Of the 1.5 million PSAT examinees, only 16,000 achieve the distinction of National Merit Semifinalist, and The Oakridge School is proud to claim three as our own: Anuj Ramakrishnan, Blake Miranda, and Jason Nguyen.
These outstanding students were recognized at a September 9 Academic Awards assembly by Mrs. Kellen Lewis, Director of College Advising.
On October 7, 8, and 10, The Oakridge School hosted “An Evening of Shakespeare” in the John P. Flavin Fine Arts Performance Hall.
The English Department collaborated with Fine Arts this fall to stage two 50-minute productions of Richard III and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Jared Colley, Chair of the English Department, worked with students on a shortened version of Shakespeare’s infamous history play, while Theatre Director Brad DeBorde staged an uproarious version of the comedy Merry Wives.
Both productions were a huge success, and the students did an outstanding job. They were excited, focused, and motivated, and part of the excitement was due to the collaborative approach Mr. DeBorde and Mr. Colley modeled for the students who were involved. It was meaningful for them to see the valued connection between English and Fine Arts; it enhanced the experience all the more for the students and faculty alike. Even the Upper School chemistry instructor, Dr. James Roberts, was cast as an extra, so there were many connections for the students to see in action.
The students worked so hard on both plays, and there was a lot of joy and excitement as a result. Congratulations to Zoe Miller, Theresa Clifford, Sumer Haider, Caleb Badgley, Abby Hurd, Eric Pham, Eric Chen, Sophia Cary, Harrison Jones, Ben Everett, and Paige Levine for putting on a superb production of two classic plays by the Bard of Avon. Bravo!
The Oakridge Equestrian Team started the season with a great showing at the Oakridge Fall Kick-Off Show in October.
The show saw very good competition in the hunt seat categories. Riders came in from across the region including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Team Captain Senior Cailey Cobb placed 3rd and 4th in the Varsity Open classes, Sophomore Julia Baar placed 3rd in the Junior Varsity flat class, 6th grader Caroline Walker placed 3rd in the MS Future class, and 6th grader Lauren Campbell did a great job in competitive classes.
The team is excited about this hunt seat season with upcoming shows in November (Canyon, Texas); December (Tyler, Texas); February (College Station, Texas); and regionals and zones in March.
Sixty-three Oakridge students have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the college-level 2015 Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams.
The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program offers students the opportunity to take challenging college-level courses while still in high school and to receive college credit, advanced placement, or both for successful performance on the AP Exams. About 20 percent of more than 2.1 million high school students in more than 21,000 secondary schools worldwide who took AP Exams performed at a sufficiently high level to merit the recognition of AP Scholar. At The Oakridge School, 51 percent of the students who took AP Exams were named AP Scholars.
Students took AP Exams in May 2015 after completing challenging college-level courses in the Upper School. Of this year’s award recipients, 24 were juniors when they took their AP Exams. The College Board recognizes several levels of achievement based on a student’s performance on AP exams. The following is a summary of awards earned by Oakridge students and graduates.
National AP Scholar
Earned an average grade of 4 or higher on a 5-point scale on all AP Exams taken and grades of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams
AP Scholar with Distinction
Earned an average grade of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on five or more of these exams
AP Scholar with Honor
Earned an average grade of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and grades of 3 or higher on four of more of these exams
AP Scholar
Completed three or more AP Examinations with grades of 3 or higher
The Oakridge School is proud to announce that Senior Marcella De Vuono has signed with Florida Atlantic University to play NCAA Division 1 volleyball next year.
Marcella, an exchange student from São Paulo, Brazil, came to Oakridge in her sophomore year. She has since become a much beloved member of the Oakridge family and the varsity volleyball team. Marcella has also participated in track and field (discus) and visual arts classes at Oakridge, in addition to club volleyball. She hopes to study International Business and Marketing at Florida Atlantic, where she will continue to be an Owl.
Congratulations to Marcella on this great achievement!
Each year, middle school singers from around the state of Texas compete for a spot in the Texas Private Schools Music Educators Middle School Honor Choir. Only 100 singers are selected in total, and this year ten of those singers are from The Oakridge School.
In November, eighth graders Nick Campbell, Thomas Greve, Karli Karanges, Anthony Leland, Emilio Martinez, Josh Martinez, John Schifano, and Elise Seidenstein, along with seventh graders Will Emmert and Ayden Rodriquez, traveled to Spring, Texas. While there, they joined the best Texas middle school singers along with clinician Jennifer Gallagher in rehearsing and presenting a concert for family and friends.
