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1 East kicked off first grade with a big emphasis on community and friendship. The throughlines have been, “What is a good community member and how does it relate to me at Live Oak?”  “What is friendship?” and “How do I make new friends and keep old ones?” Through these lenses, we’ve read a plethora of literature such as All Are Welcome, Do Onto Otters, Stick and Stone, Be Kind and much more!

Join us for the first garden workday of the school year this Sunday, September 8. Each month, from 10-11:30am, we will be weeding, seeding, and pruning across the street at Jackson Park. Workdays will typically be the first Sunday of each month. Check the Portal calendar for exact dates.

Pride Families! We warmly welcome you to the new school year! Starting this First Friday (Sept 6) and every First Friday hereafter, Pride Affinity Group co-chairs Kim and Rachel will be hosting First Friday Coffee from 7:30-9:30am in the courtyard between Live Oak and Magic Donuts. These gathering welcomes all families with members who identify as LGBTQ+. In the spirit of inclusivity, if you feel that this group fits your family, please join us!  This will be a drop-in way to connect as a Pride community while our kids play at Early Care and/or at school once the day begins. No RSVP is needed. We are prepared for any size group, so please join us! Contact Kim Higuchi (Kali ‘30), khinsf@mac.com, or Rachel Garlin (Nate ‘25, Theo ‘27, JJ ‘31), rgarlin@gmail.com.

Sign-ups and rehearsals for the fall middle school play, At the Hop, are getting underway. Shows will be on Friday, November 1 at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 2 at 1pm and 4pm. 

Live Oak Athletics aims to help students develop sports-related skills, sportsmanship, and the type of teamwork-related skills that are transferable to other aspects of life. As always, we welcome and encourage all students to participate in athletics at Live Oak.

Live Oak School is excited to announce that our afterschool program, Extended Care, is undergoing a name change to better reflect the comprehensive and enriching experiences we offer to our students beyond school hours. Our program will now be known as Extended Day Programs (EDP). This new name was chosen to encompass the diverse range of activities and opportunities we provide, including academic support, enrichment, recreation, and social development. 

It was a sunny, hot morning on a packed Mariposa Street for Step Up and Graduation as we bid farewell to the Class of 2024 on June 5. We wish them the best and hope to see them around campus frequently in the future! As for the rest of our returning students, enjoy your summer break and get ready to step up into new experiences in the fall!

The Live Oak community enjoyed another great experience at Camp Live Oak to close out the school year. This annual tradition has long been a way for students to enjoy the outdoors, challenge themselves in trying new tasks and activities, build collaborative skills working together, and develop deeper relationships. We appreciate the contributions of so many faculty, staff, and parents/guardians who contribute to making it a memorable opportunity year in and year out.

Congratulations to Selina Tobaccowala (parent of Callum ‘26 and Seren ‘24) and Barbara Morgenthau (parent of Mimoh ‘17 and Taemoh ‘22) for their recent recognition at the Family House Super Bloom Gala for their leadership in organizing Live Oak’s service efforts.

The girls varsity futsal team advanced all the way to the league finals this past week after knocking off Friends 7-2 in the semifinal. In that match, Noe was exceptional in goal, saving three PKs and making many more fantastic saves. Everyone contributed in the win, including goals by Chelsea, Zoe (two in the second half), and Genevieve. In the championship game, the girls gave it their all, but their amazing season came to an end with a 3-0 defeat to a formidable CAIS team.

Eighth graders have spent the majority of the year working with the four main tenses of the present, immediate future, preterite, and the imperfect to be versatile in understanding and communicating about the present, past, and future. As the high school process has wrapped up, many students prepare for language placement tests. In preparation for this, students practice mini conversations with one another to prepare for the oral part of the placement tests by asking and responding to simple questions about their lives.

