, as well as over 35 subscriptions to print media and access to the information database Galenet.
The Oaks Christian website, called "Passport", permits students and parents are able to view homework assignments, live grades, report cards, and transcripts. Oaks Christian saves around $7,000 a year because most of what used to be mailed to families is now available online.[1]
Recently, the school has changed every student's email account to an account hosted by Google Gmail. This was made possible by Google's new "Google for your Domain" service. Each student may now store more than 2 gigabytes of email or files on his or her account.
In 2006 Oaks Christian began construction on the Bedrosian Pavilion, directly adjacent to the Price Athletic Center. The Bedrosian Pavilion will include a gym for middle school students as well as several new facilities dedicated to visual and musical arts.
[edit] Academics
[edit] Philosophy
Academics at Oaks Christian focuses on education, leadership, and spirituality. As such, the curriculum is structured to stimulate analytical thought, enrich spiritual lives, and foster strong leadership. Also, curriculum is arranged to coincide material from multiple classes, thereby extending students' interaction (for example, students read American literature in English class while learning of the same time period in history class). Oaks currently participates in the Advanced Placement program. It has also received accredition by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
[edit] Mathematics
In congruence with the school's Christian mindset, mathematics at Oaks Christian are based on belief in God.[citation needed] At the high school level, students are enrolled in Geometry in ninth grade, Algebra II in tenth grade, Precalculus in eleventh grade and Calculus in twelfth grade. Advanced students can take honors level courses of any of the aforementioned classes, including Calculus AB and Calculus BC offered for both juniors and seniors. The head of Oaks Christian Mathematics department is Mrs. Elizabeth Bates.
[edit] Foreign Language
Oaks Christian's foreign language program focuses on the aims of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages: communication, culture, connections, comparisons and community.[citation needed] Classes offered include both classical and modern tongues such as Latin, Spanish, and French, with all courses providing honors courses and all languages but Latin accommodating Advanced Placement classes. In addition to learning a second language, students are educated on the culture and history of the language's context. Overall, the language department at Oaks Christian is constructed to establish students' confidence in speaking a second language, foster students' interest for other cultures, and foster students' will to embark on mission trips. The head of Oaks Christian Foreign Language department is Mrs. Jeanne McCollum.
[edit] Athletics
[edit] Philosophy
Oaks Christian draws its philosophy of "athletes first...winning second"[2] from the biblical passage I Corinthians 9:24, in which Paul encourages the Corinthians to run the 'race of life' for God.
[edit] Football
Oaks Christian is well-known for its athletics throughout Southern California and has most recently garnered national attention through its football program. Oaks Christian football games have been featured on ESPN several times throughout its 2006 season and Oaks Christian finished the season ranked 6th nationally on the USA Today prep football Super25 ranking.[3] The Lions football team has been coached by College Football Hall of Fame member Bill Redell since its inaugual season.
According to recruiting service Rivals.com, both Jimmy Clausen (QB, committed to Notre Dame) and Marc Tyler (RB, committed to Southern Cal) are both among the top ten national college football recruits. Both Clausen and Tyler (who will not participate due to an injury sustained during a playoff game) were invited to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which took place on January 6, 2007, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Clausen was awarded the Hall Trophy as the nation's premier high school football player and has since graduated.
The Lions football team won the CIF Division III California State Bowl Game on December 16, 2006 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA by defeating Cardinal Newman High School (CIF North Coast Section 3A Champion) of Santa Rosa, CA, 27-20 in overtime. The game was the first CIF state football championship since 1926.
[edit] Other Sports
Oaks Christian participates in several other sports, many co-educational. Such athletic programs include volleyball, basketball, lacrosse, soccer, water polo, tennis, golf, swimming, track and field, and cross country.
[edit] External links
- Oaks Christian High School - Official school website
- Google Maps - Oaks Christian on Google Maps
- The Oaks Christian Lions - Athletics homepage by Prepsportsonline