In all facets of the trip, these students were tremendous representatives for Oakridge. Congratulations on a job well done!
The Oakridge Varsity Wrestling team is having a great season as they compete against schools from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
On December 11, the team competed in the St. Mark’s School JV tournament. Junior Jeff Wright, Sophomore Zane Ahlfinger, and Senior Judge McWithey all went 3-0 and received first place medals.
Then on December 19, Judge McWithey placed 2nd at the First Baptist Academy Varsity tournament against tough competition.
Go Owls!
Two Middle School students were recently named the winners of the 2016 Oakridge Spelling and Geography Bees.
On January 15, a group of 17 students competed in the Oakridge Spelling Bee to be named the top speller. That honor went to 7th grader Ananya Kumar, with 6th grader Sana Kohli taking the first runner-up spot.
Then on January 20, it was time for the best geography students to face off in the Geography Bee. In a nail biting finale that went on for multiple championship rounds, 8th grader Josh Wilson was named the winner and 7th grader Josh Levitz was the first runner-up.
Congratulations to all of our excellent spellers and geography masters.
The Oakridge School is proud to announce that Senior Parker Welch has signed with Valparaiso University to play NCAA Division 1 football next year.
Parker joined the football, basketball, and baseball teams as a freshman, and he has played all three sports for four years. He has balanced this rigorous athletic schedule with academically challenging courses, which this year have included two AP courses. A frequent recipient of Most Outstanding and Most Dedicated Student awards for his classes, he’s known by all of his teachers and coaches as a diligent and hard-working student and athlete.
Congratulations to Parker as he continues his journey next year as a Valparaiso Crusader!
A group of Oakridge Upper School students have been selected to present their papers at the 2016 Midsummer Night’s Dream Colloquium at the Greenhill School on February 29, 2016.
Greenhill received many submissions from private and independent schools all over the DFW area, including St. Mark's, Hockaday, and from among their own students. Six Oakridge papers were selected to be presented among the best submissions. Congratulations to the following students for representing Oakridge so well among our peers:
Zoe Miller ‘16
Paige Levine ‘16
Lucy Robinson ‘18
Ransom Swinney ‘18
Adrian Luong ‘18
Amy Meredith ‘18
Congratulations to Junior Syd Fagan for placing first in the landscape/cityscape category at the 28th Annual Black & White Images contest sponsored by Fort Worth Country Day.
Eight area schools submitted more than 450 photographs for the competition. Out of those 450 photographs, only 100 works were accepted for the exhibition. The show was juried by Bryan Florentin, Senior Lecturer of Art, Art History, Design, and New Media at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Syd has done a remarkable job this year experimenting with both three-dimensional and two-dimensional art mediums, finding inspiration everywhere that she goes. Her wining photo, “Two Spoons,” can be seen along with the rest of the Black & White Images exhibition at fwcd.org/images.
Oakridge swimmers and wrestlers had a stellar showing at the Winter SPC State Championships in Houston last weekend, including a first-ever Oakridge SPC State Champion Wrestler: Senior Judge McWithey.
Judge and the Oakridge Wrestling team competed at Texas State Prep in Houston the weekend before, where he placed 2nd in the state in his weight division and earned a trip to nationals for the second year in a row. He will travel to Lehigh University to represent Oakridge at Prep Nationals on February 25. In addition to the first place title claimed by Judge at SPC, Jeff Wright took 3rd place in his division at SPC, and Zane Ahlfinger took 4th at State Prep - both fantastic showings for the sophomores.
The Oakridge Swim team brought home a number of medals amid tough competition at the SPC State Competition. Special kudos to freshman Zoe Fowler, who took 1st in the 100 yard backstroke and 3rd in the 100 yard butterfly. Two relay teams also placed 3rd in competition: sophomore Corrina Sullivan, sophomore Lucy Robinson, Zoe Fowler, and freshman Kate Mitchell in the 200 yard medley relay, and Kate Mitchell, junior Amy Zhang, Corrina Sullivan, and Zoe Fowler in the 200 yard freestyle relay.
Congratulations to all of our outstanding scholar-athletes!
The Oakridge School is proud to announce that our three National Merit Semifinalists have now all been named National Merit Finalists. Congratulations to seniors Anuj Ramakrishnan, Blake Miranda, and Jason Nguyen for this exciting honor.
