Oakcrest School

Listen to this powerful and inspiring conversation recorded live at Oakcrest School. In this special episode, you'll hear from Ester Munt-Brooks and Dr. Arthur Brooks as they share their talk titled “Happiness Happens.” To guide us in learning how to live that joy here and now, Oakcrest welcomed two incredible speakers, a husband and wife duo: Dr. Arthur Brooks—a Harvard professor, Ph.D., bestselling author, and renowned social scientist—and Mrs. Ester Munt Brooks—a Catholic educator and speaker with a passion for helping people deepen their faith and live it intentionally. Together, they explore the different aspects of happiness and how we can create it in our everyday lives. This talk is inspired by a famous insight from St. Josemaría Escriva, who wrote, “I am every day more convinced that happiness in heaven is for those who know how to be happy on earth.”

Learning Specialist Maggie Musacchio shares her insight on how to approach the formation and development of executive functioning skills aligned with virtue. She provides practical tips for overcoming procrastination.

In this podcast, Head of School Christie Keuchel is joined by the Upper School Director of Mentoring, Mary Ann Messenger, and the Middle School Director of Mentoring, Jeannie Herrick. They discuss the Oakcrest mentoring program, which is the cornerstone of an Oakcrest education.

Learning Specialist Maggie Musacchio shares her tips and tricks for how to approach final exams. She provides study strategies and offers encouragement for both students and parents. 

Local painter Henry Wingate shares the ins and outs of classical art training, all while showing how artists can impart their profound impact on culture and society. This talk was delivered as the 9th annual O'Donovan Humanities Lecture, which aims to instill a deeper appreciation of the importance of the humanities in everyday life.

Laura O'Neill, Oakcrest Class of 1996 and psychotherapist at the Alpha Omega Clinic, discusses ways to foster well-being and growth in helping young girls thrive. In particular, she explores the current generation of children and offers tangible tips on how parents can support their child's development.

In this podcast, Margaret Sweatman, Director of Middle School Athletics, discusses the role that physical fitness plays in the formation of young women.

In this podcast, Oakcrest dad and author Austin Ruse shares his insights on how to confront an often daunting cultural environment with joy and optimism for the benefit of our daughters, our families, and our community. Mr. Ruse is the author of Under Siege: No Finer Time to be Catholic which he discusses in this talk. 

In this podcast, Alexandre Havard, the founder of the Virtuous Leadership Institute and author of several books on virtuous leadership, shares his insights about temperament and character, while also discussing the harmony of the heart, the will, and the mind.

Theology teacher Holly Salls shares her insights about helping parents guide their daughters to navigate and thrive in our current culture. She provides practical tips to help parents cultivate peace and joy alongside the skills that are necessary for their daughters to stand strong.

 In this podcast, English teacher Stephanie Passero shares her insights about the importance of guiding young people toward good literature while providing practical tips on how to do so within your own family.

Laura O'Neill '96 discusses how to help your daughters form healthy friendships. She explains the role that parents can play in guiding their daughters to learn how to develop healthy friendships that will help her along the road of virtue. Laura is a Licensed Professional Counselor at Alpha Omega Clinic in Virginia. 

Oakcrest art teacher Elisa Torres presents “What is Beauty? Encountering God in Art.” She shares how she has encountered beauty in her own life as an artist both studying in Italy and at The Catholic University of America, and how people can intentionally incorporate beauty into their own lives.

Dr. Taryn Okuma, an associate English professor at The Catholic University of America, shares her reflections on the popularity of memoir writing and what it is about memoir as a genre that makes it appealing to readers. This lecture was held as the 8th annual O'Donovan Humanities Lecture. 

 Dr. Ana Samuel, academic director of the pro-marriage organization CanaVox, speaks about talking to our kids about identity. She provides insights into some key parenting principles to uplift family life and explores how to form our children in their identity and help our children have a true sense of self-worth. 

In this podcast, Oakcrest Chaplain Fr. Gerry Kolf speaks to fathers about how Dads can inspire faithful daughters through their own unity of life. He discusses the necessity of destroying negativity and pessimism as a step toward developing a relationship with God and also shares how a father's spiritual life can influence that of his children.   

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz shares a recent message that she delivered both to faculty and parents. She discusses the school's love for St. Joseph and his message about inspiring good work among men and women that ultimately allows for the development of one's gifts and talents that are in turn used to serve God and others. 

In this podcast, Head of School Mary T. Ortiz, Ph.D. speaks about parent leadership. She draws upon authors and the wisdom of parents, encouraging parents as they become the leaders in their families, intentionally working to cultivate the good habits and virtues that leadership demands.

In this podcast, English teacher and eighth grade dean Mrs. Ines Gruschow shares how the eighth grade curriculum at Oakcrest uses literature and the imagination to inspire our students. She explores the characters that the students encounter in the classroom and discusses how imaginative fiction shapes our consciences.

In this podcast episode, three Oakcrest students, Madie '27, Mariana '23, and Rima '23 share their Oakcrest experiences. 

In this podcast, Laura O'Neill, Oakcrest Class of 1996, speaks to parents about how to bolster their relationship with their daughters. She is passionate about the fact that parents matter now more than ever in raising their daughters to thrive as women in today's culture. 

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz speaks about the value and virtue of friendship and its critical role in a life lived to its fullness. 

