Goals and Philosophy of the School
It is the goal of Oak Crest Private School to educate bright students so that they have a solid educational foundation that sets them up to excel in their future education and to have the basic tools that they will need for life. It is our aim to challenge every student without overwhelming any by providing a thorough and individualized program that aligns with the student’s goals and the parents’ wishes for the child. Emphasis is placed on ensuring that students achieve 100 percent mastery of what has been taught and that students learn the study skills that will allow them to successfully and independently continue learning throughout high school, college and the rest of their lives.
Every new topic being learned is begun by ensuring that students have a purpose and therefore a use for what they are studying. This leads to students who can apply their knowledge.
The philosophy and teaching methodology of the school are based on the discoveries of American educator L. Ron Hubbard. As a part of his extensive writings on the subject of study, he isolated barriers to learning that would interfere with the full comprehension of a subject. The remedies for these academic difficulties are surprisingly simple to apply and strikingly effective.
It is beneficial for parents to familiarize themselves with this approach to learning, since this will help them to fully understand what sets Oak Crest Private School apart from other schools. Furthermore, this empowers the parent to help the school to ensure that the child makes optimum progress.
Oak Crest Private School focuses on creating an honest, productive, safe and friendly environment for all students. It is our aim to create a nurturing environment for children of all ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Whereas it is felt that it is important to acknowledge the basic spiritual nature of man, no particular religious beliefs are taught.
Forms as Compared to Grades
Oak Crest Private School does not use traditional grades where a child is advanced to the next higher level based on age.
Instead the school uses a system of “forms.” Each form consists of a list of required courses and books that a child must complete in order to move up onto the next higher level. These can be supplemented with optional material that allows a student to pursue particular interests or provide individual challenges or remedial work.
Every child is programmed individually, so that he or she knows what must be completed in order to move up to the next higher level. Parents receive a copy of this program and thus can follow along with their child’s progress.
Each form takes roughly eighteen months. As soon as a student meets all of the requirements for a form, he or she moves up to the next higher level. This can happen at any point during the school year and is solely determined by the student’s ability to meet the academic standard for the level and is not limited by his or her age.
Below is a table that indicates ideal age ranges and rough grade level equivalents for the forms as used at Oak Crest Private School. (SEE TABLE BELOW)
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If a student is found to be behind where he or she should be for his or her age, a student may be put on an “entry program.” Such a program allows a child to be in a classroom with other students that are close to him or her in age, while specific academic backlogs are addressed thus allowing the student to catch up with other children his age.
In order to encourage students to move through their forms in a timely manner, they are given targets. These are intended to be challenging, so if a student does not meet all of his targets, this should not be a cause for alarm. However, if a term goes by with little accomplished, parents should take notice and work with the child and teacher to reverse this situation.
Homework
Students are assigned daily homework to drill the skills that they have learned at school. Completion of these assignments is vital to the academic success and rate of progress of the child. Parents are expected to back up the school by ensuring that all homework is completed.
Screen Time and Video Games
The school strongly recommends limiting screen time and video games for children. It is ideal to eliminate these altogether during the week. No one is denying that video games and screen time can be a fun treat. However, children should be active and exploring the real world around them. Too many hours of sitting still in front of a screen has been found to lead to problems with concentration while at school.
Computers and tablets used at school are used as tools for learning, drilling, doing research and acquiring skills such as typing, word processing, using spreadsheets, and so forth. Electronics are not used to replace teachers or interaction with the real world.
Progress Reports
Oak Crest Private School focuses on having students achieve full mastery of all subjects taught. When a student completes a segment of work, he or she is given an exam. If any questions or parts of questions are missed, the student receives individual tutoring or assignments to help him or her to sort out the area of difficulty. Once the confusions or uncertainties are sorted out, the child is tested once more on the material that was missed on the first exam. Only when a student can show that he or she now understands and can apply the material fully is the course considered complete. In this way, students are never left with uncertainties that can trip them up later in their education.
Due to this thorough approach to learning, Oak Crest Private School does not issue traditional letter grades on report cards, since all children ultimately pass each course with full understanding and thus have 100 percent mastery of the materials. However, progress reports will show the exam score that a student received at the end of any segment of work with a graded exam, before any tutoring was done to address questions that were missed.
