The Red Oaks Review (Fall 2023, Issue #3)

FALL 2023

THE RED OAKS

REVIEW

A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION

Harvest Festival Draws Crowds and Smiles.

Students Shine in Early Childhood Classes.

SEE PAGE 8

SEE PAGE 14

A NEW LEAF Our Next Head of School Prepares For the Future SEE PAGE 10

FROM OUR HEAD OF SCHOOL From the desk of Marilyn Stewart

THE RED OAKS SCHOOL

Cutler Campus PreK-Grade 4 Middle School Grade 5-8 (973) 539-7853 www.redoaksschool.org EDITOR AND PUBLISHER

Marilyn Stewart WRITER

Mike Allegra CONSULTING ART DIRECTOR

Jesper Goransson PHOTOGRAPHERS

The start of a new school year is always exciting, and I am delighted to report that Red Oaks has hit the ground running. After a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, we have happily resumed our annual fall trips to the Frost Valley YMCA and the Fairview Lakes YMCA. We have increased outreach to attract new students. Our annual Harvest Festival (despite a one-week rain delay) was a tremendous success. And, through it all, our exemplary teaching staff continues to foster countless successes in the classroom, nurturing our students as they develop a love of learning and an incurable curiosity about the world.

And then, of course, there is the big news.

After an exhaustive search, Red Oaks has found a wonderful Head of School in Chris Weaver, who will succeed me after I retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year. For those of you who would like to learn more about Chris, you need to look no further than this issue’s cover story. I think you’ll find his academic philosophy and collaborative spirit to be an excellent fit as Red Oaks continues to grow and move forward in the years to come.

So read and enjoy and join me in celebrating what promises to be a fantastic school year!

With warmest wishes, Marilyn

Ira L. Black, Joy Glenn, John Rae, Jenna Buesser The Red Oaks School holistically develops each child’s gifts by inspiring personal and intellectual growth, graduating highachieving students who are happy, confident, resilient, and ready for the challenges ahead. Our diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment supports international mindedness in students and strengthens them as empathetic future global citizens and leaders.

GIVE NOW

RED OAKS WELCOMES NEW TRUSTEES Red Oaks is delighted to welcome Karla Gabre and Christine Goldthwaite to the school’s Board of Trustees. Both appointees have a long history with the school and are passionate advocates for its culture and educational philosophy.

Karla’s three children currently attend ROS; her twins, Parker and Fiore, are seventh graders and her youngest, Zewdy, is in third.

She has been an active member of the Parent Association for six years, serving as a Room Parent as well as co-chairing several PA events including Mom’s Night Out and The Parent Social. Karla finds it rewarding to give back to a school community that has been so meaningful to her family. “I look forward to serving on the Board as another parent voice to help continue the school’s tradition of providing outstanding academics in a kind and

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caring environment.”

Christine’s first association with Red Oaks (then named the Montessori Children’s House) was 19 years ago when her son, Ben, was enrolled as a three-year-old preschooler. Now 22, he bears the distinction of being a member of ROS’s second ever matriculating eighth grade class. During Ben and his younger brother Will’s tenure at Red Oaks, Christine served as a Board Trustee for several years.

Upon learning that Marilyn was going to retire, Christine was eager to volunteer for any activities to celebrate Marilyn’s last year. Instead of being asked to sign up for a Parent Association committee, as she expected, Christine was invited to rejoin the Board.

“My kids were so privileged to be a part of Red Oaks,” Christine says. “So I am thrilled that I can continue to serve the school.”

Fall 2023

NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUSES

THE RED OAKS SCHOOL

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Red Oaks is Out and About!

Despite high winds and the occasional torrential downpour, October’s Morristown Festival of Books was a roaring success, with thousands of readers braving the elements to meet their

favorite authors. The huge Kidfest tent was especially popular this year, playing host to dozens of celebrated kid-lit writers—the most notable of whom was Dan Gutman, the author of the bestselling My

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Weird School series. As fans stood in line for Gutman’s signed books, they couldn’t help but notice that his table prominently displayed the ROS logo. Red Oaks proudly sponsored Gutman’s

appearance at the Fest this year; Middle School Director Noga Beer, along with several middle school students were also on hand to give out Red Oaks tote bags and tout Continued on p. 4

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NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUSES

the school’s many merits to any interested passersby.

