Message from Chad

Mother nature ushered in the start of our 227th year with a roar. Three days of student and parent orientation events began with a powerful thunderstorm taking down a dozen trees on campus within minutes. With a sixty-foot tree leaning on Craig Dorm and silver maples laying across the road to Kingwood Park, we were fortunate that nobody was injured and only minor damage to a few cars. 

What I witnessed in the 48 hours following the storm is indicative of the strength of our Oakwood community.  We are resilient, we think creatively, we support one another, and are not afraid of a little hard work. Our maintenance team cut enough wood to last us years. We adjusted programming and schedules with power out across campus and provided meaningful touchpoints and moments of connection in both our Middle and Upper Schools. 

Each morning the Oakwood community begins our day together in the Meeting Room. Some of us are physically present, others connected via Zoom from the theater, the classrooms, and offices around campus. Moments of silence, affirmations, and announcements ranging from the silly to the deeply personal are grounded in a space of reflection, respect,  and community.  I can think of no better place to start my day.

While two tropical storms converged on the campus this August, we welcomed a New York City Friends School soccer team into our dorms and fields and  prepared the rest of campus for the arrival of our students from around the Hudson Valley and around the globe. With close to four inches of rain in a few hours, our four-season greenhouse, located where tennis courts once stood fifty years ago, temporarily transformed into a shallow sun-filled pool.

We Widened our Worlds... Anyway!

By: Karen Nichols, Math/Science Chair, Humanities Faculty

As COVID-19 forced unnatural “social distancing” upon our community, I identified a primary goal for the year. During this time of utmost constriction, I would encourage Oakwood students to transcend artificial barriers like masks and Zoom to expand their worlds: they would against the odds know the world better and to know it with purpose.

As we reflect back on the killing of George Floyd one year ago -- and so many others with him since -- we are reminded of the very real impact that systemic racism has on many members of our community every single day. While we have seen many steps in the right direction this past year with holding people in power accountable for their actions, we still have so far to go to reach a place of true justice and equity in our country and in our world. 

Today we remember our friend from down the road on his 102nd birthday - Pete Seeger. Like many in the Hudson Valley, the Oakwood community was blessed to know Pete over many decades.

Recently during Collection, student voices expressed support for members of the Asian American and Pacific Island (AAPI) communities. During Meeting for Worship, queries were read, prompting each of us to reflect on recent acts of violence targeting the AAPI community,  our own beliefs, biases, and how we can better support and understand.

By noon on February 1st this year, Oakwood had more snow on the ground than the last half decade of Februarys combined. As the nor’easter continued to intensify, my son continued to eye the recycling nervously, having been tasked to deliver it across campus by the dining hall the night before. 

At Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, we were excited to welcome students back to campus this Fall. Investing heavily in faculty, students, families, and facilities, Oakwood’s five-day a week in-person program supports both boarding and day students. Serving grades 5-12, Oakwood students engage in a full array of academic, music and theatrical programming this term. 

At Oakwood Friends School we are excited to welcome new and returning students back this September. After a summer of extensive work focused on the health and safety of our community, a commitment to mission and the academic strength of our program, we are prepared to support each of our students, through both our in-person and our online learning platforms. We are prepared and ready to safely and responsibly get going this fall.

While Oakwood Friends School has witnessed many changes over the last decades, there remains several constants. Along with mission and culture and sense of community, two other constants have greeted us every year since 1984 - Bill and Nancy Doolittle. For 36 years Bill and Nancy have engaged in virtually every aspect of the Oakwood community. This July they will begin a new chapter as they retire and move to Maine, close to their children and grandchildren.

As Oakwood prepared for our 224th graduation (and our 1st virtual commencement!) last Friday, some things stayed the same. Thanks to longtime faculty member Chris Galschjodt, early morning music played under the Copper Beech graduation tree even though the graduates could not be there in person.  For the last few decades, when we hear Bonnie Raitt '67 playing in the early hours of graduation day... we know it is time to celebrate our seniors!

During the last week of classes Oakwood held a special Candlelight Vigil and Silent Meeting to make space for students, faculty and families to collectively process the recent incidents of racial violence in our country. While we couldn't be together in the Meeting Room, we shared in powerful silence from our homes, near and far. 

I want to take a moment to acknowledge the anger and hurt and pain many members of our community are experiencing this week. Once again, we are confronted with the very real impact that systemic racism has on Black America. While this has been reported with increased frequency these last weeks, it is a reality many members of our community must deal with every single day.

