Oak Learners is the very definition of a community-based, student-centered academic environment. Classes are small, personal, and lessons begin with the talents, interests, challenges and curiosities that the children bring with them into the room. An emphasis on the arts is used as entrée to the curriculum, underscoring a cross-curricular approach to instruction. Classroom spaces are bright, open, and adaptable to large group, small group, and tutorial-style learning. Founder Kelly Ferrell is rightly a draw, bringing a wealth of experience to the offering, as well as a proven track record as an educator, leader and entrepreneur. The faculty she’s attracted shares her enthusiasm for active, hands-on, inquiry-based learning. Still relatively young, Oak Learners has quickly established itself as a key offering within its catchment area.
Oak Learners
As a neurodivergent learner, my child is met with a flexible learning environment with a much lower student to teacher ratio than most schools. I love that the staff at Oak Learners are positive and happy to see my child everyday. He can have harder days and the teachers and principals work with me to try to come up with solutions. There is no judgment and everyday is a new day. The principal of the school, Kelly is an excellent communicator and gets back to me right away if something needs to ... View full review
Our son Gabriel absolutely loves going to school every day. When we drop him off, he gives a huge hug to his teacher Emma who has managed to form a bond with Gabe similar to what he has with family members. Gabriel is autistic and is not open to close relationships with everyone but the affectionate and comfortable relationship he has not only with Emma but with other teachers and staff members is remarkable. His teachers go out of their way to make sure they understand Gabe in order to not ... View full review
My son absolutely loves to come to Oak Learners. As a parent, it's amazing to see your child wake up happy and excited to go to school. He was so lovingly welcomed by the teachers, who took such great care in making lesson plans that were tailored to his current educational needs. What my son says he loves about going here is that he can see that the teachers are genuinely supportive of him and excited when he makes progress. It makes him feel motivated to push himself and take on new challenges... View full review
A low teacher-to-student ratio is meant to facilitate a personalized experience as teachers have more time to understand individual strengthens and weaknesses. Our experience at Oak Learners has been better than our high expectations. This is also in line with how our children like the school: they love it. Our daughter likes and appreciates the wonderful balance between work and play. She typically will focus on a writing or reading or mathematics activity for half and hour, and then "decompres... View full review
Our son loves the varied and fun activities at Oak Learners, which challenge him educationally while making him feel secure and that his efforts are appreciated. The staff is kind, loving and attentive to his needs. They have a knack for connecting with children and their challenges and adjusting both the curriculum and the approach to fit each child's needs in a unique and flexible manner. Unlike other private schools where our son's experience was much more rigid, Oak Learner's takes pains ... View full review
For different reasons, our two kids love Oak Learners. The staff were very good at identifying skills each of them were strong and, and using these to help them better develop in areas they were finding more challenging. Our oldest has several challenges, and the staff were very quick to identify a path forward. She used to hate school and any type of school work, but has gained vital skills in the short time she has been at Oak Learners, and she has realized this. She is now very happy to go to... View full review
My 6 year old thrives at Oak Learners. He loves the staff who are attentive, responsive and makes learning fun. Oak Learners approaches learning from a holistic perspective. They realize that children are unique and different and do not adopt a "one-size fits all" approach to learning. Some of the most important lessons my son has learned from Oak is getting involved in the community and helping others, participating in various activities such as community festivals, and hands-on learning. Thr... View full review