At Oakhurst, we strive to build a culture of respect, responsibility, courage, and kindness where students and adults are committed to quality work and citizenship. Each member of the crew is supported to do better work and be a better person than he/she thought possible.
These are the positive statements we use to guide student conduct. We use these agreements when discussing our school "rules" and reflecting on choices and actions students make.
Student birthdays are announced daily on our morning announcements, Oakie's News, and celebrated the last Friday of the month. The room parent will coordinate one or more volunteers to plan an activity or experience to honor birthdays that month. Please save snacks, treats, balloons, flowers, etc. for your home celebration.
We will allow a daily snack. The classroom teacher will communicate the snack policy directly to families.
Students may bring a water bottle to school. We recommend a smaller ~12oz water bottle that is easy to handle and can be refilled. Large thermoses and water bottles over 16oz are hard for little hands to handle and easily spill.
See the School Event Calendar for Dates. These are events hosted by the principal and staff to:
Build relationships with and among parents
Learn about school-wide topics (e.g. learning expeditions, standards, etc.)
The entire Oakhurst Crew (students, staff, families) comes together to celebrate learning once per month. Read the Thursday “Oakhurst Owl” for dates and times.
Once per month on scheduled Fridays
Families, community members, and staff members form the outer ring of our Community Circle, leaving students in the middle
Wear your spirit wear! Sing along! Take pictures for personal use (we ask that pictures are not posted publicly on social media)
Celebrate/cheer using the American Sign Language clap (waving hands in the air)
Times vary depending on the season:
August-December- 8:20am (Drop off students as usual and meet us on the court)
January-Spring break- 2:20pm - dismissal
Spring break-May- 8:20am (Drop off students as usual and meet us on the court)
Oakhurst teachers support students in developing an academic mindset by directly teaching perseverance, craftsmanship and collaboration, three of EL Education’s identified Habits of Scholarship. Throughout the year, teachers will intentionally teach the Habits of Scholarship through Crew Meetings and classroom instruction so that students develop the traits that are necessary to tackle rigorous learning.
EL Education is built on Ten Design Principles that reflect its educational values and beliefs. The Design Principles are integrated into the culture of our school.
The Primacy of Self Discovery
In EL schools, students undertake tasks that require perseverance, fitness, craftsmanship, imagination, self-discipline, and significant achievement. A teacher's primary task is to help students overcome their fears and discover they can do more than they think they can.
The Having of Wonderful Ideas
Teaching in EL schools fosters curiosity about the world by creating learning situations that provide something important to think about, time to experiment, and time to make sense of what is observed.
The Responsibility for Learning
Every aspect of an EL school encourages both children and adults to become increasingly responsible for directing their own personal and collective learning.
Empathy and Caring
Learning is fostered best in communities where students' and teachers' ideas are respected and where there is mutual trust. Learning groups are small in EL schools, with a caring adult looking after the progress and acting as an advocate for each child. Older students mentor younger ones, and students feel physically and emotionally safe.
Success and Failure
All students need to be successful if they are to build the confidence and capacity to take risks and meet increasingly difficult challenges. But it is also important for students to learn from their failures, to persevere when things are hard, and to learn to turn disabilities into opportunities.
Collaboration and Competition
Individual development and group development are integrated so that the value of friendship, trust, and group action is clear. Students are encouraged to compete not against each other, but with their own personal best and with rigorous standards of excellence.
Diversity and Inclusion
Both diversity and inclusion increase the richness of ideas, creative power, problem-solving ability, and respect for others. In EL schools, students investigate and value their different histories and talents as well as those of other communities and cultures. Schools and learning groups are heterogeneous.
The Natural World
A direct and respectful relationship with the natural world refreshes the human spirit and teaches the important ideas of recurring cycles and cause and effect. Students learn to become stewards of the earth and of future generations.
Solitude and Reflection
Students and teachers need time alone to explore their own thoughts, make their own connections, and create their own ideas. They also need time to exchange their reflections with other students and with adults.
Service and Compassion
We are crew, not passengers. Students and teachers are strengthened by acts of consequential service to others, and one of an EL school's primary functions is to prepare students with the attitudes and skills to learn from and be of service.
Drawing on Best Practices from a variety of resources, such as:
EL Education
Responsive Classroom
Conscious Discipline and
Restorative Practices
PBIS Framework
Our teachers use a variety of strategies to create an effective learning environment. Some examples include:
Establishing a calm, orderly, and safe environment for learning
Helping children develop self-control and self-discipline
Teaching children to be responsible, contributing members of a community, and
Promoting respectful, kind, and healthy teacher-student and student-student interactions
Teachers will share specific classroom plans with families at the beginning of the year.
For behavior situations that go beyond the classroom, please see the CSD Student Code of Conduct for specific system-wide policies.
Based on EL Education Core Benchmarks and The Responsive Classroom model, our classrooms utilize the first six weeks of school to achieve the following: instill routines and gradual release of responsibilities, build classroom and school community, rules and procedures, and set the groundwork for student academic and social goals for the year. Routines are built through practice. Once in place, classrooms and the school run efficiently and effectively.
This informational session is held in late spring to share aspects of the school day and year with the parents of rising Kindergarten students.
Before school begins students and parents are invited to come to the school, meet their teacher, get familiar with the school building and meet other Oakhurst families. This is an informal “drop-in” event and is not a time to discuss specifics about the curriculum, assessments or the needs of individual students. After the Meet & Greet, join other families on the playground for a popsicle social, sponsored by the PTA.
Prospective parents are invited to participate in a guided tour of Oakhurst. Check the website for upcoming dates. These tours are for adults only.
At the end of each Learning Expedition, students share their learning with an authentic audience including parents, experts and community members.
Oakhurst partners with the city’s Safe Routes to School initiative to promote healthy physical activity & community connections by encouraging students to walk or ride their bicycles to school. Walk & Roll celebrations typically happen monthly. See the “Oakhurst Owl” for specific dates. For more information see: www.decaturga.com/SRTS