Kidfest was just the most recent of Red Oaks’s recent efforts in community outreach, which began in earnest this past May when School Head Marilyn Stewart, members of the Board of Trustees, and other Red Oaks community members waved to cheering crowds as they marched in the Morris Plains Memorial Day Parade.

Red Oaks also recently took part in the Morristown Festival on the Green, a huge annual event with games, amusements, entertainment, and more than 150 vendors stretching across the entirety

of Morristown’s Historic Downtown. Red Oaks’s tent proved especially popular and was packed with curious visitors for the entire day.

There they learned about the school and its philosophy; they also flocked to the tent’s carnival wheel for a chance to win some prime ROS merch.

Buoyed by its recent outreach efforts, Red Oaks is planning to participate in future 2023-24 events in the spring.

“Our school is a hidden gem,” says Marilyn. “I believe it’s our responsibility to get the word out about what we do and how well we serve our children.”

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LOWER SCHOOL

Upper El Students Strengthen Ties at Fairview Y Red Oaks’s third and fourth grade students recently had the opportunity to bond at the Fairview Lakes YMCA in Newton, NJ.This trip was a triumphant return to form (after a three-year COVID-19 hiatus) and a joyful outing that strengthened friendships and encouraged cooperation.

Chaperoned by Upper Elementary Science and Social Studies Teacher Tara Baggio, the day was jampacked with games to establish trust and teamworking skills.

Activities included a trust fall and a game where blindfolded students navigated a tricky obstacle course armed with nothing more than verbal instructions from their sighted peers.

The clear highlight of the day, however, was when the students were divided into groups of eight to build shelters out of tree limbs.

The finished structure needed to be large enough to house the entire team.

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NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUSES

It had to be tough as well; upon completion,YMCA instructors shouldered and shoved each shelter with enthusiasm to make sure the branches would be able to hold up against the elements.

“And every group passed the test!” Tara gushes. “The people at the Fairview Lakes Y ran a spectacular program.

The kids had a blast!”

The 32 students in attendance also became a strong and supportive team.

“The kids in Upper El are already very close,” Tara says, “but by the end of the day they were really coming through for each other to complete each challenge. It was wonderful to see.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Students Hone Teambuilding Skills at Frost Valley In September, all the Red Oaks middle school students and teaching staff piled onto buses and headed north to the Frost Valley YMCA. Nestled in the beautiful Catskill Mountains, the camp hosted a three-day-twonight (and cellphone free!) adventure, brimming with team-building activities.

Continued on p. 6

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NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUSES

“The games at Frost Valley are designed for the students to engage with each other and help each other,” explains Middle School Director Noga Beer.

“To accomplish the goals of each game, the children need to communicate and collaborate. Individuals work to benefit the group. And, in some cases, the entire group is there to aid in the success of the individual.”

That’s the reason why the trip was scheduled at the start of the year, Noga explains. The activities at Frost Valley help to forge a special bond between the students that reflects Red Oaks’s philosophy of kindness and inclusion.

In an activity called the Flying Squirrel, for example, a student is belted into a harness and hoisted into the air by their teammates—as high as they are willing to go.

It’s a trust exercise for the harnessed individual. It also serves as a listening exercise for the teammates on the ground, who are tasked with being sensitive to the wants, needs (and potential anxieties) of the student dangling in the air.

In another game, nicknamed Star Wars, two competing teams send a blindfolded teammate on a search for a hidden pool noodle. As the sightless kids search, they are given verbal assistance from their

respective groups. Once the noodle is located, the blindfolded participant is then sent on another task, this time to locate the blindfolded person on the other team (again, as directed by the sighted teammates). The first blindfolded person to whack the other with the noodle wins the game.

Middle School Office Manager Karen Kastl, who helped to organize the trip with Noga, witnessed the pool noodle/light saber battles firsthand. “Oh, the students loved it,” she says with a wide smile. “There were a lot of laughs.”

Such games were interspersed with more traditional camp activities such as hiking, rock climbing, and zip lining. After night fell, students kicked back around campfires while munching on s’mores. There was also a talent show in which the students created improvisational skits.

