Oakcrest School

Inspiring Faculty: A Hallmark of an Oakcrest Education

Science teacher Angela Fortunato, English and classical languages teacher Elizabeth Black, history teacher Ginny Boles and Theology teacher Holly Salls share how they tell the human story in each of their subject areas. They offer reflections on the many ways that a liberal arts education can tell the story of the human person and help students realize their own place in the narrative of human history. Discussion moderated by Paula Rondon-Burgos, Latin teacher.

The Second Greatest Story Ever Told: The Life of Cicero, Roman Statesman, Politician, and Friend

In an address given for Oakcrest's Fifth Annual O'Donovan Humanities Lecture, Oakcrest Classical languages teacher Paula Rondon-Burgos discusses the life of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a first-century B.C. Roman statesman. He provides a much-needed mirror for our times, one which reflects back the truth of the human person, both in its inherent fallibility and in its capacity for greatness. Introduction given by Mary T. Ortiz, Head of School. 

Testing and Trickery: Love and Marriage in Homer's The Odyssey and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice

English Master Teacher Lisa Kenna discusses what makes a comedy in literature. She delves into how both The Odyssey and The Merchant of Venice can be called comedies and some of the qualities both stories share. 

How to Parent Children with Their Temperaments in Mind

Dean of Studies, Dr. Edwina Maksym, examines the four temperaments—choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine. She discusses their strengths and weaknesses and how we can make the best of our particular personalities by growing in virtue. 

Lost and Found

Oakcrest parent Amy Miller—mom to two current Oakies, one alumna and one future Oakie—talks about how she made the decision to send her daughters to Oakcrest and why she's so happy that she did. 

Educating in Freedom

Dean of Students Ginny Boles speaks about the atmosphere of freedom that we cultivate at Oakcrest in everything we do. She delves into the crucial difference between training and educating and explains how our goal is to instill life principles in our students that they will carry with them when they graduate. The principles that they internalize here will ultimately help them choose the good from personal conviction, not a sense of forced obligation.  

Sophia Miller Open House Speech

Sophia Miller ('23) speaks about her Oakcrest experience–what she loves about the school and how it has helped her grow as a person. 

The Awesome Power of Learning: A Conversation with Mary T. Ortiz, Head of School, and Kathleen Pacious, Oakcrest Class of 2004

Head of School Emerita Dr. Mary T. Ortiz and alumna Kathleen Pacious ('04) discuss the power of a liberal arts education to form the whole person and how that education has played out in Kathleen's life as she moved to Ireland and received her doctorate.  Kathleen currently serves as Head of Development at Rosemont School in Dublin. 

How to Make the Most of Open House

Oakcrest Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz shares advice on how to make the most of your visit to a school's open house. She suggests that the entire visit should be seen in light of one central question: who do you want your daughter to be at graduation? And if you are a student, what kind of person do you want to be? Dr. Ortiz gives practical tips on what sort of questions to ask at an open house, who to talk to, and what to look for. She introduces Oakcrest's October 20 Open House and gives a taste of what visitors can expect. 

Transforming Values Into Virtue

Oakcrest Student Life Coordinator Holly Salls speaks on the moral development of teenagers and how parents can guide their daughters through the different stages of moral reasoning. She describes how high schoolers of different ages approach right and wrong in surprisingly different ways. Miss Salls gives concrete advice on how to cultivate empathy in your child and help her deal with self-consciousness, achieve a healthy balance between emotions and reason, and much more. Through it all she encourages parents to foster conversations with their daughters about important moral issues and to bring Christ into those conversations as well.

Miss Salls earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a M.A. in Philosophy of Education with a concentration in Character Education from the University of Navarra, Spain. She has authored a book entitled Character Education: Transforming Values into Virtue.