The factor that determines how well a child is doing at Oak Crest Private School is the pace at which the student is moving through his or her studies. Each Beginner level and Form has an ideal age range for children learning that material (see above). If a child takes too long getting through a particular set of requirements, he or she will find himself behind where he should be as compared to other students.
This is not necessarily a dire situation, since the student has a solid foundation which can be built upon. An accumulation of uncertainties leads nowhere. There have been students who although behind the ideal age for their Form, nonetheless prove to be above grade level when compared to other children their age on standardized tests, since they have a solid academic base.
However, if a student slides further and further behind, action needs to be taken to address this. Such action would include more time spent on homework and might include attending summer sessions at Oak Crest Private School so that extra course work can be completed over the summer.
Within the first month of every school year, parents will receive a copy of the student’s program. This is a list of all courses that a child needs to complete in order to move up to the next Beginner or Form level. In addition, each parent will receive the student’s target to complete their current level.
At the end of each term, parents receive a progress report that shows which courses were completed. The score that the child received on the exam at the end of the course will also be displayed. If a student does not pass the exam, the original score received will be listed and any subsequent exam grades for the course after the student has received help on the course or restudied the materials will be added.
In order to optimize learning, students are given challenging targets that should encourage them to move rapidly through their studies. As a result, if a student does not make the initial target set, this is not an immediate cause for concern. However, if the student fails to make steady progress towards it, this needs to be resolved.
Parental participation and backup of the program are essential to a student’s success, and hence it is vital that the parent understand their child’s progress and the school’s expectations fully.
Applying for Admission
In order to be admitted to Oak Crest Private School, a student needs to submit a completed Application Form. For students in first grade and above, a teacher evaluation form and the past year’s report cards also need to be submitted. The emergency medical release form must be notarized. This ensures that enrolled children can get care from a doctor if an emergency occurs where the parents cannot be reached. All children need a statement signed by their doctor stating that they are physically capable of participating in a school program.
All applicants are expected to complete a trial day at the school. Older students will be given admissions tests during this day, and all children will participate in regular classroom activities. This allows the teacher to see if the child is a good fit and lets the student and parents see if they like our program.
The day for the child to attend Oak Crest Private School as a trial is scheduled on an individual basis. These can be arranged by calling the school.
Students and parents will be notified of the school’s decision regarding admission as rapidly as possible after the completion of the paperwork and tests.
The school is required by law to keep a copy of the child’s immunization records, so these need to be submitted when the student is enrolled. The school has no immunization requirements for staff.
All children are required by law to have their hearing and vision checked at certain intervals. The school will notify the parents when this is needed and provide them with the opportunity to do the testing at school for a moderate fee. If a child’s pediatrician has recently checked the child’s hearing and vision, a copy of the form showing the results can be brought to the school and the school tests skipped.
Tuition
Tuition is always due on the twenty-fifth day of the month for the following month’s fee. Late charges will be assessed on the fifth of the month if the tuition has not been received. Once a child’s tuition is 30 days behind, the child will be excluded from attendance until the tuition is fully paid for the past and current month.
School Day
The school day at Oak Crest Private School starts at 8:30 AM sharp and ends at 3:45 PM. Classes start with a roll call promptly at 8:30, so it is important that all students arrive by 8:20 at the latest. By arriving then, students will have enough time to turn in their assignments for the day and be in their seats on time.
Students who arrive after 8:30 AM are considered tardy, and the adult dropping off the child will be asked to fill out a tardy slip. The child will need to present this slip to the teacher to be admitted to class.
At the end of the school day, students who are not signed up for the extended day wait at their assigned seats in the lunchroom or near the front door so that they can be picked up at 3:45. Parents who wish to come in to the school are asked to park their cars in a designated spot in the parking lot rather than leaving their cars in the drive-up lane at the school’s entrance. This prevents traffic jams.
Any students who have not been picked up by 4:00 will be sent to join those students staying for the extended day, and parents will be charged for after-school care for that day.
If a parent needs to pick up a child before the end of the school day, the parent should email attendance@oakcrestschool.org. When the parent arrives to pick up their child, a school staff member will then get the child from their class.
Arriving at School
Whenever a child arrives at or leaves the school, the person receiving the child into the school or releasing the child back to their parent or care-giver will make an entry into the school’s attendance log. In this way, the school has a record at all times showing which children are in attendance.