Overall, Frost Valley was a big hit with the students, who were all asked to reflect on their time away.

Eighth grader Nora Townsend represented the thoughts of many of her peers. “I loved the rock climbing,” she notes. “Everybody was cheering each other on. So even though we climbed individually, it felt like we were doing it as a team.”

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Lunch Highlights Alumni Outreach Two hours before the annual Red Oaks Harvest Festival was set to begin, a much smaller, yet no less exciting event was underway.The Cutler campus’s parking lot, decorated to resemble an open-air café, played host to the school’s Alumni Luncheon. More than 25 alums eagerly returned to campus where they reconnected with old friends, shared some laughs, and noshed on an impressive selection of thin crust pizzas courtesy of The Columbia Inn. This luncheon was especially noteworthy as it was the

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NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUSES

first official alumni gathering in the school’s 50+ year history.

Organized by Advancement Associate Ilana Radcliffe with invaluable assistance from Parent Association volunteers, the Alumni Luncheon was a huge success and will become a preHarvest Festival staple from this point forward. Moreover, the event kicked off what will soon become a series of alumni socials designed to reconnect with graduates.

“A luncheon like this was long overdue,” Ilana says. “The alums love it and we’re always happy and excited to have them back.”

Many of the returning alums were from recent Red Oaks graduating classes—2020 to 2023—all of whom now represent academically rigorous high schools: Pingry, Kent Place, Morristown-Beard, Newark Academy, and Morristown High School, among others.

Annabelle Elie, a 2022 graduate who’s now at Pingry, had attended ROS since preschool and was happy for the opportunity to revisit campus. “I came to this lunch because my friends are here and because Red Oaks always made me feel welcome,” she says. “I also appreciate how well the school prepared me for Pingry.”

Ethan Kothavale, from the class of 2020, is a senior at Morristown-Beard who, along with his younger brother, Justin (class of 2021), enjoyed the day on the Cutler campus.

The Red Oaks School

He echoed Annabelle’s sentiment. “Red Oaks was a great experience for me,” Ethan said. “It greatly prepared me for high school and made me more mature and open minded.”

But perhaps none of the attendees were more effusive in their praise than Grayden McNutt from the class of 2023, now a freshman at Morristown High,“I know that what I’m about to say will sound like a cliche, but it’s true,” Grayden says.

“Red Oaks was like a second home to me. I loved it here.”

To learn more about Red Oaks alumni events please contact Ilana Radcliffe at 973-539-7853, ext. 112 or iradcliffe@redoaksschool.org.

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Fall 2023

HARVEST On a splendid sunny day in October the play area of the Cutler campus bustled with joyful noise. Kids painted and carved pumpkins, oversized Jenga towers wobbled in the

blustery breezes, and apple cider donuts were consumed by the dozen. Kids climbed on playground equipment and chased each other—weaving between the many loose

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knots of laughing and chatting parents. And, through it all, a four-piece bluegrass band plucked, strummed, and fiddled to provide a lively soundtrack that perfectly reflected the

carefree mood.

In other words, it was The Red Oaks School’s much anticipated Harvest Festival. Postponed from its initially scheduled date due

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FESTIVAL to weather, the last-minute change didn’t put a damper on attendance.The event welcomed over 400 guests, including students, parents, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Head of School Marilyn Stewart, always the gracious and welcoming host, this year made the rounds with her successor Chris Weaver to introduce him to the guests.

The Red Oaks School

The Harvest Festival is a free event run by the many volunteers of the Parent Association and was organized

by PA co-chairs Meredyth Coleman and Daniela

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Tubito. The day turned out to be a grand success—a time to catch up with old friendships or, for those new to the school, an opportunity to create new ones.

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INTRODUCING

OUR NEXT HEAD OF SCHOOL DISCUSSES HIS PAST, HIS EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY, AND THE “SECRET SAUCE” THAT ATTRACTED HIM TO RED OAKS.

BY MIKE ALLEGRA

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Fall 2023

CHRIS WEAVER

Chris Weaver always knew of The Red Oaks School, he just didn’t know all that much about it. But the snippets of anecdotal information that crossed his path never failed to capture his imagination.

