Serving Together

Open Your Mind, Heart, and Eyes

For over two decades, Oaks Christian School has offered students and parents opportunities for local, domestic, and international service and outreach. Many of these experiences are transformational, broadening perspectives and cultivating empathy, appreciation, and connections.

Immersion Learning

Our immersion opportunities cover a breadth of travel, cultures, and experiences. From art trips to Europe to studying the rainforest in Costa Rica, these unique trips place students in communities and cultures that cannot be experienced through textbooks. Working with and meeting others with different experiences is essential to developing a global perspective. Be it educational or missional, these trips are carefully selected for maximum impact. It is our hope that through these opportunities, students will learn to love and value all people as God loves and values each person.

Service Learning

Service learning at Oaks Christian is more than singular acts of volunteerism: it is an extension of our learning philosophy that teaches empathy, caring and compassion. Beyond the benefit to the recipient, service learning creates a mindset in our students of thinking of others and creating a lifestyle of service. Every year, hundreds of students (and parents) volunteer at our school and/or with local organizations right in our own neighborhood. It is through these sustained partnerships that we can make a lasting impact in our own community.

Educational and Outreach Trips

Romania

Oaks Christian continues to develop our partnership with Heart of Hope Ministries in Sibiu, Romania, having served with them for over ten years. Heart of Hope Ministries embrace orphans, widows, and families in desperate need with the love of Christ, ease their suffering, and restore hope. Students and chaperones work at the Camp of the Good Shepherd with Vacation Bible School-style activities with one of the Placement Centers (state-run orphanages). The team also travels to impoverished villages surrounding Sibiu to distribute food, smiles, and a hug to the forgotten people of Romania. These villages still struggle to survive and recover from Ceausescu's years of communism.

Molokai

Oaks Christian partners with the Isaiah Connection Non-Profit on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. We serve with various Christian Churches around the island to reach out to the impoverished community. Past projects have included construction within the churches and community, soup kitchens, and homeless outreaches. We will also have the privilege of experiencing the rich cultural history of the Island of Molokai and its history as a leper colony. Serving in Molokai reminds us that despite the visible beauty of this Hawaiian island, there is still a great need for which we will have the opportunity to engage during our time in Molokai.

Philadelphia

We partner with The City School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for a student exchange experience. Oaks Christian School's students and The City School's students serve together, striving to meet the needs of their local communities. During winter break, Oaks Christian School travels to The City School to complete a service project alongside a select group of students from The City School. In spring, the students of The City School come to Westlake Village to complete a service project with the same group of students from Oaks Christian School. This exchange builds long-lasting relationships through a shared commitment to serving our various communities.

Mexico

We are excited to continue our partnership with Door of Faith Orphanage in La Mision, Baja, California, Mexico. The inaugural Christmas 2014 service team spent four days mixing and pouring a section of a cement driveway. Soccer, crafts, games, and a pizza party with the children made for a full week of ministry. During this trip, the team will serve the local organizations and build relationships with the orphans and staff.

The Door of Faith Orphanage was founded in Tijuana in 1959 by Curtis and Sylvia Freeze; they purchased the current site in La Mision in 1962. What is now home to 120 children, the Door of Faith Orphanage was once a famous dude ranch that served as host to Hollywood elite such as Clark Gable and John Wayne.

Costa Rica

Israel

This is a journey of a lifetime! Students and chaperones travel to Israel for a life-changing educational travel tour with a personal tour guide and Holy Land expert. This educational expedition is an all-inclusive guided trip that brings Scripture to life through a first-hand encounter with the land and lessons of the Bible. Travelers gaze upon the ancient walls of Jerusalem and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Sites include the Mount of Olives, Capernaum, the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jericho, Meggido, and others. More than tourists, students travel as learners with our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds open.

Belize

Middle school students learn and explore the country and culture of Belize with at least one adult family member who comes along for the adventure, as well as school chaperones. This is a learning experience tied to the OCS curriculum in STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The group has the rare opportunity to spend two days at Runaway Creek, a private nature reserve. They will do a slow, steady trek from the savannah to the rainforest, exploring caves, seeing undisturbed Mayan artifacts, tagging birds, and studying field cameras for jaguars. They will study the engineering architecture of Mayan Ruins and the ecology of the rainforest.

France

During this educational trip, Oaks Christian middle school students travel to France with OCS chaperones and at least one adult family member. They visited four cities in eight days: Marseille, Arles, Grasse, and Nice. This is an art and language immersion trip led by middle school art and French teachers. Sites include the French Riviera, prehistoric cave art in a simulated experience at the Cosquer Méditerranée, the Rhône River, which is famed for inspiring paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, as well as a visit to the fabulous Ancient Roman Museum of Arles, and the Roman Arena, a day with students at a Grasse school, local markets, and the Roman Ruins at Cimiez.

Spain and France

The high school visual arts students have a tremendous time on their educational trip to Europe in the spring, visiting Paris, France, and Barcelona, Spain. The experience is invaluable as students immerse themselves in art and are inspired by the works of the great masters. While there, they form stronger friendships and increase their knowledge of classic art. Sites include Paris, the Musee D'Armee, the Arc de Triump, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the Seine River, the Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, and Toledo. Students see El Greco painting, the ancient art of medieval sword making, and are invited into locals' homes for authentic and native cuisine.

East Coast Adventure

Los Angeles to Boston, then Lexington and Concord, New York City, Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., and back to Los Angeles. Nearly 1,000 miles by bus through eight states in eight days! The eighth-grade students will experience that on the annual East Coast Adventure. From Boston’s historic Freedom Trail to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, the group of students, chaperones, and teachers will explore our nation’s history. Filled with memories of once-in-a-lifetime experiences, insightful knowledge of our nation’s past, and opportunities to forge new and lasting friendships, the annual eighth-grade East Coast Adventure will inspire!

Local Partner Organizations

James Storehouse Foundation

From cribs to college, James Storehouse supports children in foster care, youth aging-out of foster care, children who have been commercially sexually exploited, children “at-risk” of removal, and all their caregiving families. Oaks Christian students regularly volunteer at James Storehouse packing boxes, clothes, and care packages, interacting, supporting and loving the children.