Leaving School
If someone unfamiliar to the school is picking up a child, the student’s application form will be checked to ensure that this person is authorized to leave with the child. If the person is not one of the people listed as authorized to pick up the child, a parent will be called for verbal approval. When the person arrives to pick up the student, the school will ask to see his or her driver’s license. A photocopy of the license will be made for the student’s file along with a note of the date and time, stating that the student went with this person.
Extended Day
The school is open from 8:00 AM until 6:00 PM. There is an extra charge for the extended day. Early drop-off starting at 7:30 AM can be arranged if needed. Parents who sign up for the extended day also get the benefit of daycare on days when the school is not in session. This includes times such as parent-teacher conference days and various other school holidays.
Students who stay after school have an outdoor recess from 3:45 to 4:05 PM followed by a snack break. Roll call for study hall is at 4:20 PM, and children are expected to work on their homework from this time until they are either picked up or have completed their assignments for the day. Exceptions are made for special extra-curricular activities offered at the school. Once homework is finished, students will have free time.
Students who are picked up after the 6:00 PM school closing time will be billed by the minute. This is payable at the time of pick-up or can be invoiced.
Indoor and Outdoor Physical Activities
In an effort to help students to build strong bodies by staying active, all students have two fifteen-minute recesses every school day. The first is in the middle of the morning, and the second is next to their lunch break. Students who stay for our extended day have a third twenty-minute recess right after school. Each school day starts with warm-ups which include about ten minutes of vigorous exercises. In addition, all children starting with Beginner 1 have two 50-minute-long physical education classes each week where they learn skills associated with a variety of sports. If the weather is too hot or cold to be able to be outside, activities are moved indoors, either into a classroom or for bigger groups into our auditorium. Students are expected to wear sneakers and appropriate clothing that allow them to move easily for P.E. classes. For preschool students who stay for our extended day, the last hour of each day, after students have finished their work, is typically spent on child-initiated free play inside the classroom.
School Year
Oak Crest Private School’s school year runs from early August until the end of May. During the summer, two summer camp sessions are offered: one in June and one in July. These sessions combine academics with fun and can be a wonderful opportunity for academic enrichment and acceleration. The school operates on the same hours during the summer as it does during the rest of the school year.
The calendar for each school year is published every spring for the coming year. This lists which days are school days, which days are holidays with the school closed completely and when daycare is offered for working parents even though there is no school.
Student Absences
Parents are asked to email the school at attendance@oakcrestschool.org before 8:30 AM, if a child is going to be late, absent or needs to leave during the day. This allows teachers to adjust their plans as needed. Please note that it is extremely disruptive to a child’s education and the school’s ability to deliver if there are frequent absences, but of course, a child who is truly sick should stay at home so as not to infect others.
Illness
If a child starts to feel ill while at school, he or she will be carefully observed by his or her teacher. If the student asks to rest, a cot is provided outside of the classroom where the child can rest in a quiet environment to see if it is just a momentary discomfort.
If, however, he or she appears to have a fever, his or her temperature will be taken. If the student’s temperature is not normal, if the child is vomiting or if the child is clearly sick, the parents will be called, and they will be asked to pick up the child. Parents are always encouraged to speak to the school if their child has a particular health concern that the school needs to take into account.
A child needs to be without fever (at or above 100.4° F oral temperature) for 24 hours to return to class. Vomiting two or more times within 24 hours also requires the child to be excluded from participation in school. If a healthcare professional has adjudicated that the child can participate in school in spite of these, a written note to that effect needs to be presented to the school, and the school will follow the provider’s recommendations.
Currently, the school also requires a negative COVID test for children who have been ill and who had symptoms that could be COVID, before the child can return to school. An exception to this is if the child received an alternate diagnosis from his or her healthcare practitioner. If a child does have COVID, the CDC guidelines with regard to any required exclusion from class will be followed.
If a child has allergies, it is the parents’ responsibility to ensure that the school has any medications that the child might need, as well as an allergy action plan from the child’s physician that states exactly what needs to be done in the event that the child has an allergic reaction. The school does not have any unassigned epinephrine auto-injectors.
Medication
Sometimes a child might need medication while at school. Such medicines need to be given by the parent to the teacher or school nurse along with a verbal explanation of what needs to be given. The teacher must keep the medication in a cabinet not accessible to children. Medicine must be in its original container and cannot be dispensed in a way other than prescribed by the physician.
