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Happening at Live Oak
2023
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Choco-la-te!
Read MoreIn our fifth grade Spanish class, students explored the origin of chocolate in Aztec culture, with Mexico as our featured country. The core vocabulary, including "Es (is), le gusta (likes), prefiere (prefers), and dice (says)," provided the foundation for our learning journey. -
Understanding Our City
Read MoreThe ChangeMaker Lab is a space that responds to our curriculum and student learning needs, which means the projects can vary wildly day to day. We might go from bookbinding in the morning to making self-watering planters in the afternoon. But sometimes a connecting theme will organically pop up between grades, which happened recently around how we can use the ChangeMaker Lab to explore the topic of cities. -
In the Audience
Read MoreLive Oak’s annual Gratitude Graffiti Project invites all members of our school community to reflect and share their appreciations, their feelings, their hopes, and their wishes. It instills a spirit of mindfulness, connection, and care in our community that extends beyond the project’s timeline to infuse these values in our school all year long. -
Pre-Order Your New Live Oak Merch
Read MoreStart your holiday shopping early and get your loved ones new Live Oak Lightning merch! Don't forget to get something for yourself too :) Pre-orders will be available for pickup when you stop by the Book Fest. -
A Feast of Colors
Fourth grade artists engaged in a multi-step project that combined artistic expression with cultural exploration.Read More -
Community Assemblies Celebrate Identity
This Fall Live Oak is again featuring a series of Community Assemblies that give voice to our students' and staff's traditions and celebrations around their cultural holidays.Read More -
Congratulations to All Fall Sports Teams
The Fall sports season has come to a very successful close and we want to congratulate all our middle school student-athletes and coaches who gave it their all this season. Read about the final results from the volleyball and cross country teams.Read More -
Our Annual Book Fest is Almost Here!
Read MoreJohnny and the Book Fest Gnomes have been working tirelessly to plan a fun and exciting event. Details about author visits and pre-orders will be coming soon, but we wanted to share a few exciting new happenings for this year. -
Bringing the Past and Future Together in a Journey of Memories and Goals
Read MoreSixth grade students recently wrapped up their Timeline Math project, designed to strengthen their math skills, encourage reflection on their past experiences, and inspire goal-setting for the future. -
The Live Oak Gear Swap is Back!
Read MoreWant to get rid of out-grown sports clothing/gear and Live Oak branded fits? Want to pick up some "new" sports clothing/gear and Live Oak branded fits? You're in luck; the Live Oak Gear Swap is back! -
How Our World Has Changed: Putting the Clues Together
How do scientists know so much? Why do scientists keep notebooks? How can I learn more about what the world was like thousands of years ago? These are all questions third graders get to explore by sketching observations, imagining experiments, recording data and writing down their thoughts in their science notebooks.Read More -
Contact Information for Grandparents and Special Friends
Read MoreAt Live Oak School, the grandparents and special friends of our students are warmly welcomed and appreciated in our school community. We want to be sure invitations to special assemblies, Grandparents and Special Friends events, and other important notifications are sent to the correct address. Please submit updated contact information for grandparents and special friends. If your grandparents' and special friends' information has changed, please resubmit this form. Reach out to the Advancement Office with any questions, advancement@liveoaksf.org. -
Lightning Win All Four Divisions for First Time
The Live cross country team participated in their third race of the season this past Monday at the Polo Field and Hellman Hollow in Golden Gate Park. After a couple more weeks of training, the Live Oak runners impressed by placing first in the team standings in both the 5th/6th and 7th/8th boys and girls divisions for the first time in school history.Read More -
Math Enrichment Activities
Read MoreThe Live Oak Math Department has put together another great series of math enrichment opportunities. Math enrichment ranges from challenging, competitive programs to more review-based skill development. Whatever your student's skills or interest level, there are ways to continue enhancing their love for math. -
Jackson Park Playspaces Design Workshop
Read MoreJoin the Friends of Jackson Park, Fletcher Studio landscape architects, neighbors and community friends to help design the future playspaces of Jackson Park! Want a curvy slide? What would the ‘longest monkey bar run on the planet’ look like? Stop by and work with them on Saturday, November 11 from 10am to 12pm at the Jackson Park Clubhouse on the corner of Mariposa and Arkansas. -
Fall Student-Athletes of the Month
Read MoreLive Oak recently honored two Student-Athletes of the Month to recognize their hard work and leadership skills in the classroom and in athletics. Seventh grader Coleman P. and eighth grader Kyelle G. were recognized this Fall. -