We will be hosting the graduates from the Class of 2020 on Thursday, May 9 in the Live Oak courtyard. The event will run from 6 to 8:30pm and will provide an opportunity for alums to reconnect, share memories of their time at Live Oak, and enjoy some time back on campus. Parents of the Class of 2020 are invited to join our alumni at 7:30pm. Please help spread the word to any alums from 2020 and encourage them to sign up here.

Live Oak students, faculty, and staff enjoyed an informative and fun Earth Day event to showcase student work and come together as a community to celebrate sustainability. 

As you may have heard, Antonio passed away peacefully yesterday morning in the company of his wife, Imara, and other family members. I know this loss is felt by many in our community who knew and worked alongside Antonio throughout his 17 years of service to this school. In the coming days and weeks, we will help our students, and each other, process this news with the patience and understanding it requires. With his family, we will explore how best to honor his many contributions to this community. They are planning to wait at least three weeks to plan for services and they would like for us to share this information with all of you when they have it.

The Middle School Music Festival shined a light on Live Oak's talented musicians. The two shows over two nights showcased a range of classic and contemporary tunes as students played percussion, guitar, sang, and more to a full Grand Hall. It was a joyful event celebrating the hard work of our students and music faculty!

The spring production of Charlotte's Web was a hit! The middle school drama cast and crew delivered a funny, moving performance that filled the Grand Hall all five nights. Great work by the entire group and a big thank you to all the attendees who came and supported Live Oak's drama program!

Over 150 students, staff, and parents & guardians showed up to lend a hand at Live Oak's annual Family Service Night. It was a great turnout and all the help led to some very productive and meaningful support for Live Oak's community partners. Thank you to all the families who helped make it another impactful event!

Outside of school, our students are tinkerers, creators, athletes, actors, technicians, inventors, stylists…and writers! Middle school teachers Renata Martin and Jeff Burnaugh have taken the initiative to collect an assortment of highlights from our middle school students who are extending their classroom learning into creative and impactful ways in the real world. We are excited to share their work with the Live Oak community and beyond. Read about one of our student writers and a couple projects students in our middle school Passion Projects class have been working on.  

On Wednesday morning, Middle School Learning Specialist Karen Olson led an engaging and informative enrichment session on supporting students with ADHD. Forty parents and guardians crowded into the library to learn from Karen’s professional expertise and personal experiences, while having an opportunity to share their own successes, challenges, and questions in managing ADHD in their households. 

Live Oak recently recognized two student-athletes with the Winter Sports Student-Athlete Spotlight. Eighth grader Wheeler M., who participated on the Live Oak cross country and basketball teams this year, and seventh grader Ailey S., who ran cross country and played basketball, were recognized for their hard work and leadership skills in the classroom and in athletics.

In sixth grade science, we just wrapped up our Water is Life! unit where we explored the fundamental properties of this life-sustaining molecule that makes up ~70% of our bodies and covers ~70% of our planet. By understanding the cyclical nature of water movement on Earth, students gain insight into the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the vital role water plays in sustaining life.

Our kindergarten through fourth grade musicians put on two outstanding performances last week at the Lower School Music Festival. Their joyful signing and musicianship was a reflection of their hard work leading up the festival and beyond. Kudos to music teachers Jill, Patrick, and Amy for preparing and nurturing our students’ musical talents, as well as our parents and guardians who not only attended the concerts, but became active participants in the shared experience. 

The Live Oak futsal season is set to begin the week of February 26. Students in sixth through eighth grade can join a Live Oak futsal team by having their parents/guardians fill out the 2023-24 Live Oak School Futsal Sign Up Form which is located in the Athletics Tile on the school portal.

The kindergarten through second grade concert will be on Thursday, January 25 from 8:40 to about 10am in the Grand Hall and the third and fourth grade performance will be on Friday, January 26 at the same time and place. 

The Julia Robinson Math Festival is back! Please join us at school on February 3 from 10am-12pm to take part in celebrating magical math moments. This is a wonderful event for children of all ages and is open to the greater Potrero community.

In K-4 music, we’ve been focusing on what constructivism looks and sounds like in the music room. How can we construct and create music together?