The parent needs to make a written entry in the school’s medicine log at the front desk specifying when and how much medicine the child should be given. The teacher that dispenses the medicine will make her own entry in the log documenting when the medicine was given to the child and in what quantity. At the end of the day, the parent can see what medication was dispensed and by whom by looking at the log book.
The school does not dispense any kind of psychiatric medication, since it is felt that such medications are in conflict with the school’s purpose to increase the child’s native creativity, alertness, academic enthusiasm and ability to reason.
Insect Repellent and Sun Screen
Since children play outdoors daily and go on frequent field trips especially in the summer, it sometimes becomes important for their well-being to apply insect repellent and/or sun screen. Parents are encouraged to send the brand of insect repellent or sun screen that they prefer. If none has been sent, the school will apply a store-bought brand unless parents have notified the school in advance that they do not want the school do this.
Injuries
Should a child get hurt while at school, the teacher in charge of the class will do her best to quietly comfort the child. If the accident is severe enough to require an ice-pack or Band-Aid, these would be applied and an Injury Incident Report Form would be filled out by the teacher. This form describes to the parents what happened. This is presented to the parent picking up the child that evening. The parent signs the form acknowledging that he or she was notified of what happened, and it is kept by the school.
If a more serious medical emergency occurs, parents are notified immediately. If a parent or legal guardian cannot be reached or if necessary for the well-being of the child, emergency medical help will be called.
All Oak Crest Private School teachers have CPR/First Aid training.
School Closings
If school is cancelled because of snow or icy road conditions, it will be posted on WFAA, Channel 8 TV. If the Carrollton-Farmer’s Branch ISD is closed due to bad weather, Oak Crest Private School will be closed automatically. However, due to the long distances that some of our parents drive, we may on occasion be forced to close while the public schools are still in session. Weather closings are also posted on the Internet at www.wfaa.com.
Parents who do not have a television or access to the Internet need to let the school know, so that alternate arrangements for notifications about school closings can be made.
Emergencies
A copy of the school’s emergency preparedness plan is available for parents who would like to have a copy of this. It is summarized below. During any emergency, the appropriate local authorities and all parents will be notified by text message or a phone call as rapidly as possible. All children will be cared for by their homeroom teacher until the emergency has passed.
Fire
The first priority in case of any emergency is to keep children safe or to get them to safety as rapidly as possible.
In case of fire, all classes leave their rooms through the emergency exit, leaving the building directly without walking through the central auditorium. Teachers bring roll call books and emergency contact information for their students. The headmistress, office manager or, in their absence, the dean bring the school’s overall attendance log and an emergency contact packet, as used for field trips. They exit the building through the auditorium to ensure that no people are in this space or the bathrooms of the school. Everyone is encouraged to bring their cell phones.
Everyone meets under or around the shade roof in the playground. Students are to remain quiet until after a roll call of all students in the school (not just in the class) has been completed.
Evacuating the Property
If needed for safety reasons, students will be evacuated into the Rising Starz building.
If an evacuation to a site further from our building should be required, students will be evacuated to the Josey Ranch Lake Library at 1700 Keller Springs Road, Carrollton, TX 75006. The youngest students will be transported in the school bus with the next older group taking the school van. The next older students will be transported in teachers’ vehicles. If more seats in cars are needed, the bus and van will operate as a shuttle. The school sign-in log as well as individual teacher roll call books are brought as well as field trip emergency contact information packets so that parents can be notified immediately.
If such a more distant evacuation is required, roll calls will be done following the model used for field trips, to ensure that all children are accounted for.
Tornadoes
In case of severe storms that might produce tornadoes, teachers and students will go into the shelter designated for their class: either an inside closet or bathroom without windows. Each teacher brings the roll call book for the class, a cell phone, any school phones that are in the classroom, a flashlight and activities to keep children occupied. The headmistress, the office manager or the dean will further make sure that the school’s overall sign-in log, the school phone, the field trip emergency contact list and the weather radio are brought into the shelter. The school nurse will bring the First Aid Kit.
Communication between the School and Parents
Once each week, normally on Fridays, a folder is sent home with each child. This folder should be looked at as soon as possible, since this is the main channel of communication between the school and the parents.