Red Oaks parents were always delighted with the school, he recalls. And the Red Oaks students were always enthusiastic and filled with a surprising abundance of school pride. “Someone I work with told me that her son comes home from Red Oaks every day singing the school song,” he says with a slightly bewildered chuckle. “And this kid is a middle schooler. I had never heard anything like that before.”

So it goes without saying that when Chris heard that ROS was looking for a new Head, he was eager to throw his hat into the ring. He needed to see the school for himself—if only to see if Red Oaks would live up to the pre-interview hype.

And did it?

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Fall 2023

INTRODUCING CHRIS WEAVER

“Oh, yes,” he says, smiling. “I kind of fell in love with the place right away.

“All throughout the lengthy interview process, I was impressed. I really liked the people I met. And I met pretty much everybody. I felt the warmth of the place. There was a certain purity to it. What’s wonderful about Red Oaks is that it’s really focused on the students—and on each student’s relationship with learning. It’s this human component that makes a school special. Red Oaks never loses sight of that.”

Chris now serves as The Peck School’s Director of Curriculum and Faculty Development, a post he’s held for the past nine years. Once the 2024-25 school year begins, he will take his place as the head of Red Oaks. He is, to say the least, eager to continue and expand upon the myriad achievements of Marilyn Stewart’s 25-year tenure. One look at his background demonstrates that he’s well-suited to the task.

Chris began his academic career more than 20 years ago as a substitute teacher in New York City, a fascinating trial by fire that required him to be flexible, observant, and think on

academic expertise of his peers, most of whom had far more classroom experience and boasted PhDs, but he made up for this perceived deficit by doggedly studying the subject matter and searching for ways to put new spins on old curriculum.

He also improved his skills by looking inward. “I asked questions about my own formative experiences when I was a student. What worked? What didn’t? Which experiences should I bring with me into the classroom?”

Chris ultimately settled on an inquiry-based model of learning. “I wanted to give the students a bit of breathing room to construct their own learning and develop a strong sense of agency in what they were doing,” he explains. “I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s one of the main principles of an International Baccalaureate education.”

This approach not only kept his students engaged, but it also allowed them to retain more information. Heartened by this success, the school soon gave Chris more responsibility.

He was appointed chair of the Science Department and was tasked with establishing a new advisory program in the middle

“WHAT’S WONDERFUL ABOUT RED OAKS IS THAT IT REALLY FOCUSES ON THE STUDENT, AND ON EACH STUDENT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH LEARNING” his feet. “I’d get the call at five or six in the morning and be sent off to Brooklyn or down to the East Village or wherever else they needed me. I taught in super progressive schools, conservative schools, small schools, and big schools. Being a sub is a great way to start out,” he says. “You get to see so many different educational philosophies being implemented in compelling ways. It was quite an education for me.”

When he subbed at The Hewitt School, a progressive K-12 on the Upper East Side, his skills caught the attention of the Head, who offered Chris a full-time teaching position in the Science Department. At first Chris was intimidated by the

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school. All the while, Chris continued to make sure to give his students unparalleled opportunities inside and outside of the classroom; most notably, he partnered with labs across the city to introduce the Hewitt students to real world scientific learning.

Chris’s decade-long stint at Hewitt was both creatively and professionally satisfying, but he was exhausted by his long commute to New York. (“There are lots of ways to get to the Upper East Side from New Jersey, none of them good,” he jokes.) So he accepted a new post closer to home at The Peck School as the Director of Curriculum and Faculty

Fall 2023

Development. In that role he was responsible for the hiring, professional development, and oversight of the teaching staff and curriculum. During his tenure Chris instituted programs that expanded faculty leadership opportunities, increased training for young hires through an Associate Teacher Program, and provided support for teachers to innovate in the classroom. His work at Peck has fostered a culture of growth as well as increased teacher retention. In other words, not only

the community, and has regular one-on-one meetings with Marilyn.

“I’m not involved in Red Oaks policies,” he emphasizes.

“I’m reluctant to weigh in on something I don’t have a full picture of.”

With that in mind, Chris is realistic about the challenges of establishing fully formed goals for the school before he arrives. “I think that making any kind of institutional change

“I WAS JUST SO STRUCK BY RED OAKS’S

CULTURE OF KINDNESS.

