Oak Hill School

This school is terrible. I wasn't good enough for them (like about 99.9997% of the population) and because of that, they decided to kick me out a full month before the school year was over, which normally shouldn't even be legal although they managed to abuse a loophole then too. Luckily I managed to make it a full three years there, but my last two were full of scrutiny from teachers and the management. The school has ultimately failed in their essential mission; they claim to be a small, personal setting, but the headmaster (who leaves all the actual running of the school to the dean of students) was, when I left, committed only to drumming up funds to expand the school and take on more kids. The kids are extremely arrogant and condescending, acting three times older than they actually are. If there was an option to give this poor excuse for a garbage heap zero stars, I would; the only thing that stays my hand, however, is that there are a few good teachers. If you're not an obedient little overachiever who's going to act in the latest school play, do 15 other extracurriculars, get all As and not make a mote of trouble then you might as well leave right then, because this school will not be kind to you. If you don't fit into the mold the management will do all they can to get rid of you. It doesn't matter if two other kids get in a fight; if they fit into the system and you don't, saying something even mildly subversive will be ten times worse, as far as the school is concerned. This school may have been the way its website describes it once, but those days are long gone. It is little surprise; the previous dean (read: de facto overlord) was an old crone who I can only hope is spinning in her grave and the current one is a fat authoritarian. So have a great time at Oak Hill, but only if you fit into the cookie cutter mold they've established to forget the fact that the real world isn't composed of ubermensch. And as I end this review, a word for a certain math teacher: see you in hell, you old witch.

A really great school with so much to offer in the way of academics as well as bunches of electives and life skills integrated into the curriculum.

It's okay because it's great for very specific types of students, but not flexible to accommodate to students who are't that very specific type. The type is get's strait A's, should be a grade level ahead of where they are, kind of a nerd, and not much into sports, oh and your parents should be rich. First to get into this school you have to have mostly A's from your previous school, indicating you should be a grade level ahead of where you are. Instead of placing you a grade level ahead they take a regular class teach it in half the time and give you an hour of homework per class. Now this is difficult, but doable if you should be a grade level ahead. You are a nerd, if you don't have some quirky trait about you, you will be the odd one out. All odd ones form a posse of non-odd ones. If you don't want to be in the "cool" group you make yourself a group if they are still here. Everyone from K-12 does do an hour of P.E. with lots of different and cool units, but the extracurricular real sports are practically non-existent. Baseball, soccer, football, softball, swimming, track? Nope. Cross country. you betcha. Teachers and electives are hit or miss. Sometimes you will get an awesome one who keeps everyone in check and makes sure all are having fun. Sometimes you'll have a class where the teacher doesn't even know how to do something and expect the student just to figure it out while they still back and check e-mails. Study abroad programs are great going to several different countries including: Mexico, France, and Thailand. All students are required to take a foreign language, this is great for opening young people's minds to the whole world. The school also has a great root in being green, recycling, feeding food scraps to pigs and the garden worm bins. The school does have it's own garden, but mostly for learning purposes. Oak Hill may have many great things going for it, but be ready to do home work like your life depends on it because teachers are not always going to want to help you.

The educational level is exactly what we are looking for. When our daughter Alexa turns 4 we are enrolling her!