The folder contains the child’s work for the previous week.
It will also contain important notices for parents. This is the way in which the school notifies parents of upcoming events, if a student’s homework is not complete or if they have completed an academic milestone. Any school policy changes would also be sent via this folder.
When students complete major academic milestones, the child is invited to write up a “Success Story.” A copy of this will be sent home to parents. Receiving such a form lets the parents know that their child has completed an academic unit.
The Success Story allows the school to monitor how students are feeling about the work that they have completed. For less major academic steps, our examiner would take a verbal success story to see how a child is doing. A child who is truly learning would feel happy about the new skills and abilities gained. If that joy diminishes, it is a warning sign to the school that the child needs extra attention to sort out any difficulties that he or she might have encountered. This is one of the ways in which Oak Crest Private School makes sure that students continue to make optimum progress.
If a parent wants to alert a teacher about some time-sensitive situation with their child, the preferred method of doing this is via email. All teachers check their email on a regular basis and thus can address whatever is occurring.
Another channel of communication with parents is the notice board at the entrance to the school. It will have information and reminders posted on it for parents. Since the home folder only goes home once a week, the notice board is a way in which the school can communicate with parents in the interim. Parents should check this board daily to ensure that they are aware of everything occurring at the school.
Weekly email newsletters are sent out every Monday describing the upcoming curriculum and events of the week and any future activities of which parents should be aware.
Oak Crest Private School has days set aside for parent-teacher conferences twice a year. This is an opportunity for parents to consult with their child’s teacher regarding their child’s progress. Teachers are available to meet briefly with parents at any time after class is over. If a more extensive meeting is desired, this can be scheduled on an individual basis by emailing the teacher.
Parents are welcome to observe their child’s class at any time, but as a courtesy to the teacher, it is requested that the parent not arrive in the middle of a lesson as this would be disruptive to the class.
A copy of the most recent licensing inspection report is posted on the notice board by the entrance to the school. The minimum standard laws can be reviewed online.
If a parent has a suggestion or school policy concern, he or she should let the administration know. This can either be accomplished by having a brief conversation with the person concerned at the time children are picked up, sending an email, or if more time is needed, scheduling a meeting with the administration, a teacher or both.
Food at School
Students bring their own lunches on Monday to Thursday. Every Friday, they have the option of bringing a lunch or ordering food through the school. Students need to bring their own snacks for morning and afternoon breaks every day. As a result, parents rather than the school are responsible for ensuring that their child or children receive excellent nourishment. Students at Oak Crest Private School work hard and therefore need to have great nutrition so that they do not run out of energy.
It has been found that sugar interferes with a student’s ability to focus in class and generally reduces the appetite for more nutritious food. Therefore, it is a school rule that students not bring any foods containing sugar. Examples of food that should not be brought to school include: candy, soft drinks and cookies containing sugar. Excellent foods for snacks include yogurt, fruit of all kinds, cheese, ham cubes, peanut butter, nuts, vegetables with ranch dressing for dipping, and salty chips. Snack foods cannot be heated up, since they are consumed during breaks which are shorter than lunches.
Please note that this means that birthdays cannot be celebrated at school with the usual birthday cake. Parents are welcome to provide other kinds of treats such as a fruit tray or pizza for the class to acknowledge the special day.
Every student should have a refillable water bottle, which can be refilled with the excellent filtered and cooled water from our drinking fountain. If they like, they can also bring white milk.
For lunches, both warm and cold foods are possible, since the school has several microwave ovens that allow the warming up of food in the lunchroom. Older students are shown how to do this if they need to learn and are then expected to heat up their own food. The youngest students get help warming up their lunches from a teacher.
Please note that the entire school shares these microwave ovens. If a child arrives with food that takes ten minutes to thaw in the microwave, all other students who have food that only requires one or two minutes will be allowed to prepare their lunch ahead of the child with the slow cooking meal. As a result, the child with the slower food will miss his or her recess time in order to have time to eat. It is best not to bring such foods.
If a child has special dietary restrictions, parents need to let the school know. The school will do everything possible to ensure that the desired diet is followed.
Students are strongly discouraged from sharing or trading food. Any food that the child does not finish is put back into the lunchbox. In this way, the parent can see exactly how much food was eaten and has a direct opportunity to verify if the child likes the food that was sent to school. Naturally, leftover lunch can also serve as an excellent snack later in the day.