I WITNESSED THIS OVER AND OVER DURING MY VISITS TO CAMPUS.” did Chris help to sharpen the faculty’s classroom skills, he also boosted morale.

Chris admits that he will miss Peck once his contract is up at the end of 2023-24, but then the smile returns. Red Oaks is once again on his mind.

“I was just so struck by Red Oaks’s culture of kindness,” he says. “I witnessed this over and over during my visits to campus. Sometimes I’d just see little things in passing. I saw an older kid help a younger child tie his shoes. Nobody prompted the older kid to do this, he just saw a child having trouble and lent a hand.

“At one point I sat in on an assembly where the fourth-grade class sang for the other Cutler students. I was impressed by how self-possessed the fourth graders were—it’s not easy to sing in front of others—but I was also captivated by the behavior of the young audience. They were enthralled. Their expressions showed such admiration toward their older classmates. There was a lot of love in that room. I could go on and on.”

2023-24 will be a learning year for Chris, a time to study and do his homework on what makes Red Oaks tick. He has attended a selection of school events, makes connections with

must begin with a lot of understanding of what’s happening.

I’ve been doing this kind of work long enough to know that you might think you understand something from the outside looking in, but once you’re there and you have a chance to scratch the surface, you realize that there are good reasons why things are done a certain way. All changes that may happen must be respectful of the school and the people who make up the school.”

In a general sense, Chris does foresee a future where Red Oaks will need to consider more outreach to boost enrollment. “Red Oaks provides an outstanding education and an outstanding community, but I don’t think a lot of people know about this place yet. The word of mouth is incredible, it certainly worked on me, but we might need to pull other levers to get the word out.

“But that leads to an important question. If we do bring in more students, how do we maintain the culture? There is a secret sauce, something wonderful going on at Red Oaks. The core of this place cannot be lost. It’s magical and it’s the reason why Red Oaks is so special. It’s the reason why I’m so very excited to be a part of it.”

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Fall 2023

The Magic of Montessori A LOOK AT EARLY LITERACY AND CONCEPTUAL MATHEMATICS IN ACTION At the beginning of the school day, the Red Oaks Early Childhood classrooms are abuzz with playful intellectual activity. Students work individually, sitting on the floor with a small mat spread out in front of them.

Upon each mat rests what looks to be a game. Looks can be deceiving, however, for these “games” are ingeniously designed, hands-on learning activities (known in Montessori parlance as “jobs”) that teach and reinforce sturdy academic principles.

In Eva Wengler and Maggy Taylor’s class, for example, four-year-old Zane, studies a plastic figure of a cat along with other small toys. Next to the toys is a movable alphabet needed to spell the name of each object. Quietly sounding out the words as he goes, he passes this exercise with flying colors.

But even when Zane struggles a little (there was at one point a question as to which direction a lowercase “b” should face to spell the word “bat”) the task is performed with pleasure and, upon completion, a palpable sense of accomplishment. He then cleans up the pieces and skips to the shelves lining the perimeter of the room to try something a bit more complicated, a different vowel sound perhaps, or an exercise with longer words. Or maybe he’ll veer left, where the math shelves are located, to work on skip counting.

The core philosophy of a Montessori education is to teach each child at his or her own pace. This is a big reason why the kids in Early Childhood classes range

Eva Wengler (foreground) and Maggy Taylor.

in age from 3 to 6. “We can have a threeyear-old who is reading and a five-yearold who doesn’t know his letters and it all works. Each child develops their skills independently,” explains Maggy.

“The beauty of Montessori,” Eva adds, “is that we can introduce each concept at the point when we know the child is ready to absorb it.”

The age range in the Early Childhood class also fosters engagement between the students. It is not unusual for a child who is strong in a particular subject to assist another who is having difficulty.

“The older kids love to help the younger ones,” notes Chantal Diedrich, who along with Mary Anne Fairey and

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Garima Ankareddi teaches in Red Oaks’s other Early Childhood classroom. “The younger ones want to watch the older ones do their work. By doing so, they begin to learn more advanced concepts.”

“And the older kids benefit, too. They become mentors,” Mary Anne adds. “As teachers to the younger kids, they feel empowered and develop confidence and self-esteem.”

