The Oakwood gym was filled with song and dance today during the Freedom Festival. Our Oakwood community enjoyed this school-wide celebration of patriotism. Students honored our country and our veterans with grade-level presentations, which included patriotic songs and videos produced by students. Veterans and members of the military had special VIP seating and were honored with a song sung especially for them by our 5th grade students, "American Heroes."

Congratulations to the Oakwood High School Girls' and Boys' Varsity Basketball teams, as they each captured their league championships and qualified for the CCS playoffs! Everyone on the teams played excellent basketball and contributed to these wins and championship. A huge thank you to all the faculty, families and students who came out in support!

A group of Oakwood Middle and High School performing arts students participated in the Junior Theater Festival (JTF), February 8-10, 2019 in Sacramento, taking home a trophy for Excellence in Dance. Sophomore Konark Vinod and 8th Grader Tegan Leong were also selected as all-stars for a special performance, in which Konark had a terrific solo. Click "Read more" below to here details about their experience at JTF.

Saturday, February 9th, Oakwood Mathletes participated in the Coyote Valley Chapter MATHCOUNTS competition. MATHCOUNTS is a national middle school mathematics competition that builds problem-solving skills and fosters achievement through four levels of fun, in-person "bee" style contests. Middle school students Shrihan D., Justin D., Mateo J., Daniel L., Roman M., Josiah M., Aadjot S., Lee S., Ayana W., and Rohan W. outstandingly represented Oakwood. Extra congratulations to the Oakwood mathletes team of Shrihan, Daniel, Lee, and Ayana who qualified to move on to the Northern California State competition next month. This is a first for Oakwood!

On Saturday, February 2nd Jazz Ensemble students from Oakwood participated in the California Music Educators Association Bay Section Jazz Festival at Gunn High School in Palo Alto. They were awarded Universal Superior, which is the highest rating achievable! This event is designed to evaluate a group's overall performance quality and to motivate group and individual achievement. This was the first time an instrumental group from Oakwood has participated in a California Music Educators Festival. We are proud of our Oakwood students for a remarkable first performance at this festival!

Congratulations to the High School Varsity Boys Soccer team for being one of the CCS Scholastic Team Award Winners! This award is given to the five varsity teams in our division which have the highest collective GPA for the grading period. Other winners included: Crystal Springs, Harker School, Priory School and Sacred Heart Prep. Awards will be presented at the upcoming CCS Championships on February 22nd at 7:30 in the Stevens Stadium at Santa Clara University. We are proud of our students who balance academic and sports excellence!

Oakwood Students have been triumphant at local speech competitions, showing that we do truly foster a culture of jubilant self-expression, helping students blossom into dynamic, self-confident communicators. Junior Sofia Ruster won the AAUW Morgan Hill Branch Speech Trek Contest. The topic was: "How can we–students, parents, faculty, our communities, and organizations such as AAUW–eliminate violence aimed at our schools? What actions can we take to prevent another tragedy from taking place?" Sophomore Lili Jaquet took first place and Junior Shria Bulusu earned second place in the Morgan Hill Rotary Club Speech Competition. The topic was "He who serves best profits the most." Click "Read More" for the details of each contest.

The South Valley Science and Engineering Fair took place January 16-17, at the Britton Middle School. Twenty one Oakwood students took top awards in the competition. Sweeping the categories of Biology, Chemistry (both Middle School and High School), Engineering/Math/Computer Science, and Physics. Read more to view winners list.

The Oakwood community celebrated in style at the Oakwood Roaring 20th Benefit Auction. Guests enjoyed dinner, dancing, silent auction and a fantastic live auction, all benefiting Oakwood's campus expansion project and Spreading Our Roots campaign. What a great evening, connecting with the school community and honoring 20 unforgettable years at Oakwood! Thank you to all who helped make this evening a smashing success! And thank you to Betsy Reid Photography for the photos!

Our third grade students are asked to think of ways they can earn money for the Oakwood Thanks and Giving community service project. This may include doing simple chores around the house for parents, relatives or friends. Their earned money is then put together and they go on a shopping trip to purchase the needed items. They are tasked with using their math and problem-solving skills to be as cost-effective as possible when purchasing the items.

This week, they took their combined earnings to Nob Hill, and were able to purchase enough items to create several bins containing a complete Thanksgiving meal as well as grocery store gift cards. The bins of food and gift cards were presented to Community Solutions, along with the rest of the bins created school-wide, during our annual Thanks and Giving Celebration.

Oakwood third grade students learned about the "White Table" tradition of setting a small table with a white cloth and one chair in a common dining area to honor our veterans – especially MIAs and POWs – to remind us of their sacrifices and the impact on their families. They respectfully set a "white table" on campus today to serve as a visual reminder to our student body. Students were invited to add the name and photo of a military family or friend who has served, or is presently serving, to their display. To learn more about this tradition and the meaning of each item on the table, you can visit the website of Margot Raven, author of children's book, America's White Table, which Oakwood third grade students read in class.

Dia de los Muertos – the Day of the Dead – is a holiday celebrated on November 2nd throughout Latin America. Day of the Dead altars, also known as ofrendas (offerings), are constructed and adorned to remember, honor and please the dead, and are a central symbol of the Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. Seňora Alvarez's Spanish 2, 3 and 4 classes created an altar and learned all about the symbolism of each item displayed. Students had the opportunity to honor a deceased loved one and a Hispanic celebrity by placing their photo on the altar and sharing a little about them with the class.

Oakwood seventh grade students recently spent three days on Catalina Island. The trip was hosted by the Catalina Environmental Leadership Program and offered students the opportunity to experience the beauty of the Chanel Islands and to apply the many concepts covered throughout their science curriculum. The unique ecosystems that surround the island made for ideal hands-on learning for our students.

Oakwood fourth and fifth grade students celebrated the Middle Ages and Renaissance time periods with a day full of hands-on, enriching, and educational activities. Students, faculty, and parent volunteers donned period-specific attire from elaborate gowns to pirate and knight costumes. Games and activities included archery, Shakespeare recitations, and jousting. Students learned all about falconry and were able to see and interact with falcons and owls. A medieval weaponry expert held demonstrations and students were able to handle weaponry and even try on some knight's armor. A guest speaker talked to them about how children lived in that time period and how they got their food and clothing. After a grand feast, the celebration concluded with a May Pole Dance by our very own fourth grade students and recorder performance by our incredible fifth graders. Thank you to all of the volunteers who made this event possible.

Oakwood fifth grade students put on quite a show in their musical performance of "The Great Ghost Chase." A poltergeist haunted an asylum, creating dangerous mischief. To add to the antics, the patients locked up the staff and nobody could tell who was a patient and who was staff. As chaos unfolded the 'Ghostchasers' showed up grooving to the 'Ghostchasers' rap, led by the head Honcho. The number was an audience favorite, as the actors rapped and danced, loaded with their arsenal of kooky weapons. With the nonstop action, everybody from the poltergeist to the cabdriver to the asylum patients did an excellent job of keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.