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Oakwood Friends School has a 224-year tradition of leaning into uncertainty, building community, and supporting a diverse population. While necessity drives us to physically distance ourselves this Spring, we are exploring multiple ways to shorten the gap between us academically, socially, and emotionally. Oakwood’s faculty and families are creative, thoughtful, nimble and resilient. A true community of learners - we prepare students from around the Hudson Valley and around the globe for lives of consequence and meaning. If there is anything you would like to discuss, please feel free to reach out to me directly at [email protected], or (845) 462-4200, Ext. 332.

Over the last several weeks I have witnessed the best in family, friends, students, faculty and parents. What is being asked from each of us right now is immense. The support, care, and response within our community has been immense in equal measure. Families are adjusting to prolonged school, office, and business closings. Teachers are creating and adapting online learning curriculum, and our community is exploring digital ‘meet-ups’ to support each other socially, emotionally and spiritually.

Several years ago, a science historian, James Burke, wrote a series of pieces on connections.  Seemingly disparate thoughts, inventions, and ideas build upon each other, connecting across time and experience. Within our Oakwood community, I see these connections inform and strengthen our program from the arrival of the newest 6th graders through graduation and the decades beyond.

As a young child, I distinctly remember my father following me around the house turning lights off. By the age of seven, I could rattle off utility cost per kWh and the estimated lifecycle of the various incandescent bulbs illuminating our home. Whether it was getting produce from a modest home garden, heating our living room with a wood-burning stove, or having the entire house dark except the room currently occupied; there seemed to be an intersection between what is sustainable, what is good for the environment, and what yields measurable cost savings.

Coach, Colleague, Teacher, Mentor, Friend:
1981 - 2019

We are immensely grateful for the time we were given with Charlie and for all he gave to Oakwood. We are also immensely saddened by his passing on August 10th, due to complications from a planned surgery.

Early this February I walked into our Meeting Room for morning Collection filled with anticipation, excitement and a little anxiety. With the seventh-grade class as my guide, I focused on the experience at hand… my day as a middle schooler. The last time I was in this position the Carter and Reagan administrations were in transition and the Trapper Keeper was an organizational must. As our Middle School Director texted a photograph of the daily schedule to my iPhone, I quickly realized many aspects of the middle school experience have changed over the last forty years.  

The Sacred Waters outside Standing Rock, Peking University, dormitory bathrooms, the Republic of Georgia, mitre saws, and approximately 70,000 bees spoke in unison within the Oakwood community this summer. Seemingly disparate activities, projects, adventures, modes of research and professional development opportunities resonated with a common theme this summer; one of engagement, energy, curiosity, and a sense that our faculty and staff are ‘all in’. And as we pause (just for a second) at the start of this academic year, it is appropriate to look back on the summer work which informs our curriculum, inspires our teaching and gives perspective to our work.

The Sacred Waters outside Standing Rock, Peking University, dormitory bathrooms, the Republic of Georgia, mitre saws, and approximately 70,000 bees spoke in unison within the Oakwood community this summer. Seemingly disparate activities, projects, adventures, modes of research and professional development opportunities resonated with a common theme this summer; one of engagement, energy, curiosity, and a sense that our faculty and staff are ‘all in’. And as we pause (just for a second) at the start of this academic year, it is appropriate to look back on the summer work which informs our curriculum, inspires our teaching and gives perspective to our work.

On June 8th students from around the country and around the world gathered under a beautiful Copper Beech tree on the Oakwood Friends School campus marking our 220th year of Friends education. As is tradition, each of the 36 graduates shared words of gratitude, words of hope and words of optimism. The students spoke powerfully about what they have gained academically, socially and spiritually. Through their words, spoken at times in multiple different languages, they expressed deep gratitude for the opportunities a Quaker Education affords.

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One of my great joys is having my daily ‘to-do’ list tossed out the window when an alum unexpectedly stops by campus. I am continually, and pleasantly, surprised to see a student  I remember as a 6th grader, return to campus as a sophomore in college or a few years into a new career.

As Oakwood Friends School enters its 220th year of coeducational Quaker learning, we are excited to welcome back returning families and to greet many new ones. Orientation week is rapidly approaching and the campus is abuzz with activity in preparation.

As a small child I had siblings who played flute and saxophone. Klipsch speakers that seemed bigger than a refrigerator woke us up each Saturday morning at 6:00 AM with their subtle 100+ dBA delivery of Pavarotti. I played piano for a short time in 2nd grade, but never managed to progress past Hot Cross Buns and thus my musical talents migrated more towards the listening than the creating.