If a mother needs to breastfeed a child while at the school, a comfortable place with an adult sized seat will be made available. Mothers have the right to provide breast milk for their child while at the school.
Packing Lunch
It is recommended that students bring their lunch in an insulated lunchbox with one or several hard-sided ice-packs. It has been found that the soft-sided ones tend to leak after a while.
Parents are discouraged from sending food that is to be heated in plastic containers. Some studies suggest that heated plastic can present a health hazard. Glass containers with rubber lids are a preferable way to transport and heat the food.
Students are not permitted to place items into the refrigerator in the kitchen, since there simply is not enough space for all of the students. This refrigerator is reserved for teachers and special events.
Field Trips
L. Ron Hubbard states: “The ingredients of competence include observation, study and practice.” Naturally, much time is spent in the classroom studying and practicing skills.
Field trips, however, present students with a unique opportunity to look and experience what the real world has to offer. Whether the trip’s destination is the art museum, the fire department, the symphony, a factory producing an everyday item or a historical site, children are given a chance to observe the real world around them and to incorporate this into their knowledge base.
The student’s application form includes a section which gives the school written permission to take children on field trips. Notices about upcoming field trips will always be in the emailed Monday newsletter as well as on the whiteboard in front of the school. This ensures that parents know where their children are at all times.
During the summer, there are multiple field trips in every single week. Parents will receive a printed calendar of planned excursions, and this schedule of events will also be posted on the school’s web site. Each week’s schedule will also be displayed on the whiteboard near the entrance of the school.
Field trips are not charged for individually, but rather their cost is directly incorporated into the monthly school or summer camp fee.
Parents are always welcome to join the school for field trips. However, parents are expected to read through the school’s field trip policies so that they understand the procedures that the school follows to ensure the children’s safety during the outing. Parents are expected to follow the directions of the teacher in charge of the trip at all times and never leave the group with their child or by themselves without first clearing it with the lead teacher. In this way, children are not inadvertently torn between what a parent is doing and what a teacher has requested, and it ensures a harmonious and safe trip where the teacher in charge knows where all field trip participants are at all times. This is vital for the children’s safety. Field trips are a wonderful opportunity for parents to get to know the teacher and their child’s class-mates better as long as this guideline is followed. All children below the age of eight (unless they are 4’9”or taller) require a car seat or a booster seat. Parents may leave the child’s car seat with the school. Teachers will make sure that the seat is carefully installed in the vehicle that the child will be riding in. The seat will be returned to the family that evening. Some parents opt to permanently keep a spare car seat or booster seat at the school for their child, and this is also an excellent solution.
Occasionally a field trip is organized that will last all day, and the children are asked to bring a sack lunch. This means that it will not be possible to warm up food. It is important for parents to realize that on some all-day trips, children will be carrying their lunches and anything else that they might need on their backs. It is recommended that children bring a lightweight backpack on such days.
Children should always wear comfortable shoes for field trips since they may be walking considerable distances and bring a bottle of water.
During the summer camp months, Oak Crest Private School regularly takes the children swimming at various public pools in the area. At all such pools, life guards are on duty while the students swim. Furthermore, teachers are in the pool and at the pool at all times.
At the beginning of the summer, students are tested for their ability to swim. If the child can independently swim the width of the pool, they are allowed to enter the deep pool, diving board, slides and so forth.
Students who do not know how to swim yet are watched in the shallow pool.
Animals
Oak Crest Private School has a range of animals in the classrooms. This allows the children to experience another facet of life. The animals may include hamsters, fish, dogs, or other animals that the school has ensured are healthy and friendly towards children. Students are expected to wash their hands after handling animals, and it is the responsibility of the teacher in the classroom with the animal to ensure that this occurs.
Parent Volunteers
Parents who would like to volunteer at the school are always welcome to do so. The school is tremendously enhanced by all of the activities in which parents participate. We have an active Parent Club that meets regularly.
The school and the Parent Club organize many special activities and events where parent participation is requested, but parents can also get in touch with their child’s teacher or the administration to find out about volunteer opportunities at any time.
A key way in which parents contribute to the school is by becoming a part of our “Ambassador Program” telling their friends about Oak Crest Private School. The school has largely grown through word of mouth, and this is still its most effective advertising.
