Beautiful surroundings inspire beautiful artwork. Upper Elementary students enjoy art classes on the Discovery Deck and near the Jean Wilson Freeman mural at Five Oaks Academy.

Thank you so much to all of our volunteers who helped us beautify our campus during our Spring Community Day!  We couldn’t do it without your help!

The bees are back at FOA! We have two hives of Italian honey bees that are located on our nature trail. Our first two attempts prior to COVID ended in the queens swarming the hive and with an infestation of European Hornets that devastated the hives. We are excited to say that our two new hives are thriving!

The Italian honey bees are very gentle honey bees. Both hives have accepted their queen and are settling in nicely. They are bustling with activity, and the queens have each laid about 30,000 to 40,000 eggs in the last three-four weeks. They have nearly run out of room to lay more. FOA parent and beekeeper extraordinaire, Dan Magner, purchased the hives and bees for FOA and is our bee advisor. The Upper Elementary students are working with him to help maintain the hives, learn about the bees, and teach other program levels about the amazing Italian honey bee!

On Friday, May 20, “Dan the Bee Man” met with the Upper Elementary students and explored the hives. This exploration included looking for the presence of the queen, assessing the space for the hive to grow, and discussing how to manage pests properly. Students learned about the life cycle of the Italian honey bee, different jobs in the hive, communication, and the overall changes in the hive throughout the year. Having two different hives also gives us the opportunity to see what effect the hive’s placement has on the hive’s success (i.e. sunlight, access to water, etc.). At this time, the hive down by the river is doing slightly better than the one near the trailhead, in that they have stored more honey, and the queen has laid more eggs. We look forward to following both of the hives’ successes and involving every program level in this exploration.

A sense of joy and happiness was in the air at our International Festival held on Friday, May 6. This was the first major festival we have hosted on campus since the pandemic started, and it felt wonderful to see everyone and socialize. We have over 30 countries represented in the Five Oaks community, and native clothing worn by children and adults alike reflected our international community. In addition to the Spanish songs, the students’ performances celebrated children around the world, and elementary students presented songs in sign language.

Everyone enjoyed the student performances, which were enhanced by instruments purchased with a grant from FOA grandmother, Angele McLaughlin. We were especially proud for Dr. Spencer Jordan, director of SCISA (South Carolina Independent Schools Association), to present Five Oaks Academy with the 2020 W. Keller-Kissam School of Honor Award, and we appreciated his very kind words about our school: “I have been to all 127+ schools within our association, and there is not one school – large or small – that I can put up to par with Five Oaks.”

After the program concluded, students and their parents enjoyed activities such as inflatable obstacle courses, The Nomadik Few Gourmet ShavedIce, pies from Rachel’s American Pies, colorful streamers, and photos with Frankie the Fox! We look forward to our next opportunity to join as a community, meet new people, and talk with each other!

A special thank you to all of the volunteers who showed up and worked SO hard during our Spring Community Day! We accomplished so much and had a blast doing it!

Our many volunteers: replaced all stairs in the Main House (many of which were broken), laid a stone walkway next to P2 to help with drainage issues and create a path for the students to walk on, installed attic stairs in both LE classrooms providing much-needed storage, counted money from Coin Challenge, worked on the Art Show, moved the playground gate, repaired broken spindles, painted the new fence in front of the school, cleaned windows, fixed chairs, repaired broken classroom furniture, and much, much more!

We are so grateful for our supportive FOA a community that comes together to GET IT DONE!

The STEAM and Art Show is always a highlight of the school year, offering a chance to celebrate the students’ creativity and exploration. Families were able to visit and tour the exhibition alongside their children on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Colorful paintings pinned up along the breezeway are always a hallmark of the experience, while Middle School artwork was featured inside the main house.

Five Oaks Academy provides art exploration and instruction to Primary students through Middle School students with two distinct curricula: Art History and Creativity. Ms. Jill and Ms. Sarah guided the kindergarten through fifth-grade students in studying “Art of the Americas” this year, including artists such as John James Audubon, Frida Kahlo, and Jonathan Green (among others). Students created self-portraits, landscapes, bark paintings, and bird studies inspired by masters.

Within the Creativity program, Ms. Amy and Ms. Sarah guided the 3K students through fifth-graders in process-based explorations of color, emotion, texture, and line. The Upper Elementary students created a collaborative piece that was printed onto fabric to colorfully welcome visitors to the STEAM show. Finally, Middle School students explored resist techniques, low-relief paper collages, art therapy, realistic pencil drawings, captured motion drawings, tessellations, and perspective.

The newer outdoor areas at Five Oaks (such as the courtyard tent, amphitheater, and Discovery Deck behind elementary) allowed for STEAM displays from every age level and featured field guides from nature studies, microscope exploration, book reports, biography projects, “Imaginary Island” designs, and invention projects. Middle School students showcased the 8th-graders’ Legacy projects, in addition to the work they completed to certify our campus deciduous forest with the National Wildlife Foundation. Meanwhile, musicians and vocalists of all ages entertained guests by providing background music in the amphitheater.

Five Oaks Academy was proud to be the first Montessori and STEAM-accredited school through SCISA (South Carolina Independent Schools Association), and we look forward to another year of creative exploration and STEAM-based inquiry at Five Oaks.

On Friday, February 5, 2021, Five Oaks Academy’s Executive Director, Kathleen Trewhella-Grant, hosted a Montessori Parents in Action (MPIA) workshop. “The Middle School Experience” was presented by the Middle School Co-Lead Program Directresses, Caroline Leonard, and Sami Schroeder.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there was a limit to how many parents were allowed to attend in person. If you were unable to attend, we have added a video version of the workshop here for you.

Follow this link to view the MS slide deck that corresponds to the workshop.

Follow this link for the full version of the Middle School Independence Scale (covered at the end of the presentation).

On January 24, 2021, Five Oaks Academy hosted its first ever Virtual Alumni Workshop. We were so fortunate to have five stellar graduates back on our campus to talk about their experiences after FOA.

Thank you to graduates Ranjan Jindal, Grace Ireland, Zoe Park, Nathan Hopkins, and Lily VanPelt for their time and for sharing their personal experiences.

If you were unable to watch the event live yesterday, we do have a recorded version that you may view online. http://bit.ly/2021AlumniWorkshop

*As this was our first attempt at a virtual event of this type, please forgive us for some technical difficulties during some parts of the presentation.