As Oakwood Country School in Morgan Hill opened its doors for
another school year, a year with a record 100-plus new students,
faculty and staff took the stage during an all-school assembly to
perform for the students introducing the students to the newly
define Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, or ESLRs.
As Oakwood Country School in Morgan Hill opened its doors for another school year, a year with a record 100-plus new students, faculty and staff took the stage during an all-school assembly to perform for the students introducing the students to the newly define Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, or ESLRs.
The ESLRs are a part of Oakwood’s renewal of its accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, or WASC. The renewal has renewed meaning for Oakwood this year, as it prepares to announce the opening of the new Oakwood High School.
“We are very pleased with the great progress that has been made toward opening Oakwood High School,” said Ted Helvey, Oakwood’s executive director.
“We have felt for quite some time that the Morgan Hill community would embrace a private high school and we believe that with the diversity of private elementary schools in the area, an independent (nonreligious) school is just the answer we need.”
Oakwood, starting the year with just under 400 k-8 grade students, is at about 90 percent of capacity, Helvey said Friday, although most classes have waiting lists.
Current tuition is $2,950-$5,950 for preschool students depending on which program they attend, which is lower than last year and will not likely change next year, Helvey said. For students in first through eighth grades, tuition this year is $9,825.
“Our increases in grades one through eight over the last two years have been about 3 percent and, we expect to keep it around there,” said Helvey. “We will be announcing our high school tuition on Sept. 23 and our other tuition in January. As an independent school, we will be higher than the religious schools because of our class sizes (student-teacher ratio), and programs, and in many cases facilities.”
“However, our high school tuition will be significantly lower than the other independent high schools in the area, such as Harker, Pinewood, Castilleja and Menlo. They are as much as twice our tuition.”
Helvey added that Harker and Pinewood are the only independent schools within 30 miles, and that he expects that Oakwood High School will only be 10-20 percent higher than the Catholic schools in the area.
For the current year, tuition at Valley Christian High School is $9,955, Archbishop Mitty High School is $9,770 and Bellarmine is $9,745. As to capacity of the new high school, Helvey said that is something that will be discussed during the Sept. 23 announcement.
“Our model is to follow Pinewood’s model which has 200 high school students, although our facilitates and use permit allow for 300,” he said.
Helvey’s oldest daughter attends Pinewood School in Los Altos, a school operated by their family for more than 45 years. The school is the model on which Helvey and his wife, Michelle, are building Oakwood High School.
“Our school families clearly want a private school option here in Morgan Hill, and that is what we will be providing,” said Helvey. “Our goal is simple. We want to build an Oakwood version of Pinewood High School here in Morgan Hill.”
The new high school will be adjacent to the elementary school facility on John Wilson Way just west of Monterey Road in southwest Morgan Hill.
To request additional information or to attend a scheduled tour, email ad********@oa*******.org or call (408) 782-7177.
