Oakwood Friends School

22 SPACKENKILL RD

Poughkeepsie, NY 12603

16 Reviews

School District
Grade

6-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 10, 2024

Oakwood Friends is an academically strong and flexible school where caring and learning matter.
Submitted by parent on July 02, 2024

I do not recommend this school at all. My daughter was subjected to very aggressive bullying, and due to the lack of safety and follow-up from the school, despite repeated attempts at communication, I had to remove her from there. I am very disappointed and truly believe there is discrimination at this place.
Submitted by parent on November 21, 2022

Welcoming to kids from very different backgrounds.
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2022

Oakwoood Friends School has been the best choice for our son. The staff, combined with the environment has allowed him to grow into an amazing young man. Full of confidence and self-worth. The campus is a place of serene beauty that is a gift to be a student learning on.
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2022

i stubbed my toe, its bleeding now
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2022

The community at Oakwood is so welcoming and supportive. My daughter was lost in her large public school and occasionally bullied. She often would not try out for activities before because she "knew" she would be cut. At Oakwood there is room for everyone to participate in sports, activities, and clubs... it's even required! Since starting at Oakwood her spark has returned and she loves having discussions with her teachers. She is a boarding student, and the structure provided by Oakwood, with mandatory study hours for the boarders, has helped her study habits greatly! She appreciates the study time, and she is going to bed at a regular hour now... much better sleep hygiene than at home. We are so happy to have found Oakwood Friends School. My daughter appreciates the Quaker values, the atmosphere, the friendships, and the opportunities.
Submitted by other on September 29, 2021

Most fundamentally, Oakwood Friends School is a place where every student can be their truest self. It lives its Quaker values: It is a respectful, welcoming and small community where students, teachers, and staff members all feel like equal stake-holders. The academics are excellent -- but are approached creatively, flexibly, and holistically, compared to the very structured and pressured grind of some schools. Students looking for an academically rigorous but less rigid environment will be happy here. The humanities are extraordinarily good; math and science are also good, but less so. Students meet weekly with their advisors, and teachers consider each student as a whole, understanding their individual gifts and challenges. The administration sometimes needed a nudge to respond to concerns, but that seems to be improving. Oakwood is engaged in the world around it, and civic engagement is part of students' experience. My child had been miserable in her (very good) public school. Her Oakwood teachers understood how to teach a bright child who didn't fit neatly into a box. The transformation was remarkable - by the end of her first two weeks of sixth grade at Oakwood, her joy and her enthusiasm for learning had returned. She's now a 12th grader, and she's still happy at Oakwood Friends. It's worth noting that Oakwood did an exceptionally good job of managing COVID, allowing students to continue to safely learn in-person for much of 2020-21.
Submitted by parent on June 14, 2021

This school does not live up to its Quaker values or any values at all.
Submitted by parent on February 06, 2021

Oakwood Friends School has become a home away from home for our son, and for our entire family. As someone who attended a wonderful independent school herself and who now directs her own school, it is safe to say that my expectations were quite high when we first joined Oakwood. The school and community have far exceeded all of our hopes and expectations, and we are so happy to have found this warm and wonderful school and setting.My son had only been in one other academic setting from the age of 2 to 14, and yet the transition was seamless, thanks to the incredible group of teachers, staff and students at Oakwood. The teachers at Oakwood really care about and communicate with the students, and my family and I continue to be impressed with both the breadth and depth of the concepts and materials explored. In addition to being challenged to grow and evolve academically, the students at Oakwood are charged with being responsible, caring and participatory citizens. The extracurricular offerings at Oakwood are outstanding as well. My son had limited experience in organized sports before Oakwood, but was welcomed with open arms to the cross-country team and drama program by staff and students alike. With the kind and patient assistance of Coaches Bill Doolittle and Sean Thompson and and Drama Teacher Melissa Matthews, as well as many students, our son found new and effective ways to demonstrate and express some gifts he had not previously known he possessed. Everyone on the staff, as well as all of the families we have encountered, have been so welcoming and kind, and we feel extremely fortunate to be a part of the Oakwood community.
Submitted by parent on October 15, 2020

We have zero regrets about our choice to send our son to Oakwood! He is happy, healthy, thriving, challenged, and embraces the community of which he is a part. Oakwood is a Quaker school, and we appreciate that every faith (or lack thereof) is not only tolerated, but supported. Students and Staff work as a WHOLE community to better their community, both on and off campus. They work together, meet together, eat together, and act as one while embracing what makes each person different.
Submitted by student on February 25, 2019

I think Oakwood is a great place to grow as an individual. It has a challenging curriculum, and that being said, they have great academic support center and anyone would help you if you need. Oakwood is also a place where you can find a great community that will help you through anything you might be dealing with. In or out of class I find there is always something I can learn about my community or about something that is happening in the world today. I have loved my time here and would strongly recommend it to everyone.
Submitted by student on February 21, 2019

How to even describe OAkwood? Oakwood is a place where you can let yourself be free to do what you believe in, or anything that you are passionate about. I’ve come to realize that the two years that I’ve been here I have gotten so many opportunities to try new things and get to know more people, that are passionate about things that I like. Oakwood is not just a school to a lot of us. It is a place were we feel safe and we can call a home. Oakwood is were you meet friends that will last you a lifetime and you feel like they are family to you. As well as the faculty and staff. They do so much for us to make sure that we feel comfortable and we are able to express what we feel. They challenge us to think beyond what we believe we can do. Oakwood is a great place to be at because it prepares you for the future and when we go out into the real world! Oakwood has impacted me in so many great ways and I hope you can see that as well.
Submitted by student on February 20, 2019

Oakwood is a family. Oakwood is a school not only designed for learning but designed to create a well rounded individual. I have learned so much about being independent and being a good human being from my experience at oakwood. You make friends that seem more like your family and the faculty and staff treat you as if you were their own children. Oakwood is a place where you feel loved and valued it goes so much deeper than just a school community. We support each other in all things in and out of the classroom. I would never trade my school experience for any other. Oakwood is truly a special place.
Submitted by student on February 15, 2019

I love that it is a college prep school even though I’m in middle school it still prepares me for what's to come.There is also freedom and openness you get to be one on one with the teachers.oakwood is also a community that has school activities that you can do,that make you feel welcome.Also if there is a problem oakwood tends to not let it go forward and they address the problem head on to make you feel comfortable.Another thing that’s amazing is that i got to experience the life of a 5 day border even though i'm in middle school,and you meet some more people in the community that have great personalities.Oakwood also makes learning fun, if it is not fun the teachers ask you, “what can I do to make this better?” and that rarely happens because it's fun . Life as a boarder has changed my perspective of things .Then again the facts that you learn about the school are incredible to know that so much people who have come out of oakwood have made an incredible role model to learn from.At Oakwood there are no cliques there is a community we are all friends and we are all one.
Submitted by other on September 17, 2014

Wonderful quiet school in bucolic setting in Poughkeepsie New York. Nice, quaint community with integrated philosophy
Submitted by other on March 24, 2012

I am a graduate of Oakwood, and even though I then went on to an excellent University and two graduate schools, I have to say that most of the education that I use on a day-to-day basis whether is proper English, basic concepts of biology and physics, math, and just social interactions, I learned at Oakwood. It completely changed my outlook on life and set me up in ways that I was not getting in an above-average NY suburban school system.