Any adult that looks back on their time as a student can always point to a teacher, coach, parent, or youth leader that helped them navigate their way through adolescent life. The school intentionally hires adults that have a heart to invest their time and hearts into the lives of students.
Every faculty member and some administrators and staff lead a group of students through both small group and individual mentoring. In the high school, this takes place within the context of Advisory and in the middle school through Homeroom. These groups allow students to further discuss chapel topics in a more intimate setting, as well as provide opportunities for mentors to track their students’ progress in school, both academically and socially.
The high school and middle school communities each gather weekly for the purpose of hearing the truths of scripture and for challenging each other to follow Jesus Christ. Components of the chapels may include teaching, music, fine arts, or video. A student leadership team is in place for the purposes of planning and evaluation.
To listen and review recent chapels, click here.Every OCS student takes an annual retreat with their class. In the high school, freshmen canoe down the Colorado River, sophomores go on a mid-year retreat at the beach, juniors take a day to look at a variety of college campuses, and seniors head off to San Diego for three days to reflect on their high school experience. In the middle school, sixth-grade students venture to Catalina, while seventh and eighth graders spend time at Hume Lake. Every retreat has a spiritual component that serves as a reminder to students to consider a lifetime of following Jesus Christ.
The most important job in the world is that of parent. It is a high calling, and a challenging role to fulfill. The lion’s share of character development, faith development, and education of a child happens in the home. We endeavor to partner with parents for the well-being and education of their sons and daughters, and to do so intentionally by offering resources, frequent communication, training seminars, and excellent service. On a weekly basis, we offer a Partnership With Parents article in the e-newsletter. On a quarterly basis we hold parent training seminars, bringing in high-caliber professionals on a variety of topics. Our faculty are trained to communicate with parents in a timely fashion, in order to best serve the students and families here at OCS.
To listen to or view past parent training seminars, click here.
It is a firm belief that a diploma from a college preparatory school without any exposure to serving others falls short of the heart of Christ. A full-time World Missions and Community Service Coordinator is committed to ensuring that all students meet their annual requirements to service within the local community or to serve abroad on a mission trip. Trips have included Mexico, inner city Los Angeles, China, Guatemala, Costa Rica, India, and Uganda.
Not all stress is unhealthy. If we didn’t have the stress of grades, we wouldn’t study. If we didn’t have the stress of a performance or big game coming up, we wouldn’t practice very hard. If we didn’t have the stress of working hard to earn a raise, we may slack off. Some stress is actually good for us. However, some stress is not only unhealthy, it is harmful and dangerous, and it negatively impacts our achievement, relationships, happiness and health. How much stress is healthy? When does stress become toxic?
Find out with the Student Stress-O-Meter!
The Stress-O-Meter has been designed by Tim Smith and Dr. Scott Lisea as a tool for Oaks Christian students (and all students) to take inventory of their lives and activities, in order to help give them objective feedback on their current stress levels, as well as give them helpful resources for moving out of unhealthy stress levels and patterns.High school students also have the opportunity to meet on a weekly basis to study God’s word together. The structure of the weekly calendar allows a 90-minute Bible study during lunch break. These times of study and fellowship serve as a much needed break from the academic rigors of school.