Oak Hill Faculty continue quest for growth

Part of our school philosophy has always included the concept of constant improvement. We, as a world and in particular as a school, find ourselves in a new state of development and innovation.  To meet these demands and to prepare our students for the future, we must continually stay current with the most effective learning techniques and blend these with the teaching elements that have been so successful for the past 40+ years.

On Wednesday, January 3, as a faculty, we experienced a day-long professional development agenda which covered the following areas:

1. Mrs. Marie Geroni, our Computer Science teacher, gave us an overview of the AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools that our students are learning in her computer science classes.
2. Many of our teachers shared their “Summer 2023” AI explorations.
3. I presented a program which highlighted the following:
4. Human work beyond AI
5. Portrait of a Graduate
6. Exploring the AI unknown
7. Our new AI School Use Policy
8. The skill of Prompt Writing for Chat GPT
9. Chat GPT for teacher and student use
10. Application of AI in solving real world problems      
11. Mrs. Chris Larkins gave a presentation on student enrollment and what makes school a place that personalizes learning and supports parents in their role as caregivers.  She also reviewed the school’s plan in case of any extended emergency closings.

• Mrs. Sandy Scheuer and Dr. Susan Murray gave an overview of the Social Institute program, “#Winatsocial,” that will soon be used in the Upper School “Tuesday Talk Sessions.”
• Mrs. Margaret Laffin, the Lower School teachers, and a Promethean representative, shared their amazing uses for their Promethean Boards.
• Mr. Peter Bruckmann and Dr. Susan Murray explained the process for entering exam grades using our new Blackbaud system.
• Miss Patrice Murray covered the details of our Middle States Accreditation self-study process which included the following standards:
• Foundation
• Governance and Organization
• Resources
• Student Well-Being
• Teaching and Learning

We will share more on this process in the weeks to come.  It was concluded that this day was extremely beneficial for the continued growth of the learning atmosphere and success of our entire Oak Hill community.

Oak Hill Academy is a NJ private school that is co-educational, independent, nonsectarian, and nonprofit for grades pre-kindergarten through eight. Oak Hill Academy is dedicated to a traditional, challenging, and caring learning environment that encourages comprehensive thought processes and deep understandings; thus promoting the wholesome intellectual, emotional, moral, and physical lifetime growth of our students. If you want to learn more about what makes Oak Hill Academy one of the best private school in NJ, visit us online at www.oakhillacademy.com , or subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when we post more topics.