The age range in the Early Childhood classes benefits the teachers as well.

“The children come in so young, but we work with them for three years and really get to know them. We can see how they work and how they’re progressing,” Mary Anne explains.

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Mary Anne Fairey teaches a conceptual math lesson.

Eva and Maggy have been coteachers at Red Oaks for the past 19 years, but their happy association goes back more than 26 years, when Maggy’s now-29-year-old son started out in the Red Oaks’s (then the Montessori Children’s House’s) three-year-old class.

His teacher was Eva. “These methods taught my son to read without stress or pressure,” Maggy says. “And these materials taught him to read very quickly. I didn’t even know he had learned his letters until one day he came home with a book and started reading it to me. This method of learning is effortless for a child.”

It was a similar story for Mary Anne, who was also impressed with Red Oaks after both of her children graduated from the program. A true believer of the Montessori method, she left her corporate career behind and joined the school in 2003, first teaching in Upper Elementary (where she also taught Maggy’s son), then Art, and, for the past 16 years, Early Childhood. For 12 of those years, she’s

been coteaching alongside Chantal.

Chantal, who describes herself as “close to retirement,” now works part-time, job sharing with Garima, who was hired in the fall.

Montessori uses a multisensory approach to help children understand and retain knowledge. Students don’t just learn the shape of each letter of the alphabet by sight, they also trace a sandpaper letter with their finger while repeating its phonetic pronunciation.

By connecting sight, touch, and sound, the child uses three of his senses to connect and reinforce the information.

“This gives the child a strong sense of what the letter is all about,” Eva says.

The finger tracing is also one of the early steps toward developing the muscle memory and motor skills for when the child begins to write.

Penmanship, like reading, is also presented through a series of simple, easily digestible, and unquestionably fun steps: drawing in sand, tracing shapes, and drawing wavy lines.

And through it all the teachers are

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on hand, ready to observe each child, record their progress, and provide kind guidance and individual attention.

Predictably, the same multisensory approach is used to teach math concepts. Sutton, a kindergartner, attempts a counting job he has never attempted before. By using a system of beads, (some individual, some grouped in sets of five, ten, a hundred, and a thousand) he needs only a few minutes to acquire an understanding of the thousands place. Eva’s request for 1,262 beads takes no time at all.

Even Sutton seems surprised by the swiftness of his accomplishment.

But these student epiphanies are par for the course for Eva, Maggy, Mary Anne, Chantal, and Garima—as it is for all the other teachers on the Cutler campus. The fun, incremental victories lead to students who not only learn quickly, but also develop confidence and a love for learning that Maggy and Mary Anne found for their children years ago and that parents and their young children continue to find at Red Oaks to this day.

Fall 2023

Understanding I.B. THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERDISCIPLINARY LEARNING

BY YONCA OKTAY In a traditional middle school classroom. A student may start her day in math. After a bell rings, that student might head off to history. With another bell, she’s off to english. Then foreign language, then art, and so on until the

day is over. In general, this school structure makes a lot of sense; you want a child’s attention to be undivided and undistracted as you teach the core principles of a specific subject.

But the real world doesn’t always neatly separate into subjects; we often need to draw knowledge from different

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areas to solve real problems and understand the world around us.

This is the function of interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Interdisciplinary classes meaningfully combine two or more subjects to help students think critically, embrace different perspectives, develop empathy, and better understand

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the larger world. Interdisciplinary learning drives the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) curriculum and has, I’m proud to say, been growing in importance at Red Oaks.

This type of learning is relatively easy to implement at the elementary school level, as most teachers are responsible for all academic subjects.

When I taught 4th and 5th grade, I covered science, social studies, language, and math curriculums. The limits of my creativity were the only things restricting me from developing connections between the subject areas.

If I was teaching a unit of inquiry on the environment, for example, I could create science lessons on how plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere. I

could ask my students how different cultures impact the environment to connect to social studies. I could ask my students to calculate data to quantify the changing climate through math. And, for language arts, the students could write expository stories or persuasive letters on the topic.