In this podcast, Head of School, Dr. Mary T. Ortiz, shares insights on how to help your daughter grow in fortitude. 

Upper School Director Christine Nussio shares her four tips for helping parents and students have a successful high school experience. 

In this episode, Middle School Director Cecelia Escobar discusses how parents and Oakcrest can work together in mutual cooperation for the overall success of each student.

On today's podcast, Dean of Students Meghan Hadley '06, continues the discussion of stewardship and Oakcrest's partnership with parents in helping form their daughters.   

In this podcast, Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz discusses the history of Oakcrest School, our stewardship, and parent partnership.

Mary Ann Messenger, Oakcrest Theology teacher and Assistant to Parent Support, meets with Laura O'Neill, Oakcrest Class of 1996, to discuss adolescents and social media, diving into understanding how the brain works with and against social media and exploring how to limit time spent scrolling this summer.

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz shares the Oakcrest recipe, what makes an Oakcrest student and forms the Oakcrest community. She digs into the mission of Oakcrest and illustrates how it all comes together to serve young women well. 

Leslie Kanuch, a science teacher at Oakcrest, presents Physics for Contemplation: finding pathways to God in unimagined places. In her discussion, she introduces both physicists and saints, explaining how their respective discoveries and insights reveal to us both God and the physical world. 

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz speaks about the importance of gratitude, how to practice it in our daily lives, and how to cultivate it in our daughters. 

History teacher Ginny Boles speaks with Theology teacher Mary Ann Messenger and former Oakcrest Director of Mentoring Kate Hadley about how to cultivate resilience in our daughters. They chat about how parents can model resilience for their children, how to walk the fine line between empathy and helping your child put things in perspective, and much more. 

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz discusses the importance of making the most of the summer months and gives suggestions for how parents can help their daughters have a happy, fruitful, and fulfilling summer. 

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz, reflects on forgiveness—what it is, why it's important, and how we can practice it in our everyday lives. 

A pair of scholars, father and daughter, look at grief from two angles. The daughter, a classics scholar, takes up an ancient story of grief and anger from Homer's Iliad. The father, a priest and theologian in the Episcopal church, ponders the loss of his wife at the end of a struggle with brain disease. Both find tension between absence and presence. Achilles undertakes many futile efforts to “restore” his broken life after he loses Patroklos, and the father finds another Presence precisely in the midst of his loss.

Attorney and policy expert Mary Rice Hasson talks about the rapid increase in the promotion of gender ideology in movies, social media, and even in the medical community. With a compassionate and realistic approach she shares the understanding of the truth about the human person and urges us to take up our responsibility as parents to study the issue so as to provide guidance to our children. 

English teacher Stephanie Passero talks about why good literature is so crucial in forming our daughters' hearts and minds and how to encourage in them a love for reading good books.  

Dean of Students Meghan Hadley Oakcrest Class of 2006 shares how Grade Level Experiences form students throughout their journey from Middle School to graduation. Oakie dad Philip O'Beirne shares examples from his own experience of how to utilize elements of Oakcrest's educational vision to promote curiosity, virtue, and wonder in the development of your daughters. 

Middle School Director Cecilia Escobar, Upper School Director Christine Nussio, and Director of Academic Advising Catherine Courtney speak about the beauty of an Oakcrest education. They take a look at the big picture of our rich liberal arts curriculum, explaining what we teach, why we teach it, and how it follows the stages of intellectual development. 

Dr. Evelyn Birge Vitz, Professor Emerita of French Literature, Thought and Culture at NYU, takes listeners on an exciting journey through seven of her favorite works of medieval literature. She explores some of the fascinating history and themes in these great and appealing Catholic works from the Middle Ages. 

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz considers ways that families can finish the school year well, highlighting the important role of parent leadership along the way. 

Oakcrest Director of Mentoring Jeannie Herrick talks about the importance of mentoring young women. 

Head of School Mary T. Ortiz, Director of Parent Support Terri Collins and Director of Institutional Advancement and Oakcrest dad Michael Barvick discuss the importance of fathers to the Oakcrest mission. They offer insights and advice on how fathers can support, encourage and guide their daughters during these middle and high school years. 

Oakcrest's Director of Academic Advising and Head Librarian Catherine Courtney describes how Oakcrest works with students and parents to provide the best educational experience possible and prepare them for college.  

Head of School Dr. Mary T. Ortiz looks ahead to the summer and discusses how it can be a fruitful time for students and their families.

Director of College Counseling Miranda Johnson dives into Oakcrest's College Counseling mission and describes how we assist students throughout the college application process. 

Head of School Mary T. Ortiz offers some thoughts on making the best use of our time and gifts, especially during this season of Advent and Christmas. 

Psychologist and family physician Dr. Leonard Sax discusses best parenting practices for raising daughters in the 21st century, especially with regards to social media and phone use. 

Psychologist and family physician Dr. Leonard Sax draws upon his 26 years of clinical experience, as well as his visits to more than 400 schools over the past 17 years, to provide evidence-based answers to some of the most common questions about all-girls education, beginning with "The real world is coed; school should prepare kids for the real world; so shouldn't school also be coed?" 

History teacher Ginny Boles delves into how the C&O Canal was a catalyst for bringing about the United States Constitution. 

Dr. Mary T. Ortiz offers some thoughts on "raising heirloom flowers" and the Oakcrest mission, as well as positive COVID lessons she has learned that can help in the education of young women.