Five Oaks Academy is pleased to welcome back students today for the first full day of the 2012-2013 academic year.  As we begin our tenth year at Five Oaks Academy, we are welcoming many new families from our area and from around the world. This year we are pleased to welcome families from Costa Rica, South Africa, England, Italy, France, Germany and China coming to join our international community.

New students to the school and students transitioning to a new classroom began their transition days on Wednesday. Transition days are a way that a Montessori education allows for students to adjust to their new academic surroundings without the added distraction of a full classroom. Five Oaks Academy offers transitions days across all of its programs.

We are looking forward to another year of engaging our students curiosity and creativity in the classrooms and wish each of our students a great start to the upcoming year!

“If you are planning for a year,
sow rice;

if you are planning for a decade,
plant trees;

if you are planning for a lifetime,
educate people”

– Chinese proverb

Please join us in wishing Susan Edwards much success as she leaves Five Oaks Academy to pursue her next successful venture: professional photography. Susan has been an integral part of Five Oaks Academy since the time the school opened. Susan and her daughter, Juliet, both illuminated our community in memorable ways. A woman of many journeys, this next adventure takes Susan to New York in September for a photography class to rejuvenate and inspire her next body of work. Please stop by the office in the near future to pick up one of Susan’s business cards if you are interested in securing her photography services.

Please welcome Jessica Greer as the newest member of our faculty. Jessica will be filling a new position at our school as Executive Coordinator. Jessica was born in Denver, Colorado, but considers herself a Greenville native. Her combination of business and education experience will be an ideal addition to our school’s community.

In Jessica’s Own Words

“I loved working in the business field, and I look forward to using my background in Elementary Education in this new position at Five Oaks Academy. I am the mother of two children and my youngest child will be attending Five Oaks Academy beginning in the fall. I am eager to join the Parent Community in addition to being a part of the faculty. I am thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to serve you as a member of the administration at Five Oaks Academy. The atmosphere and community that have been created here seems like a wonderful environment to learn and work! I am excited about the many opportunities Five Oaks offers to my child and to me as I begin a new chapter in my life and embrace my new work family.”

Five Oaks Academy toddlers, primary kindergartners, lower elementary students, upper elementary students and middle school students recently participated in a fundraising drive to support the organization Amman Imman: Water is Life.  Amman Imman is dedicated to improving and saving lives among the poorest and most abandoned populations of the world by supplying permanent sources of water in the Azawak of West Africa.

The annual fundraising drive, named Ammon-a-thon, gives students the opportunity to raise money by getting sponsors to pledge support for completing repetitions of some of their favorite outdoor activities including running laps, doing jumping jacks, throwing and bouncing balls and other physical activities.  These activities provide students the opportunity to showcase their determination and support of this wonderful cause.  Overall, the students jumped, bounced and sweat their way to raise  over $5,000.  Combined with other fundraisers done over the course of the year in support of Amman Imman, the students raised $6,495.22.

Amman Imman’s global objective is to increase water security for the children and adults living in the Azawak of West Africa in order to drastically reduce the incidence and prevalence of morbidity and mortality related to water insufficiency and poor water quality, such as dehydration, diarrhea, intestinal helminthes, skin diseases, lice infestation, schistosomiosis, trachoma, etc. The project’s objectives include;

• creating permanent, sustainable, and potable water sources, so that everyone within the target population has sustainable and equitable access to enough water quantity of high quality to meet their consumption, cooking, personal and domestic hygienic needs, as well as the needs of their animals,
• ensuring ecologically, financially, and socially sustainable management of water quality and quantity and
• improving hygiene and sanitation related knowledge and behavior among members of the target population.

Events such as the Amman-a-thon empower Five Oaks Academy students to be actively involved in helping others and engages them as global citizens.  Five Oaks Academy is proud of all of its students who participated in Amman-a-thon.

Five Oaks Academy is proud of all of its 2012 graduates and wishes them every continuing success as they transition to the next stage of their education!

Listed below are the graduations for the 2011-2012 academic year.  More information may be found on each graduation by clicking the respective link.

Toddler Graduation – May 17, 2012 – 10:15AM

Kindergarten Bridging Ceremony –  May 17, 2012 – 3:00PM

Lower Elementary Peace Ceremony – May 24, 2012 – 9:00AM

Upper Elementary Commencement Ceremony – May 24, 2012 – 11:00AM

8th Grade Graduation – May 29, 2012 – 6:00PM

Congratulations, graduates!

