Alexander Dang, a scientist and artist from Brussels, visited the Elementary and Middle School programs on Monday, March 31 to raise awareness of the potential of environmental friendly technologies and sustainable development. Alexander studied Engineering in Paris and decided to couple his scientific background with his love of art. His desire to raise awareness world wide led him to develop artistic creations that incorporate solar energy as its energy source. This art is used to educate young people about the potential of eco-friendly technologies with a focus on renewable energy.
Five Oaks Academy students were stunned to learn that the energy coming from the sun and hitting the earth represents ten thousand times the energy consumed by mankind. Currently 1.7 billion people still do not have access to electricity. The Sun’s energy represents a great potential for satisfying this huge energy need.
Alexander founded Solar Solidarity International, a non-profit international association, to raise awareness and support solar electrification of schools in developing countries. http://solarsolidarite.org. Furman University sponsored Alexander’s trip to the US and graciously allowed him to speak to our community. We are grateful to them for allowing our students this opportunity.
The students here at Five Oaks are eagerly awaiting the annual Art Show to be held April 10th. This event showcases artwork created in the Art History curriculum taught by Ms. Jill and the Creativity program taught by Ms. Amy. Kindergarten students through 5th graders participate in these programs. Toddlers and younger Primary students who leave early each day will also have Creativity artwork in the show. The Middle School students will also be featured with artwork from their studies on Art Appreciation and Criticism.
On Thursday, March 13 Miss South Carolina 2012, Ali Rogers will be a guest speaker for FOA’s monthly Parent Lecture Series. Her presentation will be about the impact Montessori education has had on her life. Ali attended Laurens 55 Public Montessori school from Primary through Middle School.
Happy Montessori Education Week! Governor Haley continued the tradition of acknowledging the contributions of Montessori Education by signing the Governor’s Proclamation declaring February 23- March 1 2014 to be Montessori Education Week. By doing this, Haley recognizes the child-centered education method that Dr. Montessori developed using the scientific method over 100 years ago as a method that “continues to influence learning across our state and nation”.
Please join us for a presentation to learn about the vision and implementation of the new Next High School (NHS) during our monthly Parent Lecture Series on February 20 at 6:00pm. NHS will be a free public charter high school and is scheduled to open fall 2015.
Five Oaks Academy will host an Open House on Tuesday, January 28 and Tuesday, February25 from 9am- 11am. If you are interested or know someone interested in touring our campus, please call to schedule a tour. We are currently enrolling students for the 2014-2015 school year.
Apparel Magazine’s publisher, Susan Nichols, attended Five Oaks Academy’s ten year anniversary event Synergy with Dr. Yong Zhao in September at the Hyatt downtown. Dr. Zhao is an internationally known scholar, author and speaker whose work focuses on the implications of globalization and technology on education. Dr. Zhao’s quick wit and amazing insight enthralled hundreds on his recent visit to the upstate and his message resonated with many parents, educators and leaders in our business community. Susan shares what she took away from the evening from an industry standpoint in Apparel Magazine’s November publisher’s note. She writes, “One of the most compelling issues our industry faces today is education —how do we attract, prepare, train, motivate and inspire incoming talent to do great things in our companies.” To read Susan’s article in it’s entirety go to 
On Thursday, October 16, Five Oaks Academy was proud to welcome Jerry DeCaire to Five Oaks as a guest artist for the Upper Elementary and Middle School students. Jerry has served as an artist for Wolverine, Thor, X-Men, Conan and many other famous comic book and film characters. His presentation showed how mathematics, science and art can merge to create superheros! Jerry had all of the students on the edge of their seats with excitement as they watched him create a superhero while explaining the math and geometry he was using to create his art. They were thrilled to be given copies of the drawings he made that day. It was a great opportunity for them to see how the subjects they are learning in the classroom are applied in the “real world”.
On Friday, October 18, Five Oaks Academy Annual Fund held their annual Fall Fete. The Fete is an evening devoted to creating community among our parents and faculty as well as a time for our Annual Fund committee to give a short report on the Annual Fund. Tara Ann Garrett, Director of the Annual Fund, talked briefly about the purpose of the annual fund and what it provides for our school. The Annual Fund is an integral part of providing funds for program excellence, faculty excellence, and student excellence. The combination of perfect fall weather with dinner, drinks, dancing, and laughter created a magical evening as we celebrated the milestone of our tenth anniversary.
On October 4, Five Oaks Academy held our annual Fall Festival. As parents watched, FOA students performed songs about fall in both English and Spanish and performed songs practiced in their World Music class. Our talented and poised Middle School students, Ari Flanagan and Sydney Pinochet, were the masters of ceremony. A