However, the blending of academic subject areas gets more complicated at the Middle School level. Since each teacher covers a specific subject, an interdisciplinary initiative would require meticulous coordination and collaboration between at least two teachers to brainstorm, create, and implement curriculum. No easy feat!

At Red Oaks, we are dedicated to providing the best possible education for your child. For the 2023-24 school year, we are excited to introduce three new interdisciplinary units in the middle school.

In sixth grade, Science Teacher Susan Crucs and Math Teacher Stacy Apostolico will team up to explore the critical topic of climate change.

In seventh grade, Art Teacher Emily Cannestro and Science and Design Teacher Nimisha Jain will show how art and technology are connected. And in eighth grade, Spanish Teacher Claudia Perez Lopez and I, a language and literature teacher, will collaborate on a Spanish poetry unit.

But this is just the start of Red Oaks’s journey into interdisciplinary learning.

As we look ahead, we are committed to discovering more ways to help our students understand the interconnectedness of our world. We’re excited about this journey, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated along the way.

Together, we’ll prepare our students for a future where their knowledge and skills can make a real difference!

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TEACHER PROFILE: Yonca Oktay

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme Coordinator Yonca Oktay became an IB advocate though a series of coincidences and happy accidents.

Originally a public school teacher in Atlanta,Yonca was given a unique opportunity to teach at the newlyfounded MEF International School in Istanbul, Turkey, her parents’ home country. She leapt at the chance and arrived at her new post just as MEF was contemplating an IB programme. The school sent Yonca to IB classes in Switzerland, and the rest is history.Yonca has since traveled far and wide as a member of the International Baccalaureate Educator Network (IBEN) a role where she serves as a consultant and coordinator, contributing to the development of curriculum and the establishment of IB schools across the United States and worldwide. She has taught at IB schools in Kuwait, Qatar, Norway, Portugal, and Singapore. She has worked at Red Oaks since 2022.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? because the students were not academically segregated. “I was mentor to my classmates in subjects where I was strong, and a mentee in other areas where I might have struggled,” Jake explains. “If I helped someone to read, it wasn’t because I was perceived as ‘more advanced,’ it was simply because I knew how to read a little better. An academic environment like this teaches you to be a better person,” he says.

“By the time I graduated as a sixth grader, I had taken this supportive environment for granted. I just assumed it was the same way everywhere. But…” And Jake punctuates his incomplete statement with a merry laugh.

Jake laughs a lot while reflecting on his academic career at Red Oaks. His most enthusiastic memories revolve around the upper elementary’s annual performance of Shakespeare’s plays. These plays were abridged, which isn’t unusual, but they were also reworked as musicals, which is. As a fifth grader, the selected play was The Taming of The Shrew. Jake played Petruchio, the principal antagonist and gaslighter of Katherina, the titular Shrew. When Jake first appeared on stage, he was charged with singing George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.”

“It was a grand operation,” Jake says with another laugh.

In the years since his days at The Red Oaks School (then “And there was so much creativity and delight in the entire named the Montessori Children’s House) Jake Mundo has process.

The teachers always had a steady hand over the established for himself a very impressive academic career. He proceedings, but we, the students, had such a sense of attended middle and high school at ownership over the entire show.

Newark Academy and was accepted “And, really, where else are to Swarthmore for his undergraduate elementary students studying degree. Currently, Jake is a PhD Shakespeare?” he enthused. “We candidate for Applied Mathematics at discussed the meaning of the text in Brown University.

Language Arts class.

We wrote our own Yet, when Jake looks back on his sonnets.

We learned iambic pentameter. varied education, his fondest and most We engaged in it as seriously as we influential memories are—and always could at that age.

It was incredible!” will be, he says—at Red Oaks.

Because of this, Jake cites his Language Jake first attended the school as a Arts teacher, Christa Doyle, as the most “consistently anxious” first grader but influential teacher he’s ever had. credits the school with helping him to “This school really awakened my quickly come out of his shell. sense of curiosity and inquiry and love “Almost immediately I felt of learning.

I always worked hard at Red comfortable,” he says. “[Red Oaks] was Oaks, but there was always a sense of joy an environment where we all built each to the work.

What we were doing there other up and supported each other.” was always exciting.

