Oakcrest School Educates Whole Person for Holy Life

By Stephanie Tracy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 8/22/02)

With a goal of educating young women to excel in the world, and fostering their growth in holiness in the midst of their ordinary lives, Oakcrest School has been a presence in the Washington, D.C. area for 26 years.

"Our goal is to help the girls reach the limits of their capabilities," said Ellen M. Cavanagh, director of Oakcrest since 2000. "It’s not about being better than someone else, but rather being the best I can be with what God has given me."

Cavanagh is no stranger to Oakcrest. After working for a time with the school, she went to work at an Opus Dei school in Boston for 11 years until her return to Oakcrest in 2000.

The school moved to its present location in McLean two years ago. Its home at 850 Balls Hill Road, close to the intersection of I-495 and Georgetown Pike, is shared with the McLean Bible Church. The church uses the facility for weekend services and summer activities while they work to raise funds for a new facility of their own.

Founded in 1976 by a group of parents "seeking an education of the whole person," Oakcrest was unique in its establishment.

"At the time Oakcrest was founded, schools were closing, others were going co-ed; no one was talking about virtues education," Cavanagh said. "These parents couldn’t find a school for their daughters that had the excellence in both academics and the emphasis on educating both the mind and the will."

Dedicated to providing a strong college-preparatory education, Oakcrest offers a classic core curriculum taught at the honors level. Junior high school students are required to complete two years of English, history, math, science, theology and physical education courses. Additional requirements include two semesters of studio art, computer classes and study skills, as well as a semester of food technology and a year of Latin in the eighth grade.

Similarly high school students are required to complete four years of English, history, math, science and theology, and a minimum of three years of a modern foreign language. Two years of physical education and two semesters of studio art round out the high school curriculum.

In and out of the classroom, students learn to appreciate that education is not an end in itself and are encouraged to strive for continued individual improvement in a spirit of true freedom and personal responsibility.

Students receive spiritual direction from Opus Dei chaplains on a regular basis. Daily Mass draws nearly 90 students and faculty each morning. Due to the overflow crowd in the small chapel, plans are underway to move the daily Mass into the school’s pride and joy — its 900-seat auditorium. The state-of-the-art facility also serves as the location for Oakcrest’s acclaimed theatrical productions.

Despite a lack of field space at their new location, Oakcrest students still participate competitively in various sports including basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and cross-country.

"We focus on a real understanding of true freedom and responsibility," Cavanagh said. "Some people fear that academics are watered down when your focus is on educating the entire person, but that’s not the case here; our standards are high everywhere."

The founding families of Oakcrest were inspired in their search for solid Christian education by their involvement and commitment to Opus Dei. Founded in Madrid in 1928, Opus Dei was declared a personal prelature of the Catholic Church in March 1983. Opus Dei’s particular mission is to help lay people live out the call to holiness through their everyday lives and the sanctification of their work.

Cavanagh stressed that many schools have adopted a program of education that incorporates values education and moral training.

"What makes Oakcrest different, then, becomes the intangibles," she said. "That’s where the whole spirit of Opus Dei moves in, that is the whole idea of being a lay person in the middle of the world."

Parental involvement is also key to the success of Oakcrest, Cavanagh said.

"As a faculty and staff we constantly refer back to our understanding of the parent/school relationship," she said. "The parent and the school have different but complimentary roles; the parents are still the primary educators of their children."

Prior to moving to Virginia, Oakcrest was housed in what used to be a French international school on Yuma Street in Washington, D.C. Before that, the building had been originally constructed as a retirement home for elderly nuns. Oakcrest’s first home was a house on Idaho Avenue where it spent its first year.

Beginning its second year in McLean, Oakcrest is planning for the future. Administrators are currently looking for an architect to work on plans for the new site.

Immediate goals include meeting the challenges of space limitations in the building. Current library space is due to be expanded to link the stacks with a media center. A state-of-the-art science lab was installed last year.

Academically, music courses will be added to the fine arts program this fall.

Future plans include more classroom space, a gymnasium, and a larger chapel to accommodate the entire school community.

Edwina Maksym, humanities coordinator on the Academic Council at Oakcrest, has been with the school for 23 of its 26-year history.

"It’s not about our physical setting," she said. "You could pick this place up and plant it anywhere and it would flourish because we’re here to teach these girls what it is to be a Christian woman living an ordinary life, to show them what an integrated Christian life is and how to live it out."

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