Five Oaks Academy will be hosting both a student viewing and an adult’s only reception for its 2012 Student Art Show. The Five Oaks Academy Student Art Show showcases the artistic achievements of FOA student artists and their interpretations of both the renown artists and distinct art styles they have studied in Five Oaks Academy’s unique Art History Program run by FOA Art Program Directress Jill Plumley.

Adult’s Only Reception

Parents are encouraged to join us from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 19, 2012 for an adult’s only reception.  Childcare will be offered in the Lower Elementary II classroom.  Please RSVP to emily@fiveoaksacademy.com if you would like to take advantage of childcare.

By Emmi, FOA Middle School Student

On Sunday, March 25, 2012, Five Oaks Academy Middle School students departed from the Amtrak Station in downtown Greenville on a journey to the nation’s capitol, Washington D.C.

They arrived at Union Station in the early morning on Monday and started their trip by visiting the National Aquarium. Here they saw sea creatures from every ocean on Earth. After this first stop, the students made their way to the National Zoo to see animals from various parts of the world, including the panda from China and the cheetah from Africa. That night the students experienced a monument night tour, where they saw the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, the White House, the Capitol Building, Lincoln Memorial, and more.

The next morning, the students began their day at the National Spy Museum, where they learned about the most legendary spies of all time and even took on a secret identity for the day. Following that, the middle school continued to the Smithsonian. They began at the National Air and Space Museum where they saw fighter jets from world wars, rode simulators, and some students even chose to see the Einstein Planetarium. That evening, the middle school students dined at Bistro Bistro, where they enjoyed a selected menu that included a delicious chocolate cake or crème brule for dessert.

On their last day, the students visited the National Holocaust Museum, where they learned of devastating stories and shocking human experiences. Later on, they continued the Smithsonian by visiting the Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, and the American Art Museum, where they saw the featured exhibit; The Art of Video Games. That night the middle school returned to Greenville by train and they will always remember their exciting experience at the nation’s capitol.

Existing and prospective students may now sign up for Five Oaks Academy’s 2012 Summer Camps.  All camps are filled in the order completed registrations and payments are submitted to the Five Oaks Academy front office.

If a student signs up for both morning and afternoon camps, they are invited to stay on campus during the lunch hour of 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.

Summer Camp registrations and payments (in full) are due by Friday, May 27, 2012. No refunds will be issued after June 5, 2012.

Registration forms can be picked up in the front office or downloaded here.

Cathy Meng Robinson, violinist with the Miami String Quartet, performed for a captivated audience on her violin which dates back to 1735.  Ms. Robinson is a founding member of the Miami String Quartet, one of the most widely respected quartets in America. She teaches at Kent State University where she is currently an artist in residence.  A long time friend of Five Oaks Academy owner Laura Baur, Ms. Robinson promises to return to Five Oaks to perform again when her touring schedule permits.

“It is fun to cook with the teachers.  It’s kind of hard to plan.  You know they like the food when everyone says, ‘It’s an awesome meal’.” – Walker

The Five Oaks Academy Upper Elementary classroom involves all of the members of its community in as many classroom activities as possible.  One of these activities is the weekly community lunch.  Each week, two Upper Elementary students plan a menu, organize, shop, and prepare a meal for the entire Upper Elementary class, visiting Lower Elementary students in the third grade, and the Five Oaks Academy Faculty.  This exercise is an extension of the students’ practical life curriculum and is designed to foster independence, as well as expand the breadth of food experiences for the children.

“It was fun and interesting.  It was really yummy.”   – Maddie

Two student orchestrate an entire meal from its beginning stage of planning all the way through to the end stage of serving.  The chosen “chefs” research menus, make a shopping list, and go to the grocery store.  Part of the grocery store list involves budgeting for items and looking at nutritional values.  The average meal servers over 50 people each week.  In guiding the students, the teachers emphasize a variety of cooking methods and ethnic styles.

“It is fun to go shopping and to experience cooking with other people that you normally would not have an opportunity to work with.”  – Kaitlyn

As the students research needs, they are asked to look at fresh and holistic ways to prepare the items.  This fall, for example, instead of boiling store bought noodles for fetuccini alfredo, the students made whole wheat pasta by hand.

“I Like to cook.  It was fun!  We made eggrolls, veggie fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken.” – Carson