And that’s a rare This “collaborative camaraderie” thing. ” – JAKE MUNDO as Jake describes it, was fostered

Jake Mundo

“This school really awakened my sense of curiosity and inquiry and love of learning. I always worked hard at Red Oaks, but there was always a sense of joy to the work.”

The Red Oaks School 18

Fall 2023

Eighth After Eight In 2015 The Red Oaks School graduated its very first class of eighth graders. It was a small group, 11 students in all, but in the eight short years since their matriculation, they have already begun to distinguish themselves as creative thinkers, good citizens, and natural leaders. We at Red Oaks are so very proud of these trailblazing alums.

As of press time,The Red Oaks Review reached out to five students from this class.Their brief yet impressive bios are below.

Jacob Grayzel

Jacob Kopeld

Madeleine Rose Levinsohn

Jacqueline Silvers

Alexandra Stephens

Jacob Grayzel graduated from Columbia University in May with a degree in Economics and Art History, making dean’s list every term. His love of art, he says, was cultivated during his early years at ROS with Art Teacher Maureen Palmquist (February 7, 1952-October 14, 2022); he carried that love through high school and college by interning at the Guggenheim Museum. His strength in math and economics also helped him secure internships in data science at Trane Technologies and TruGreen. During his college career he was on the Executive Committee of the Board of Columbia’s radio station, WKCR, served as the station’s Director of Publicity, and hosted a weekly radio show. He was also on the board of Columbia’s Ski Club and skied for their D2 team.

Jacob Kopeld graduated Delbarton in 2019 and was honored with the Brian E. Fleury Award (awarded to an outstanding scholar-athlete). He graduated Brown in 2023 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. At Brown, he played Division 1 football for all four years and was an officer in the Theta Alpha fraternity. He was also selected to the National Football Foundation’s Hampshire Honor Society for collegiate scholar-athletes. Jacob plans to apply to medical school in 2024 with the goal of becoming a cardio-thoracic surgeon.

After graduating Red Oaks and, later, Newark Academy, Madeleine Rose Levinsohn was accepted at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts to study Experimental Performance Art. She soon decided, however, to place a greater focus on liberal arts and transferred to Wesleyan where she majored in Government Theory with a minor in Art History. There she earned high honors and a place in the coveted Phi Beta Kappa Society. She was also awarded several fellowships which provided her the opportunity to research her honors thesis at Harvard University. She graduated in 2023 but is spending an extra semester at Wesleyan to intern at the university’s Zilkha Art Gallery and take additional classes in Political Theory and African Dance.

Jacqueline Silvers recently graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bucknell with a BA in Psychology.

She was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta Women’s Fraternity, vice president of programming for the Panhellenic Council, vice president of Psi Chi, and tutored students in Italian. In addition to Jackie’s on campus commitments, she worked as an intern psychometrician for a local psychologist, administering cognitive, personality, and intelligence psychometric tests to patients of all ages.

She will soon begin work as a Coordinator of Outpatient Services at The Bridge, a nonprofit community-based organization that provides behavioral healthcare services.

Alexandra Stephens recently graduated from Smith College with a BS in Engineering Science. For her honors thesis she designed an autonomous aircraft capable of sampling atmospheric data. She was inducted into the Sigma Xi Honorary Society and was vice president of the Equestrian Club.

She will continue her education at the University of Toronto where she will pursue an advanced degree in Physics.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more news from the eighth-grade class of 2015 in future issues of The Red Oaks Review.

The Red Oaks School 19

Fall 2023

The Red Oaks School 21 Cutler Street Morristown, NJ 07960

We Need Your Notes!

Are you a Red Oaks alum? We want to know what you’ve been up to!

Have you earned a degree? Were you hired to a new job? Moved to a new town? Declared a major? Published a story? Got on a sports team?

Starred in a show? Won an award? Met up with fellow Red Oaks alumni?

Tell us!

Starting with the winter 2024 issue, The Red Oaks Review will be printing Class Notes.

To make this new department a success, we need your help. Take a moment to drop us a line and tell us what is new in your life. Encourage your friends to do the same. Help us keep our Red Oaks Community strong.

Send your notes to Ilana Radcliffe at iradcliffe@redoaksschool.org.

Let’s stay connected!