Oakland School (Virginia)

Oakland School is a coeducational boarding and day school in Keswick, Virginia, United States, specializing in the education of children with dyslexia, difficulties with organization and study skills, or other learning disabilities. The school is ungraded, offering instruction from the early elementary school level up to the ninth grade.^[1]

History

Margaret G. Shepherd founded Oakland in 1950 as a summer camp and remedial school called the Oakland Farm Camp & School and located on her family's farm. Shepherd offered a program that she had created, using phonics to teach reading and offering positive reinforcement to build students' self-esteem. In 1967 she expanded it to a year-round residential school program, and in 1968 the Virginia Board of Education certified the school as a private, non-profit learning disabilities school.^[2]

Shepherd taught at Oakland School up to the time of her death at age 91. In 1974 her daughter, Joanne Dondero, succeeded her as school director, continuing in that role until 1993.^[2]

Carol Williams, who joined the school staff in 1978, is the school's current director.^[3]

Program

Oakland enrolls about 85 students during the school year, including about 60 boarding students,^[1] and offers a six-week summer school enrolling about 135 students. Students are admitted to the school-year program between the ages of seven and fourteen, and typically remain for two to four years.^[4] To gain admission, students are expected to have average or above average intellectual abilities and should not have primary and severe emotional or behavioral disorders.^[5]

Each student has a one-on-one tutorial with a reading teacher,^[4] who directs the student's entire curriculum.^[6] An Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction is emphasized.^[4]

Students leave Oakland when they are ready to participate successfully in mainstream schools, entering at grade levels between fifth and tenth grade.^[1]

Daily physical education participation is required.^[1] Horseback riding is available as an activity that gives students a "rest" between study sessions, as well as aiding in emotional and social development and encouraging responsibility.^[4][6] About three-quarters of the students participate in riding. The school fields interscholastic basketball and soccer teams as well as several intramural sports.^[1]

Campus

Oakland occupies a 450-acre (1.8 km²) campus.^[4] The campus is dominated by the "Big House," which was built in the mid-18th century and expanded in the early 19th century when Oakland was a plantation. The Big House contains administrative offices and several classrooms. Other school buildings include the Old Kitchen, which was just a chimney when Shepherd first came to Oakland Farm in 1922, and the School House, which was built in 1963. Other facilities include a modern gymnasium and recreation center, a dining hall and library, and modern classroom buildings and dormitories.^[2]

School colors and mascot

The school's colors are green and yellow and its mascot is the bulldog.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Dyslexia support in the United States

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Oakland School, Peterson's Guide to Private Secondary Schools, 2007, ISBN 0768923999, page 1242
2. ^ ^{a b c} Oakland History, Oakland School website, accessed January 5, 2009
3. ^ Welcome message, Oakland School website, accessed January 5, 2009
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} Sanford Shapiro looks at The Oakland School, LD Resources, January 17, 2007
5. ^ Richard R. Abidin, Ed.D., ABPP, Professional Associations and Involvement, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia (accessed January 5, 2009)
6. ^ ^{a b} Stephanie Thomas, Dyslexia: A Comparative View of US and UK Treatment, October 2007

External links

• Oakland School website