This help in promoting the school is highly appreciated and is rewarded by awarding $300 in free tuition to the referring family once the new student starts his or her second month at the school.
Keeping Children Safe
All Oak Crest teachers receive annual training in recognizing child abuse and neglect. By law, a teacher who suspects that abuse or neglect is occurring has to report it to the child abuse hotline at 800-252-5400. Anyone can call this hotline if he or she has concerns that a child has been mistreated. There are many community organizations that can help under such circumstances. One such group is the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. Their number is 214-818-2600. For more information regarding recognizing child abuse and neglect and for prevention techniques visit: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/whatiscan/.
Dress Code
The purpose of having a dress code is to foster the student’s sense of pride in their appearance. Students are expected to look neat and clean. Clothing should be in good repair and styles should be modest. Girls may have pierced ears, but no other piercings are allowed. Students may not dye their hair unnatural colors. To assist in their studies, hats may not be worn in class, and hair needs to be kept out of the student’s face.
Oak Crest Private School has a school uniform. We use Lands’ End as our uniform supplier. They have two stores in the Dallas area where students can try on the garments, but all items with the school logo have to be ordered online. Details about the uniforms and a link to order them can be found on our website.
Junior School and Middle School are required to change for P.E. classes and will need to have the P.E. uniform. Younger students have the option of changing into the P.E. uniform if they like.
Exchange
Exchange is the giving of one thing and receipt of another. In a school setting, there are many forms of exchange that occur. Parents help the school and their children’s education by paying tuition. Teachers help the children by providing lessons.
However, it is also important that the children get an opportunity to contribute. One way in which children can exchange with their parents is to do well at school and thereby give the parents a source of pride. It is important for a harmonious home to ensure that the children do contribute.
We also feel that it is important to allow the children to contribute to the school. It helps them to take more ownership of the school community as a whole. Therefore, about 15 minutes of each school day are spent by the students helping to keep the school clean and orderly.
Students in Form 3 and above also have the opportunity to participate in student council. This group of students organizes and helps with events throughout the year. They also organize and participate in community service projects.
Character Education
Throughout life people are faced with choices. Some lead to better survival. Some don’t. Oak Crest Private School feels that learning how to make good choices begins when a child is very young and is a skill that the school seeks to improve in its students throughout their education. We strive to achieve high integrity and honesty in the children.
We use The Way to Happiness book to teach common sense values to our students. This booklet was written by L. Ron Hubbard in 1981 as a non-religious work that lists broadly agreed upon morals. It has been used in schools and businesses and by police officers, military personnel and other professionals around the world. In fact, over 85 million books have been distributed in 94 different languages. The book contains guidelines like:
Honor and help your parents
Set a good example
Do not tell harmful lies
Respect the religious beliefs of others
Do not take harmful drugs
Do not steal.
These rules are used as a basis for character education with the children. A copy of this booklet is available to all parents. When students understand that they feel better about themselves when they have nothing to hide, it becomes natural to follow such rules.
School Rules
Oak Crest Private School focuses on creating an honest, productive and friendly environment for everyone. Students are expected to use good judgment with the well-being of all involved in mind. A student’s behavior is considered unacceptable if it hampers his own progress or disrupts or harms another child or the group as a whole.
Therefore, the following school rules apply. Individual classes may have their own additional rules.
Be on time for all roll calls.
- If you don’t understand something after you have tried your best to figure it out, let the teacher know. Don’t go on until it makes sense.
- Be honest. Do your own assignments and exams. Parents may, of course, help their children, but should never do work for them.
- Never discuss an exam with anyone other than the examiner. Letting another student know what is on an exam does not help that student and is strictly forbidden.
- Students on exams may not talk to anyone except the examiner, unless another teacher is giving the test, in which case this teacher is acting as the examiner. A student on an exam may never speak to another student while taking the test.
- Do all assigned homework, and turn it in on time.
- Put in your best effort to move through your academic program. There is much to be learned, so no time should be wasted. If a student shows a lack of effort over a prolonged period of time and as a result gets unacceptably far behind age-appropriate academic expectations, he or she will be put on academic probation. Specific academic and/or behavioral targets will be set for the probationary period. If these are not met, the school may expel the student.
