Ms. Monica Pompei has taught languages at Oakcrest School for 23 years. While a lot has expanded - the size of the student body, the physical school building, the course offerings - two things have remained the same. 

“The joy and the mission have remained exactly the same,” she recalls. “It has been constant, the dedication to the formation of the students and the quality of the academics and the parent partnership. There is a concern for every single student here.” 

Before coming to Oakcrest, Ms. Pompei taught Spanish and music at the elementary school level and when an opportunity arose for her to teach at Oakcrest, she fell in love with the school immediately. 

“I often say it’s like teaching in a utopia,” Ms. Pompei says. “It’s such a wonderful environment. Joy exudes from the students.” 

Ms. Pompei interviewed at the school’s Yuma Campus and started teaching the following year at the school’s first year at the campus on Balls Hill Road in 2000. Now in Vienna, she can’t believe how incredible the campus is now. 

“It’s beautiful to see how the school has grown,” she says. “We used to have a very tiny chapel and we used to have to put chairs out because there wasn’t enough space for everyone who wanted to come to Mass.” 

Like the physical school, the foreign languages department has also fine-tuned its offerings over the years based on teacher expertise and student interest. 

“At this age, they are like sponges,” Ms. Pompei explained. “They can pick up the accent more easily and memorize more easily. I love personally teaching at the lower levels because they are so enthusiastic about learning something new. You can see their growth over the year and it is so fulfilling.” 

Ms. Pompei added that she enjoys engaging with her students in conversational Spanish in the hallways, noting how essential speaking Spanish has become. Even enthusiasm for learning Latin has grown, she said, with 20 sixth graders taking introductory Latin. 

What’s different about Oakcrest in the early 2000s to now? Ms. Pompei remembers when Oakcrest had four computers in the whole school and teachers would take turns using them. “We’ve grown a lot,” she says.