Looking at Ourselves, Establishing Community, and Creating Connections
Read MoreThe beginning of the school year brings about so much excitement for first graders. They find their classrooms, meet their teachers, and connect with friends, new and old. The start of the school year also ushered in the first unit of study for 1 East: Friendship and Communities. This unit of study guides students to learn about the circles of community around them. -
Inferences, Hypotheses, and Guesses About the Eclipse
Fifth graders have been learning some foundational scientific skills while using the upcoming solar spectacle to learn a bit about eclipses. That’s because there are TWO eclipses happening this school year, and we want to be ready to observe and understand them.Read More -
Preparing for More Family Affinity Gatherings
With the new year underway, we are eager to continue building our Family Affinity Networks with more opportunities to gather, connect, and celebrate shared culture. The school supports Family Affinity Networks in an effort to help all Live Oak families feel represented and celebrated in the life of the school. These networks help to deepen belonging by giving groups who have not historically been served by independent schools time to connect over their common experiences at Live Oak and in the world at large.Read More -
6th and 7th Grades Embark on Outdoor Ed
Sixth and seventh graders recently spent a few days in Pinnacles National Park and Yosemite National Park, respectively. Their outdoor education experience helped give them make first-hand connections with the natural world, while also building important social relationships with their teachers and peers.Read More -
Bitter: How is Change Navigated and Shaped Toward Justice?
Read MoreEighth grade humanities students just finished their first unit in which we set out to answer our primary year-long throughline: How is change navigated and shaped toward justice? Akwaeke Emezi’s Bitter “explores both the importance and cost of social revolution–and how youth lead the way.” -
Lightning Volleyball and Cross Country Starting Strong
Three of the four Live Oak middle school volleyball teams have officially started their seasons, while the cross country squad raced in its second competition of the year at McLaren Park this past week.Read More -
SPEAK Event: Rupture & Repair: How to Reconnect After Conflict
Read MoreThroughout the year, Live Oak partners with other independent schools and organizations to offer valuable parent enrichment opportunities that are open to the public. Coming up November 1, SPEAK is putting on an event titled, "Rupture & Repair: How to Reconnect After Conflict" featuring Dr. Jean Clinton and Lisa Rothman. -
Save the Date for Fairytale Sketchfest
Read MoreThis year's middle school fall play, Fairytale Sketchfest, will run on October 27 and 29. Performances are open to the public and are a great way to see the creativity and hard work of Live Oak's middle school actors and stage crew come together. -
Culture, Food, Music, and More at Around the Live Oak World
The Live Oak community enjoyed a beautiful afternoon on the rooftop this past Sunday, celebrating one another’s cultures through food, music, dancing, art, and more. We saw a wonderful turnout and felt the collective joy throughout the afternoon. Thank you to all the families who attended and contributed food and activities to make it another great Around the Live Oak World event!Read More -
Building Community With Groves
Live Oak's Groves met for the first time this past week, giving returning Grove members a chance to reconnect with friends across grade levels, while welcoming in new members of the Live Oak community.Read More -
Play Forms the Academic Foundation
Read More“Play is work!” is an important mantra in kindergarten at Live Oak. Our youngest students dive into meaningful constructivist play from their very first day of school. Through meaningful and structured play experiences, kids are learning and acquiring foundational skills needed to prepare them for more challenging academic work, school activities, and life experiences. -
Do You Know an Alumni Changemaker?
Read MoreWe are seeking nominations for the annual Changemaker Awards, honoring Live Oak graduates who model empathy and responsibility, demonstrate the capacity to create change in the community, and inspire action in others. The Alumni Changemaker Award recognizes alums who are at least 25 years old, while the Young Alumni Changemaker Award is open to junior and senior high school students. Self-nominations are accepted. All nominations are due Tuesday, October 31, 2023. -
October Holiday Care
Read MoreOctober Holiday Care will be offered on October 9, 12, and 13. If you are interested in Holiday Care services, you must register online via the Extended Care resource tile in the Portal. The cost is $100 a day; please note that charges are adjusted for those participating in the Adjusted Tuition Program. -
Live Oak Lightning Open Fall Season Strong
Read MoreThe fall sports season has officially begun and the Live Oak Lightning middle school cross country runners and volleyball players enjoyed a successful opening to the 2023 campaign. Read more about each team's first competitions and stay tuned for more sports updates throughout the season. -
Why do Writers Write?
