Oakcrest, an independent school, educates the whole person. This education of the whole person begins with parent partnership, a key component to our Oakcrest education. Collaboration between parents and educators provides a strong support system for girls as they mature into strong and virtuous women. Recognizing that parents are the primary educators of their daughters, Oakcrest seeks to support and complement parents in their joyful task of raising women of character. Parents and educators “row together” as they guide each girl to become the best version of herself.

Our liberal arts education provides a rigorous yet balanced course load. We understand that young women should enjoy a fully enriching life with time for family, friendships, and faith. Education here at Oakcrest happens both in and outside of the classroom: through friendships, clubs, sports, and mentoring. Indeed, because our graduates are formed in and intent on pursuing excellence in every area of their lives, they go on to excel in college and beyond.

Educational Vision

Oakcrest School respects the dignity of each human being and is committed to his or her personal growth and flourishing. Our educational vision is grounded in a deeply Christian understanding of what it means to be a human being and to be a woman, as revealed in Sacred Scripture and presented in the teachings of the Catholic Church. 

With decades of experience in single-sex education, we are also especially suited to help young women flourish. We take seriously this mission of being trustees of humanity. We aim to educate each student holistically: as a unity of body and soul, in the interrelation of intellect, will, and heart. This commitment imbues our entire school culture, inside and outside of the classroom, including co-curricular activities, the daily patterns and traditions of the school, and our approach to technology, which we view as a tool to be put at the service of learning, not as an end in itself, nor as a replacement for human relationships.

Liberal Arts Curriculum

Our liberal arts curriculum is at the core of our person-centered educational endeavor. Liberal arts, as their name suggests, are the studies that free a person from ignorance and uninformed opinion by training her to inquire into and understand the very principles of knowledge: to think logically, to look carefully and listen reflectively, to dialogue with others, and to discern the essential from the inessential. The student of the liberal arts is not content to unreflectively assimilate facts and information presented about a subject; rather, she has the discernment necessary to evaluate sources and to think for herself. 

Understanding that knowledge is no fragmented assortment of data, the student of the liberal arts sees the big picture; she finds the broader meaning of individual facts and subject areas when she sees their relation to the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. 

And since freedom is the ability to choose the good, a proper liberal education will form not only the intellect, but also the will and the heart. An appreciation for the role of wonder and delight in beauty is fundamental in this regard.

Pedagogy

Education is ultimately a “leading forth” of the young person to authentic freedom and truth. Because we are personal beings, this transformation occurs through relationships, especially friendships, through rich conversation and the modeling of virtue. The student develops her intellect and character in communion with her family, her teachers, her peers, but also with those great men and women who have gone before her. She is invited into the great conversation of the best thinkers of the past and discovers her own intellectual geography as a result.

Oakcrest is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement and the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CSS). Oakcrest is a member of the Virginia Council for Private Education (VCPE) and the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).
1619 Crowell Road, Vienna, VA 22182
703-790-5450