About the Nonprofit
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Our Mission
Oakhill Day School is a community where students are challenged, known, valued, and inspired to be their best self.
Our Background
Originally known as Little Folks, Oakhill Day School began as an Early Childhood - Kindergarten Program founded by Wanda Lee Kalsu, Northland mother and educator, in 1947. This small school's humble beginnings originated in a church basement before moving to a small building located on NE 58th Terrace in Gladstone, Missouri. During the 1950s and 1960s, Little Folks School offered Preschool through Kindergarten and later grew to host First Grade classes. In 1972, "Little Folks" became Oakhill Day School. In 1987, the school expanded by adding offerings for students in grades Second and Third. Oakhill settled in its current location at 7019 North Cherry in 1989, expanding its facilities with additional classrooms, administrative staff, expanded library, gymnasium, outdoor learning areas, and common spaces to accommodate the ever-growing student body and middle school expansion. In the fall of 2015 Oakhill acquired the Gladstone Office Building on the corner of 6910 North Holmes which would later house the Intermediate and Middle School divisions in the fall of 2016.
For over 75 years, Oakhill's innovative and integrated curriculum aims to challenge students to discover their gifts and provide numerous personal growth and development opportunities. The hands-on approach to learning and teaching at Oakhill invigorates and captivates students because of the relevance and engagement of the material. Small class sizes allow our dedicated teachers to give personal attention and tailor the curriculum to their students. Our classrooms contain students with many different learning styles, so we use small group teaching methods to ensure that all students can build upon their gifts to grow in all areas. Oakhill nurtures students to perform at their best! We are proud to serve students in Pretoddler (age 18-months) through Eighth grade and, in the fall of 2021, High School. Oakhill continues to honor our founder's vision as we uphold our reputation of excellent education that the Northland has known since 1947.
Our Vision
Our vision is to inspire through scholarship, achieved by empowering compassionate learners to contribute through adaptability, resilience, and service.
Our Core ValuesÂ
We encourage students to embrace their social responsibility through the development of strong moral values and self-discipline
We encourage critical thinking skills in all students so they will love the process and end result of learning
We support students in reaching their personal best in physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development
We encourage flexibility in curriculum development and teaching approaches in order to fit the makeup of each classroom and each child
We value respect for all people - students, staff, families, our community, and our larger world
We value learning and we know that making mistakes is part of the learning process of preparing for the real world