Read MoreDuring our first writing workshop of second grade, we asked the question, “Why do writers write?” To begin this activity, we introduced the thinking routine, See, Think, Wonder. Thinking routines were developed out of Harvard’s Project Zero, where Jen went for professional development this summer. -
Fall Grade Level Roundtables
Read MoreEach year, Live Oak administrators and resource specialists host Roundtable conversations at the school. Parents/guardians and Live Oak staff discuss the developmental characteristics of children at a particular age and stage as they relate to the Live Oak academic program. -
Showcasing Culture at Around the Live Oak World
Read MoreOne of the core values at Live Oak is knowing students well; that means everyone is able to bring all of themselves, their history, and their identity into our community. In honor of this value, the Parent & Guardian Association and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee invite you to our third annual Around the Live Oak World, an all-school event in appreciation of the rich cultures and family traditions at our school. -
Find Your Affinity Grove!
With the new school year underway, Affinity Groves will begin meeting, offering inclusive spaces for students to find community, learn about themselves and others, and engage in meaningful conversations and activities around identity.Read More -
A Warm Welcome at the Sunflower Assembly
Read MoreThe whole school gathered on the court at Jackson Park this past Friday to formally welcome the newest kindergarten members of our community in the Sunflower Assembly! -
Meet Our Extended Care Staff
Read MoreOur Extended Care staff play an important role in engaging our students in a full day of work, play, and creativity. Even though you may not always see these dedicated educators before or after school, we want to introduce the Extended Care team, including three new members to the team this fall. Read more about them below and say hi to them if you see them around campus before or after school! -
Introducing New Live Oak Faculty & Staff
Read MoreThis fall we welcome a group of new faculty and staff members to the Live Oak community. We are excited to have this group of talented, passionate, and committed educators join our staff! -
Learning Beyond the School Day
Read MoreWhen children enter the Extended Care afterschool program, a whole other world of imagination and growth opens up to them. Through experiential learning opportunities and consistent care, students explore and thrive in a supportive and fun setting. -
A Starter Guide for New Families
Welcome to a new school year at Live Oak! We hope you are as excited to start the year as we are to have you joining our community this fall. The information found on this page is intended to reinforce and supplement that which you received via email over the last few months.Read More -
Live Oak Welcomes Maurice Hill to Admissions Team
Live Oak School is pleased to welcome Maurice “Mo” Hill, Jr. as the Director of Enrollment Management and Admissions. Maurice brings over a decade of innovative independent school and higher education admissions experience with a demonstrated commitment to expanding equity in the admissions process and leveraging community partnerships to increase access for all students.Read More -
Camp Live Oak: An End-of-Year Tradition
Students, families, and staff packed their sleeping bags, loaded up their gear, and set out for YMCA Camp Jones Gulch to enjoy three days of outdoors, new activities, and community time.Read More -
Eureka! Gold Fever in Kindergarten
The Gold Rush Unit is the final curricular theme each year in kindergarten, marking the end of an exciting year of learning and growth for Live Oak’s youngest students. This unit of study allows kindergartners to practice and refine many skills from the school year including reading, writing, drawing, and asking big questions as they learn why people came from all over the world to California in the 1800s.Read More -
Futsal Marks Strong End to Sports Year
The Live Oak athletics season came to a close this spring with a lot to be proud of. Highlighting the accomplishments was the seventh grade boys JV futsal team, which won the championship with a 3-1 victory over CAIS. The team title capped a perfect season for the JV boys as they finished 8-0 for the year.Read More -
A Warm Live Oak Welcome to Grandparents & Special Friends
The hallways and classrooms were filled with new guests and our students were filled with joy as they got to share their school with the most important people in their lives on Grandparents & Special Friends Day.Read More -
Tools for Learning
In the ChangeMaker Lab we believe in using real tools for problem solving and building. From the earliest visits in kindergarten, students have the opportunity to practice their skills as designers, then use tools to make those ideas into a reality.Read More -
Art Show Puts Creativity on Display
The hallways became an art gallery at the annual Live Oak Art Show.Read More -
2023 Alumni Changemaker Brendan O'Callaghan
Brendan O’Callaghan ‘02 is the 2023 Alumni Changemaker Award for his outstanding work in public affairs and politics.Read More -
Changemaker Showcase for Earth Day
Live Oak showed its environmental changemaker spirit at the Earth Day Celebration.Read More -
Dynamic Relationships in Ecosystems
Sixth grade science students just wrapped up their study of interdependence through the lenses of population ecology, community ecology, and ecosystem dynamics.Read More -
Middle School Music Festival is Music to Our Ears
Read MoreThe Middle School Music Festival showcased the talent and hard work of our Middle School musicians and teachers. -
Grandparents and Special Friends Week!
