Our Program

Changemakers

Live Oak students make an impact in actions both bold and quiet. We take seriously our commitment to encourage our students to think of themselves as changemakers. 

We strive to prepare our students to go out in the world and actively effect change in their local communities, in their cities, their states, and the world as a whole. 

A Live Oak education centers on the belief that understanding the world around you fosters a broader awareness of one's power to influence positive change. Our students challenge the way "things have always been done" and dare to let their passions show a unique way forward.

Spotlight: Service Learning

Live Oak students are actively involved in a variety of projects that help support our local community. We have developed partnerships with numerous community groups that expose our students to the vast array of opportunities that exist to make a difference, small and large. From volunteering at St. Gregory’s Food Pantry to creating toys for dogs at Animal Control, Live Oak students use their skills and talents to be of service to others.

Family House

Live Oak’s partnership with Family House draws on both student and family engagement.  Family House serves as a home away from home for families of children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Throughout the years, Live Oak volunteers have cooked and served dinner to the community on a monthly basis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, students and parents have supported Family House with Halloween costumes and packaging hospital snack bags.

Week of Service

In the week following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Live Oak students engage in their annual Week of Service. Each grade level identifies service projects they want to partake in on campus, around the Potrero Hill neighborhood, or around the City. The week brings students, families, and staff together in a unified mission to make a positive difference. In addition to performing service projects like cleaning up around Jackson Park, leading a coat drive, visiting a local eco center, or serving food at a local food bank, students learn about notable and historical changemakers that connect to their service projects.

Green Team

Live Oak's Green Team is a leadership group made up of middle school students who take the lead in planning and organizing environmentally-oriented events for the entire K-8 community. The Green Team spearheads park cleanups, research projects, school supply repurposing, community education, and much more. Their work culminates in a schoolwide Earth Day Celebration that includes the annual Bike and Roll to School Day and Green Initiative project presentations from K-8 with the goal of educating our community on how to be more green.
The Live Oak Alumni Changemaker Award is given yearly to an alum who models empathy and responsibility, demonstrates the capacity to create change in the community, and inspires action in others. In 2022, we honored our first Young Alumni Changemaker–a junior or senior in high school–recognizing that Live Oak students do not wait to make an impact in their communities. Most recently, we honored three Young Alumni Changemakers from the Class of 2020: Jordan McCornock, Liv Kirkeby, and Sebastian Horton-Vega. 

2023 Alumni Changemaker

Brendan O'Callaghan '02

2024 Young Alumni Changemaker Award Recipients

Sebastian Horton-Vega '20

Liv Kirkeby '20

Jordan McCornock '20

Admissions

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.