The first private high school in the city, Oakwood High School,
is getting closer to having its own campus, as finishing touches
are being completed on its new home.
Morgan Hill – The first private high school in the city, Oakwood High School, is getting closer to having its own campus, as finishing touches are being completed on its new home.
“We have been working towards the completion of this new building since we first announced the high school over four years ago.” said Executive Director Ted Helvey of the campus hoping to open when school begins in August.
“Although the building is just now completing, Oakwood High School has already been going strong for two years and looks forward to continued growth with the completion of the new facilities.”
Construction of the new two-story, 16,800-square-foot building began last September, Helvey said. The structure contains 12 classrooms and two science labs and a computer lab.
The high school’s first students started as freshmen in August 2005, and have continued their classes in the facilities occupied by the school’s preschool, elementary and middle school programs at 105 John Wilson Way in south Morgan Hill. Those freshmen will be juniors when school begins in August, and they are scheduled to become the school’s first graduating class in June 2009.
Several private schools in Morgan Hill have middle school programs, but Oakwood is the first to open a high school program. With the new facility, the school hopes to attract students from other middle schools as well as retain its own middle school students once they leave the eighth grade.
Helvey said the facility, which is designed to house up to 300 students, includes a new quad and “sport court” to supplement the existing gym.
While the school contracted with architects Flewelling & Moody in Pasadena and Williams & Paddon in Sacramento, the building design included elements created through collecting input from the high school program students and faculty.
Helvey said ideally the high school would serve between 30 and 50 students per grade level so class size could kept low. Core subjects are offered to high school students, as well as a full range of electives. Students also have the opportunity to participate in athletics, student government and student-created clubs.
