Over 100 years ago, Dr. Maria Montessori began a revolution in education. In analyzing the needs of children, she discovered that students respond well to respect, a stimulating curriculum and environment, and the ability to have choices. As we celebrate Montessori Week across the state and across the world, we are thankful for the opportunities this educational method offers our students. Our Governor, Nikki Haley, has continued the tradition of recognizing “Montessori Week” by signing the State of South Carolina Governor’s Proclamation. Five Oaks Academy will celebrate by hosting a community gathering where Middle School student’s video of why Montessori is important to them. We will join international Montessori ans in a moment of silence to allow our students to reflect on their own education and the influence of Montessori on their lives. Lastly, we will host student performances at our in-house Strengths Show.
“Montessori education has basically opened a new window for me. I feel so included and I feel safe to be myself. All the teachers are always willing to help, but at the same time they teach you to be independent. I appreciate all Maria Montessori’s work. I wouldn’t have made it here without her.”
-Grace Ireland
Five Oaks academy will be hosting an Open House on Tuesday, March 12 from 9am- 11am. If you are interested in touring our campus, please call to schedule a tour. Refreshments will be served and parents of current students will be here to share their FOA experiences with prospective parents. We are currently enrolling students for the 2013-2014 school year.
There are many familiar names on the long list of Montessori elite jokingly named “The Montessori Mafia”. Jeff Bezos, Dakota Fanning, Anne Frank, Helen Hunt, Helen Keller, Beyonce Knoles, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Taylor Swift, Julia Child, George Clooney, Sergey Brin and Larry Page are just a few famous Montessori alumni, many of whom credit their Montessori education for their success. The Wall Street Journal published an article in 2011 titled “The Montessori Mafia” that discussed the possible correlation between the Montessori method of learning, a student centered learning method where creativity, critical thinking skills and exploration are valued, and many of the very successful innovative entrepreneurs and creative elite. “…the Montessori educational approach might be the surest route to joining the creative elite, which are so overrepresented by the school’s alumni that one might suspect a Montessori Mafia…,” wrote Peter Sims with The Wall Street Journal.
“Montessori taught me the joy of discovery…It showed you can become interested in pretty complex theories, like Pythagorean theory, say, by playing with blocks. It’s all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori—if you give people this model for building cities, they will abstract from it principles of urban design.” ~Will Wright, Computer Game Designer and Original Designer of The Sims
We are so proud of all of our Five Oaks Academy students and families who have helped support Amman Imman this school year. Amman Imman is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and saving the lives of the some of the poorest and most abandoned populations of the world by supplying permanent sources of water in the Azawak of West Africa. In this area, half a million people have no water for ten months of the year.
FOA students from the Lower Elementary classes held an Artist Bazaar where they sold hand made crafts to raise money in support of this worthy cause. These students planned, designed and created beautiful crafts to sell during this event. “Their creativity and passion are inspiring,” exclaimed one of our Lower Elementary teachers. In addition to the Artist Bazaar and students personal donations, a water sale was held during a school wide event to help raise money and awareness for this charity.
The most recent copy of “Tomorrow’s Child” is now available in the office. “Tomorrow’s Child” is a monthly magazine published by the International Montessori Council (IMC) with the purpose of further educating parents and teachers on the Montessori method. This magazine is a great resource that provides articles on how to nurture your child both academically and at home.
The Winter 2012 edition of “Edible Upcountry” contains great articles on South Carolina foods as well as our most recent ad featuring one of our Middle School students, Carson Barber. Carson appears in the premier ad on our sustainable gardening project that includes raising our FOA chickens. Our organic chicken coup came to the campus this fall and is a middle school project that integrates our chickens into many aspects of the curriculum for each classroom level. Please pick up a copy of Edible upstate in the office or go 
Our annual Holiday Program will be held Thursday, December 13 at 6pm at the Fountain Inn Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Our holiday program is reflective of our student centered educational method. The students select songs and poems that incorporate what they are studying in the classroom. Our middle school students are producers of the program: handling both back stage operations and hosting during the performance. They will also be demonstrating their talents between acts by performing piano, guitar and vocal arrangements. Please join us for an evening of unique holiday cheer!
Please join Five Oaks Academy for our 7th Annual Artists’ Bazaar! We will host this event in the house on November 29, 2012 from 2-7 pm. Artisans from our local community will sell handcrafted items. There will be unique items such as altered clothing, jewelry, soup, printmaking, aprons, picture frames, holiday decorations, banners and much more! A portion of the proceeds will go towards FOA’s Guest Artists Fund. This fund enables us to bring locally and nationally renowned artists to campus for student workshops.
SCETV’s P.A. Bennett visited Five Oaks on October 18 to sit down with Dr Hughes and discuss the current challenges plaguing the Nations educational system and the call for a revolutionary change in education. This episode of SCETV’s Connections will air on Friday, December 18 at 7:30 and Sunday, December 21 at 12:30. Connections is SCETV’s weekly public affairs program and online discussion about issues that affect South Carolina’s minority population.
On October 19 and 20, Five Oaks Academy teachers and faculty will be attending the South Carolina Montessori Alliance (SCMA) State Conference in Columbia for professional development. This Montessori conference is a combination of private and public schools coming together to emphasize the best practice in Montessori schools.
