Mission
Oak Meadow School is rooted in the child-centered Montessori philosophy, which fosters academic excellence, personal growth, and cultural awareness while nurturing children’s spirits. A diverse community of life-long learners, we cultivate confident, independent, and compassionate human beings by providing the tools and experiences needed to embark on rich, meaningful journeys as responsible citizens of the world.
Philosophy
Based on overwhelming evidence, we believe the Montessori approach provides the best possible foundation for teaching and learning. Because we believe it is our job to meet each student’s individual needs, we also incorporate the best and most current available educational research and thinking into our teaching. We teach our students to experiment, test, analyze, observe, and practice in their own educations; we, too, approach our school as a laboratory for ongoing learning. We believe a complete, systematic approach to education — ever-evolving, yet rooted in timeless wisdom — produces sophisticated thinkers and wise individuals.
History
1977 With 13 Children’s House students and a space in the basement of a Boxborough church, Michelle DuBois founds Oak Meadow.
1980 The program grows to include a Lower Elementary program.
1988 As the school begins to flourish, the church grows too small for the students and faculty of Oak Meadow, so they pack up their classrooms and move to a larger space on Taylor Street in Littleton, at which point the Upper Elementary program was added.
1991 The school continues to grow and moves to its present location on Old Pickard Lane in Littleton, where they rent a portion of the building that had been an egg production facility for Cobb’s Chickens.
1995 Oak Meadow takes over the entire Old Pickard Lane building and adds the Middle School program.
1999 The School purchases the property.
2000 Though the egg production facility was a wonderful space, it is time for a face-lift at Oak Meadow. A multi-phased renovation begins, which eventually leads to the addition of two Children’s House classrooms and a Middle School wing.
2008 Oak Meadow completes its accreditation with the Association of Independent Schools of New England and the American Montessori Society.
2009 Construction is completed on The Rizzi Center for Athletics and Performing Arts. The school also adds a fine arts studio, as well as several community gathering spaces and administrative offices.
2016 In 2016, the school completes an ambitious renovation of its outdoor spaces, creating new play fields, a sports court, a nature-based learning center, and multiple outdoor classrooms. Oak Meadow also adds a Beginners program to serve toddler-aged children.
2017 Oak Meadow celebrates its 40th anniversary!
2018 We welcome our next Head of School, Jay Scheurle.
2020 With the sudden COVID-19 pandemic, Oak Meadow School evolved in one week to embrace innovative online learning practices that kept students on track academically, while also supporting the development of their social/emotional skills, from our toddlers through 8th grade.
2021 With well-defined health protocols in place to make sure students and teachers had a safe learning environment, we were one of the few schools in the nation that did not have to close a single cohort during the entire 2020-21 school year; additionally, we had students that learned from home during all or part of the year. Click here to learn more about how we made it happen.
