Oakwood School Blog

Lane McIntyre, Head of School

This year has been like no other in our 50-year history. Over the past year, we have been faced with more challenges than ever before.  From remote learning last spring -- where we had a crash course on ZOOM -- to the current school year where we have navigated the challenges of physical distancing and mask-wearing.

But we are Oakwood School

Lane McIntyre, Head of School

The Early Years...

I don’t really have any memories from before Oakwood was founded.  It has basically always existed in my mind. The year was 1971, and I was six years old when my parents, Bob and Mary McIntyre, founded what we now know as Oakwood School.

They saw a need for a school to educate students who learn differently and who were being lost in the current educational environment. Families were being told their children ‘could not learn’ or ‘were not trying hard enough’. Oakwood was founded to change that.

This year we will celebrate 50 years of teaching students with learning differences to succeed in school and life. Where other schools have failed, we succeed. Every year we do what was once thought to be impossible.

Kim Hiday, Oakwood School Speech and Language Pathologist

I’ve always been impressed with people who can remember the first book they read, and even more impressed when they can choose a favorite book. The books I’ve chosen as my “favorite” have changed as I’ve changed and are now specific to genres, an age group, and authors.

A dear friend of mine not only keeps a leather-bound journal of all the books she has read but also notes her opinion of each one. She has extended her love of books by obtaining advanced degrees in Book Arts and Book Conservation and now works for a nonprofit that brings authors and illustrators into under-served urban schools. Participating in book clubs with her has taught me not only to look at the basics of “is it a good story?” but things like “how does the typeface affect the story?” or “why did the author number the chapters instead of title them?”

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., Oakwood School Counselor

Over the summer, I worried a lot about our students. I wasn’t sure what life had been like for them since we left school or how COVID had impacted their families. I could imagine, but didn’t know what kind of trauma, grief, or anxiety the children would be bringing back with them when they returned to school. I wondered if the kids would show up at Oakwood, manifesting COVID stress as visible angst or acting out. I also wondered how our students would manage wearing masks all day. Having experienced first-hand the exhaustion of continually wearing a mask, and knowing that many students have sensory issues, I felt uneasy about the feasibility of this necessary protocol. In short, as September approached, I was apprehensive that Oakwood students would return to school stressed, strained, and struggling to make sense of world events that they couldn’t easily understand or put into words.

By Kim Hiday, Owner of McLean Speech & Language

Whether a dog lover or not, you’ve got to admit that pooches can work magic with kids.

Meet Yoda, who spends many of her days at Oakwood and is owned by McLean Speech & Language, the speech therapy organization that works in house with Oakwood students.

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., Oakwood School Counselor

The current pandemic has brought drastic changes to our daily lives that are unprecedented in our lifetime. Many adults have said that this time is “surreal”, which Webster’s defines as “unbelievable and marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream.” If the “new normal” seems surreal to us, it most assuredly is creating stress and confusion for our children. There is a plethora of advice on the internet and in the media on how to best support children through the pandemic. To minimize stress, I have boiled down child-centered advice into a Top 10 List of ideas that I think are most applicable to the Oakwood student body. I hope you will find something here that will help your family cope with the pandemic!

Michele Dausman, Occupational Therapist at Oakwood

I would not be saying anything new to remark that these are unusual and challenging times. In my own family, we have worked to be mindful in establishing new routines, to try new and creative cooking options, to stay safe, and even to make sure that we still like each other from day to day--there are a lot of “together” minutes! In addition to all of that, we are working from home, and teaching from home, and learning from home. Though valuable, this amounts to a great deal of sitting/screen time.

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., Oakwood School Counselor

The practice of gratitude – actively reflecting on what one is grateful for –has been shown to have many emotional, social, and health benefits (see “31 Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Science-Backed Guide” www.happierhuman.com/benefits-of-gratitude/ ). Specifically, an intentional gratitude practice can lead to increased feelings of well-being, decreased stress, improved sleep, and improved physical immunity – all benefits we could use right now!

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., Oakwood School Counselor

Dr. Cohen shares some Mindfulness techniques Oakwood students and staff use. Click below to see the video.

Deborah Cohen, Ph.D., Oakwood School Counselor

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions – vowing to do better and be better  -- dates back to the ancient Babylonians, 4000 years ago. In our culture today, January is when many of us do the same. We commit to eating healthier, exercising more, giving up bad habits, acquiring good habits, etc. The list can go on and on. Often our New Year’s goals are ones that we’ve had for a while, but just can’t seem to make happen.

What if, in the New Year, instead of focusing on ways we need to improve, we reflected on what we have already accomplished in the past year?