We look forward to welcoming grandparents and special friends onto our campus in May!Read More -
Los Castells de Tarragona
Sixth graders are blending culture with their learning of Spanish language.Read More -
Students Shine Bright at Spring Play
Hats off to Live Oak’s Middle School students who delivered an outstanding series of performances in their spring musical, Out of This World!Read More -
Live Oak Recognizes Young Alumni Changemakers
Three members of the Class of 2019 are recognized as this year’s Young Alumni Changemaker honorees: Olivia Castillo, Bruno Kai Ong, and Zoe Sokatch.Read More -
Reconstruction: Rethinking What is Possible
Eighth grade humanities students recently started their study of Reconstruction, the twelve year period following the end of the American Civil War. This is a critically important—and often overlooked—period of American history, in which, according to Adam Sanchez in his When Black Lives Mattered essay, “the impossible suddenly became possible.”Read More -
Service is a Family Affair
Read MoreFamily Service Night brought Live Oak’s families together to serve as a community. The evening proved to be a resounding success, helping to support Live Oak’s community partners in numerous ways. -
I Used to Hate Mold, But Now It’s Growing On Me
Fourth grade scientists study the cyclical nature of our natural world. Our big question of the year for science is: How can we make sense of problems in order to design multiple solutions? During our life cycles unit, students build ecosystem models and study how energy makes it from the sun, to our food, to us, and then back into the soil to start life over again.Read More -
Differentiated Reading Instruction in Third Grade
Third grade teachers have been leading a pilot reading program intended to provide responsive instruction that elevates each learner's abilities.Read More -
Live Oak Basketball Teams Leave it All on the Court
The JV girls basketball team won the league championship, while all Live Oak's basketball student-athletes competed and showed their determination throughout the season.Read More -
Perspective Through a New Lens: Fifth Graders Dissect Cow Eyes
Fifth graders visited the Exploratorium to dissect cow eyes, learning about the anatomy and mechanics that enable vision, while exploring their broader throughline: How does exploring multiple perspectives help me understand and shape my world?Read More -
Having a Choice and a Voice While Learning Math
Eight graders applied their knowledge of functions and data sets to investigate subjects of interest to them.Read More -
Live Oak Shows Up to Serve
Live Oak students, faculty, and staff participated in the annual Week of Service, helping take action throughout the community in various ways.Read More -
Perspective-Taking in the Hot Seat
Seventh graders engage in thoughtful discussion and learn about different viewpoints as they take the "hot seat" during WWII and Holocaust unit.Read More -
The New Look of Athletics: Live Oak Lightning
Live Oak athletic teams will be retiring the Green Devil mascot this fall in exchange for a new look as the Live Oak Lightning.Read More -
Growing Our Understanding of Indigenous Peoples
Live Oak's fourth graders researched California's history and the various tribal groups that call the area home.Read More -
Celebrating the Joy in Reading and Writing
Live Oak students, families, and staff got cozy with a good book and their comfy clothes during our 20th Drop Everything And Read Day as part of our week-long literary celebration, Book Fest.Read More
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2023
Live Oak School welcomes and admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin, citizenship status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and faith to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities of Live Oak School. Live Oak School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin, citizenship status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, and faith in administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, Adjusted Tuition program, and athletic and other school-administered programs.