- Keep your hands to yourself. You may play tag and tap another student. You may not hit, kick, bite, wrestle with or otherwise hurt another student. You may not touch another student, even lightly, who does not want to be touched.
- No toys may be brought to school. The only exception is that children who still take naps may bring a stuffed animal to school for nap time.
- Toys may be brought to school on daycare days. However, scooters, electronic devices, bicycles, and toy weapons are never allowed at school. Toy weapons tend to lead to play fights which then become real fights.
- Cell phones may be brought to school, but must remain off (not just on vibrate) during all class times including study hall. A student caught using a cell phone in class will lose the phone for the rest of the day. A second incident will result in the phone being confiscated for the rest of the week.
- Students must wear sneakers for P.E. class. Students with inappropriate footwear will not be allowed to participate in sports. Sneakers can be permanently kept at school.
- When students go on field trips, they must wear the school’s field trip polo shirt. This is for the safety of the children as it makes them easier to spot quickly by the teacher.
- Never take something that belongs to another person without asking and getting his or her permission.
- Teachers are expected to treat students with high expectations of accomplishment, kindness and respect. In return, students are expected to treat their teachers with kindness and respect.
- Students should be respectful of others by not disrupting the class or interrupting another student who is working.
- Students must ask a teacher for permission to leave the classroom.
- Students must ask permission from a teacher to go indoors during recess.
- Students may climb on the playground equipment designed for climbing. They may not climb trees or anything else around the school unless they have a teacher’s permission.
- Lunches and snacks must be nutritious. Sugar and juices are not permitted.
- Students are expected to keep the school neat and in good order for everyone. Therefore, students are expected to clean up after themselves and take responsibility for anything that they might break by fixing or replacing it.
- Don’t do anything illegal. Not only is this against school rules, but any area within 1000 feet of the school is an area where criminal offenses related to organized criminal activity are subject to a harsher penalty.
Consequences
Teachers go out of their way to notice students who follow the rules and make a point of acknowledging this kind of behavior. L. Ron Hubbard wrote: “Invalidation is basically
nonattention. Attention itself is quite important, for attention is necessary before an effect can be created.” Very often, ignoring a misbehaving child and acknowledging one that is acting properly is all that is needed to get the rest of the children to imitate the one who was complimented.
If ignoring the misbehaving child does not get him or her to shape up, or if the infraction of the rules is severe enough such that it requires active intervention, there can be several consequences. A first step would be for the student to be talked to by the teacher. If this does not improve matters, the child may be separated from the group or removed from the class.
A further step can be to get the student to complete a project that helps the school or teacher. Especially with young students, it may be necessary to check to make sure that the child is not tired or hungry and to address this before going on with any other kind of disciplinary actions. It is not uncommon to discover that the child has had a breakfast with no protein or simply got to bed too late on the night before. If this is the case, the child will be given an opportunity to snack or rest on a cot as needed.
A student with an unchanging pattern of behavior that is getting him or her into trouble is worked with on an individual basis to help the child make better choices. Ethics counseling is custom tailored to the situation, but may include studying sections from the children’s edition of The Way to Happiness, promises of better behavior, getting the child to become honest about what he or she has done that was harmful, amends projects to make up for damage caused, etc. Depending on the severity of the situation, parents will be notified and asked to back up the school in addressing the issue at hand.
In extreme cases, the school may suspend or expel a student. An urgent situation, such as one putting other students at risk could cause an immediate removal of the student, but in most cases, the parents and their child will receive a written notice that lists the specific issue(s) that could cause a suspension or expulsion and what would need to occur to improve the situation and within what timeframe to avert this consequence.
By building up a community of children and educators who treat each other with respect and honesty and with students who agree to follow the school’s rules, everyone can get along well with each other and make optimum progress towards their goals. This helps to build a happy, successful school with well-educated students who can be proud of their achievements.
Phone Numbers and Addresses
Oak Crest Private School
1200 E. Jackson Road, Building 2
Carrollton, TX 75006
Oak Crest Private School
Poison Control Center
Child Care Licensing
Child Abuse Hotline
Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center
214-483-5400
800-222-1222
817-821-1540
800-252-5400
214-818-2600
Texas Health and Human Services: https://www.hhs.texas.gov
Student directories are available to parents. Contact information for parents of children attending Oak Crest Private School will be published in the directory after a parent fills in a form giving the school permission to do so.