The selection of some 7,400 Merit Scholarship winners from the group of more than 15,000 Finalists is now underway. Anuj, Blake, and Jason received their certificates from Headmaster Jon Kellam on February 17.
This year, 20 choir members and four orchestra members from Oakridge were selected to the Region ensembles of the Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA). Nine of the singers and one instrumentalist also advanced to All-State.
TPSMEA Region Choir
Brooke Delaughter
Ana Paula Martinez
Kate Mitchell
Elizabeth Thompson
Brock Knott
Eric Pham
Abby Brown
Olivia Duke
Zoë Fowler
Aryn Franklin
Amy Zhang
TPSMEA Region and All-State
Claire DeVoe
Emma Gladden
Abby Hurd
Rachel Tan
Cade Kellam
Ryan Tan
Kourtnei Fong-Kutchins
Walker Emmert
Noah Gladden
TPSMEA Region Orchestra
Sage Abram
Natalie Benefield
Andy Brown
Kathryn Miller
TPSMEA All-State Orchestra
Kate Mitchell
Oakridge Upper School Choir and Orchestra students submit auditions each year for placement in TPSMEA All-Region and All-State ensembles along with hundreds of private school students from around the state. Those selected join the best of the best to spend a weekend learning from a master conductor and presenting magnificent concerts for family and friends. Oakridge was tremendously well represented not only in numbers but by the incredible attitude, effort, and enthusiasm of our students.
The 32nd Annual Oakridge Golf Classic benefitting The Owl Club is Monday, May 2. Don’t miss this Oakridge tradition supporting The Owl Club and its mission of promoting school spirit, character development, and the physical well-being of Oakridge students through financial and other forms of support for physical education and athletic programs in every division.
The 2016 tournament will be held at Walnut Creek Country Club in Mansfield. The four-person scramble will start at 12:30 p.m. with lunch beforehand and an award ceremony and dinner at 5:30 p.m. New this year: Tickets for dinner are now available separately from the golf registration, so even if you’re not a golfer, you won’t miss out on the fun. Live music will be provided throughout the day by the band Whiskey Pants, and a Helicopter Ball Drop will feature a fantastic prize.
Sponsorships are still available, but they’re selling quickly. Visit the Golf Classic website to learn more and register.
Registration for 2016 Summer Programs at Oakridge is now open. Visit the Summer Programs website to view the course descriptions, see the schedule of programs, and begin the online registration process.
Oakridge summer offerings include academic and enrichment programs, summer camps, and sports camps for children age 3 - grade 12. This is a great opportunity for an academic preview of the next grade level, getting a new student acquainted with the campus and curriculum, taking a course for credit, or just having fun. There are even classes for adults too!
Explore the options online now and contact Director of Summer Programs Lauren Matocha with any questions.
Oakridge senior Kourtnei Fong-Kutchins was recently named a Triple-Impact Competitor by the North Texas Positive Coaching Alliance. Triple-Impact Competitor Scholarships are awarded to senior athletes based on their essay responses explaining how they meet three criteria:
Kourtnei competes in Field Hockey, Basketball, Softball, and Cheerleading, in addition to taking a challenging schedule of honors and AP courses. She was one of four finalists in the North Texas region for this national scholarship program.
Oakridge Junior Katie Novak was recently named the first place winner at the District Competition for the Optimist International Essay Contest.
Katie won first place at the club level before her essay was submitted for the District Competition. As the District winner, Katie is the recipient of a $2,500 scholarship for when she attends college. Her essay on leading by example describes several great leaders whose impact was both large and small.
“Leadership takes many forms and occurs at all levels,” she writes. “The most influential leaders all lead by example; some may only influence a handful of people and some may influence millions. But no matter the size, these leaders still impact the world we live in.”
Mark your calendars for The Oakridge School Fine Arts Night on Friday, May 6.
The event begins at 5:30 p.m. with performances throughout the evening, food trucks in the Quad, and art hung all around campus. Join us as we celebrate the Arts with the entire Oakridge community. It will be a special night!
The Texas High School Powerlifting Association recognized Oakridge Seniors Nick Tran and Jason Nguyen by naming them to the Academic All State Elite Team.
The THSPA Academic All State Teams highlight senior powerlifters who excel on the platform and in the classroom. The Elite Team recognizes the highest academic achievers from across the state. In order to qualify to be on the Elite Team, a lifter must have a GPA of 98 or higher on a 0 - 100 scale. Only 31 lifters from across the state earned this honor this year.