At Oakstone we believe in the education of the whole child, including character and leadership development. In addition to academic success, personal and social success must be considered. Behaviorally speaking, we desire for our students to not simply react to rewards and consequences, but think about their behavior at a deeper level.

Character education, leadership and service, are the foundation upon which our day to day is built at Oakstone. In addition to these traits being taught explicitly in the classroom, Oakstone staff is devoted to modeling these traits to students. Staff focus on utilizing the relationships they develop with students and teachable moments to integrate character development into daily academic instruction and experiences.

Lower School
In elementary, our character education program encompasses the following words:

• Trustworthiness
• Respect
• Responsibility
• Fairness
• Caring
• Citizenship

Students explore these character traits throughout the year with activities, lessons, children’s books, teachable moments, contests, assemblies, the Oak Leaf school-wide incentive program, service projects and more!

Middle School
In Middle School, students continue to explore and build upon their understanding and practice of the above traits. In addition to the methods used at the elementary level, a structured character education course is provided to the 5th and 7th grades as a valuable elective that continues to reinforce development and understanding of the traits. School-wide incentive programs such as “You’ve Been Spotted” and “Stepping Up and Standing Out” positively recognize students who practice the character traits.

Upper School
Upper School character education continues to grow into a leadership course offered to 9th graders. In this course, the concept of character is expanded to encompass leadership in personal and career success. The following characteristics are taught and explored through this high school level course:

• Attitude
• Preparation
• Perseverance
• Integrity
• Courage
• Appreciation
• Self-Control
• Empathy
• Gratitude
• Tolerance
• Duty
• Loyalty
• Compassion
• Leadership