🕰️ School History

The history of Oaks Christian School (OCS) begins with the generosity of David Price and Dallas Price-Van Breda. Their vision was to create a Christian high school of the highest caliber in the West Los Angeles area. Their search for a suitable property began in March 1994 but yielded few options and no success. In 1997, after much prayer and patience, an 18-acre piece of property became available in Westlake Village.

Although at first this location seemed too far away from the original vision for a West L.A. school, the Prices felt led to consider the Conejo Valley as the place for their dream. Shortly thereafter, the property was purchased, board members were secured, and Jeff Woodcock was hired to be Oaks Christian High School’s founding Head of School.

After more than a year of preparatory work, an interest from the community began to sound: the need for a middle school. In May 2000, the development of the OCS Middle School began and a seed was planted in the form of 40 sixth grade students. In seven short years, that seed flourished to become a thriving student body of over 300 students, encompassing grades 6-8. The high school grew to over 800 students in grades 9-12. With the desire for new space to continue its growth and meet the needs of the community, OCS was presented with a providential opportunity to secure the only property contiguous to the current campus.

This seven-acre site has been developed to create a new OCS Middle School campus replete with creative facilities and programming specifically geared toward middle school-aged students. The grand opening of the new middle school campus in August 2009 marked another chapter in the school’s history—the fruits of the Price’s generosity and an extension of their original dream and vision. OCS continues to thrive in its efforts to meet the needs of students and families that dreamed of a school that integrated academics, athletics, arts and Christian faith—all in a nurturing, family environment. In the same spirit, we launched our fifth grade program in 2014. Fall 2016 began a new chapter in leadership at Oaks Christian School under the direction of Rob Black, Head of School.

🧭 Mission Statement

To dedicate ourselves to Christ in the pursuit of academic excellence, artistic expression, and athletic distinction, while growing in knowledge and wisdom through God’s abundant grace

📢 Motto

Preparing Minds for Leadership and Hearts for Service

📝 Statement of Faith

We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible Word of God.
We believe that there is only one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe that mankind was created good, but lost the hope of life eternal, destroyed his communion with God, and fell under the bondage of sin and death by rebelling against God’s perfect way of life.
We believe that Jesus Christ is God’s eternal Son, who redeemed mankind. As true God and true man, He was born of a virgin through the Holy Spirit, taught men how to live through His sinless life, took the consequences of our sin upon Himself in His passion and death upon the cross, arose bodily from the dead on the third day after His death, was seen by His disciples, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will return in power and glory.
We believe that all are sinners, that all are called to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ, and that no one can come to faith in Christ, repent and attain holiness, but by the grace of God.
We believe, as a gift from God, sexual intimacy is to be experienced only between a man and a woman within a marital relationship. We believe, therefore, that any other form of sexual intimacy is not in keeping with God’s plan for mankind.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is freely given to those that believe in Jesus Christ, that the fruits and benefits of Christ’s redemption are applied to us individually by the Holy Spirit.
We believe that at the end of the age there will be two resurrections: one to eternal life and glory, the other to eternal condemnation.

🏅Three Distinctives of an Oaks Christian Education

Academic Excellence

Academic excellence goes beyond rote content acquisition. Instead, Oaks Christian School focuses on the development of the whole child. Students are given opportunities to apply learning through real-life experiences. The core curriculum gives the students opportunities to go beyond the traditional knowledge and develops skills of high competency. On their journey from knowledge to wisdom, students are given opportunities to reflect on their own character development and growth. Equally as important to the core curriculum are the vast opportunities for exploratory learning through innovative elective offerings. Early on, we want our students to discover their passions and calling in life. Above all, our core curriculum is taught from a Biblical worldview as exhibited through the Oaks Christian School Portrait of a Graduate.

Artistic Expression

The Arts at Oaks Christian are infused into the core curriculum. The Arts go far beyond the traditional classroom boundaries. They support and enhance the learning of the core curriculum. Art humanities is an interdisciplinary study that is infused into the curriculum. Opportunities for arts appreciation include vast offerings in both performing and visual arts. Students learn that art is a strong form of communication that can impact the community and the world, all the while honoring God and the artistic gifts He has bestowed upon us.

Athletic Distinction

Athletics at Oaks Christian School offer the opportunity for students to expand self-perceived limits, mutually serve one another, and build strong character and leadership qualities, including self-sacrifice. Oaks Christian Middle School offers a variety of athletic opportunities including both competitive and intramural team sports. Oaks Christian School is committed to offering the highest caliber of coaching staff that provides first rate training in line with the values and beliefs of the school. Winning is valued, but honoring God through actions in all circumstances is the highest priority.

👩‍🎓Portrait of a Graduate

The desired learning outcomes at Oaks Christian School go beyond a particular core knowledge set and ultimately aim to reshape who our students become. Through our Portrait of a Graduate framework, our curricula focus not only on “what students know” but also define learning targets more by “what kids can do” and “who they become.”

Our three strategic axioms are categorized as:

Knowledge and Wisdom

Student Habits of Mind — when we develop highly effective learners, our students create habits that will prepare them to learn under any and all circumstances.

Leadership and Character

Student Habits of Disposition — students who develop default, disciplined responses can adapt to any challenges in life they may face.

Well-Being and Community

Student Guiding Attitudes — students with a greater understanding of their God-given calling are poised to live impactful lives in their community.

The strategic axiom nucleus is encompassed by two guiding lenses through which learning is viewed:

Biblical Worldview

All schools teach worldview. They inculcate students on how to think about life. We believe that all students across the globe develop diverse thoughts on:

God
Mankind
Moral Order
Purpose
Creation

We teach students to consider what the Bible has to say about these and challenge our students to consider Scripture as the source of truth, and formulate their own beliefs with conviction.

Culture of Care

Students thrive when they know that their community cares deeply for them. Oaks Christian aims to offer extraordinary care that supports students in all areas of life. We deeply consider the emotional development and well-being of students to be paramount to strong healthy individuals. Advisory programs exist to ensure every student is known, advocated, and cared for. Oaks Christian’s strategic future focus is to make sure that we develop best practices that train up the whole child to be pre-pared for the life ahead of them.

OCS: History and Mission