The FOA Middle School is excited to announce their first annual Greenery Sale. The money raised will go towards the eighth grade class field trip that culminates their time in the middle school program.  For these trips, we ask that parents contribute only a portion of the money. Students work in class and, at times, out of class to raise large portions of their trip money on their own.

The eighth grade trip gives our students an opportunity to practice the skills that they have learned at Five Oaks.  The students collaborate to choose a destination, plan activities that coordinate with our curriculum, make reservations, and budget how much it will cost.  This has become an event that our children look forward to for many years.

By allowing our kids the chance to partake in fundraising for themselves, we are providing them the experience of running a business, setting goals and following through on a task. We want to offer you an opportunity to help our middle school students by purchasing winter greenery wreaths. You may place an order online at www.helpsupportmygroup.com.  All online orders will need to be placed by November 30, 2014.  No late orders are accepted by the company involved in our sale. Online orders will be shipped directly to your house.

Thank you in advance for your support.  If you have any questions, please email Ms Alissa.

Many parents have questions about technology and how it relates to their children. Are our children safe on the web? How does social media affect children? This months Parent Lecture Series will focus on Technology. We will have two technology experts speak about internet safety and social media; there will also be an opportunity for them to answer questions.

Adam Anderson, founder and CEO of Palmetto Security Group, will be discussing how to keep your child safe when using mobile devices.  Adam has been a security professional for over 15 years and is actively trying to educate people on what he believes is one of the major security risks facing companies today, bad business processes and procedures.

Debbie Jarrett is Content Coordinator and Education Technology Specialist for ETV where she trains over 3,000 South Carolina teachers each year on how to integrate technology in the classroom. Debbie will be talking about social media and how it relates to students.

Please join us on October 16 at 6pm for this very informative Parent workshop!

Five Oaks Academy Students, Families, and Faculty had a fun family day at The Greenville Drive stadium Sunday, August 24. FOA  families participated in a parade around the field, the “Field of Dreams” run with the Players,  and games between innings. Everyone had tons of fun and showed lots of  school spirit! It was wonderful to see all the light blue FOA t-shirts in the stands.   It was a great day to be at the ballpark and to be a part of the Five Oaks Academy Community!

Please join us on Tuesday, September 9 from 8:30am -10:00am for an International Tea. We look forward to officially welcoming our new international families and celebrating the unique diversity of our school. This event creates both a social and networking opportunity for our new families to help them feel connected to the Greenville community. Members of the Simpsonville /Greenville medical and business community will attend to help our international families make professional contacts.

Five Oaks Academy would like to thank Flatrock Family Dentistry for sponsoring this event!

The Five Oaks Annual Fund would like to thank all of the families who were able to attend the Splash Party at Discovery Island Waterpark. This was the perfect way to celebrate a new school year by allowing our new families to make connections within our community as well as providing a fun atmosphere for our current families to reconnect with friends. The weather was perfect and great fun was had by all.

The back-to-school event was held in celebration of the FOA community reaching the Annual Fund goals of the 2013-2014 campaign! Tuition covers around 80% of the actual cost of a student to attend Five Oaks. The Annual Fund bridges that gap to fund needs in student excellence, teacher excellence, and program excellence.

Five Oaks academy (FOA) is the first Montessori school in the state to received both the Independent School Accreditation and a Montessori Accreditation from the South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA).   Kathleen Trewhella-Grant, Executive Director of FOA,  was presented with an award of accreditation from Lyndi Bonnette, SCISA’s Activities Director, on May 2.  FOA is the only accredited Montessori Program in Greenville. 

The accreditation through SCISA provides many opportunities for FOA students to participate in activities with other schools. Several students from Five Oaks Academy have already attended a Spelling Bee competition.  Many students from the Upper Elementary and Middle School have decided to participate in the Battle of the Books competition and will compete this fall.  To learn more about SCISA and see a full list of activities available to FOA students, go to http://scisa.org/.

Alexander Dang, a scientist and artist from Brussels, visited the Elementary and Middle School programs on Monday, March 31 to raise awareness of the potential of environmental friendly technologies and sustainable development. Alexander studied Engineering in Paris and decided to couple his scientific background with his love of art. His desire to raise awareness world wide led him to develop artistic creations that incorporate solar energy as its energy source. This art is used to educate young people about the potential of eco-friendly technologies with a focus on renewable energy.

Five Oaks Academy students were stunned to learn that the energy coming from the sun and hitting the earth represents ten thousand times the energy consumed by mankind. Currently 1.7 billion people still do not have access to electricity. The Sun’s energy represents a great potential for satisfying this huge energy need.

Alexander founded Solar Solidarity International, a non-profit international association, to raise awareness and support solar electrification of schools in developing countries. http://solarsolidarite.org. Furman University sponsored Alexander’s trip to the US and graciously allowed him to speak to our community. We are grateful to them for allowing our students this opportunity.

The students here at Five Oaks are eagerly awaiting the annual Art Show to be held April 10th. This event showcases artwork created in the Art History curriculum taught by Ms. Jill and the Creativity program taught by Ms. Amy. Kindergarten students through 5th graders participate in these programs. Toddlers and younger Primary students who leave early each day will also have Creativity artwork in the show. The Middle School students will also be featured with artwork from their studies on Art Appreciation and Criticism.

Students may view the show with their parents from 2:45-4:00. A reception for adults only will be held from 5:00-7:00. This is one of our favorite events of the year! The children’s talent and enthusiasm for art will be evident as you view their wonderful work.

On Thursday, March 13 Miss South Carolina 2012, Ali Rogers will be a guest speaker for FOA’s monthly Parent Lecture Series. Her presentation will be about the impact Montessori education has had on her life. Ali attended Laurens 55 Public Montessori school from Primary through Middle School.

Ali Rogers spent a year serving the great state of South Carolina. Her personal platform was Making a Difference for Children with Disabilities, and she worked with various organizations, centers, and groups across the state as an advocate and a voice for children with special needs. Ali traveled more than 60,000 miles as Miss South Carolina speaking to schools, civic organizations, and church groups. Ali was crowned Miss South Carolina in July of 2012 . She was the first runner-up at the Miss America Competition in January of 2013 and won the Miracle Maker Award for raising the most money for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Ali is a communication studies major at Clemson University. In addition to her full scholarship, she has earned $63,000 in scholarship assistance from the Miss America Organization. She currently works in media production for the Clemson Football program, hosting the Death Valley Live show and the All In Highlight Reel. Ali plans to obtain a masters degree in the communication field.

Happy Montessori Education Week! Governor Haley continued the tradition of acknowledging the contributions of Montessori Education by signing the Governor’s Proclamation declaring February 23- March 1 2014 to be Montessori Education Week. By doing this, Haley recognizes the child-centered education method that Dr. Montessori developed using the scientific method over 100 years ago as a method that “continues to influence learning across our state and nation”.