Admissions

Click here for the Oakley Admission Check list >>

Click the links below to download Oakley's application documents.

Biographical Information
Emergency Medical Information
Parent Information
Academic Information
Request for Transcripts Form
Authorization for Release of Information
Required Testing
Student Application
Student Honor Code
17 year old Student Application Supplement
18 year old Student Application Supplement

The Oakley student can be anyone of high school age who is capable of academic excellence. The student makes the choice for admission based on information gained while visiting the campus, having an interview, and meeting with staff and other students.

The Oakley student accepts emotional responsibility as an important aspect of his/her education. The student is committed to acquiring healthy habits of living, drawing upon cultural ethics and personal resources to design his/her life. At the Oakley School, those who struggle will get direction and support. Those who are ready for bigger challenges and wider horizons will find them.

The primary requirement for participation in the Oakley community is two-fold: first, a willingness to participate in a rigorous academic program requiring daily homework assignments; and second, to be a contributor rather than a distractor. We work best with students who are sophisticated and stabilized in their approach to the next steps in their path to college. Oakley students no longer deny that there were problems and/or difficulties in the past and have accepted the notion that involvement in a counseling process is important. Oakley students must be willing to actively contribute to the mission of the school rather than distract from it. An Oakley student must be willing to work cooperatively toward an integrated, healthy lifestyle without "opposing" those who want to help the most.

Students must commit to approximately one full calendar year of time at the school.

Click here for scheduled completion dates for 2010/2011 >>
Click here to download our 2010-2011 Calendar >>

The Oakley School has a rolling enrollment policy with the school accepting applications throughout the calendar year. The majority of our students come directly to us from either a wilderness intervention program, a residential treatment program, or from a more restrictive therapeutic program. It takes a committed and unique student to enroll directly from home and succeed at Oakley.

THE CAMPUS INTERVIEW

Interviews are scheduled Monday through Thursday, with the exception of holidays, and often take place on the scheduled day of enrollment. We are reluctant to schedule tours and interviews on Fridays as our students are off campus involved in module courses, and you will not have the opportunity to observe the school in "full-swing." The interview will focus on questions like:

• What is the last school you attended and why are you no longer there?
• What are some of the difficulties you experienced in the past?
• If you have participated in day, residential, or wilderness programming, what have you learned?
• How do you get along with your parents?
• What kind of an effect did your past behavior have on the family?
• Are you able to manipulate your parents? Why? What does this look like?
• What are your values and how will you uphold the Oakley code of ethics?
• Where and who do you want to be five years from now?
• What are you willing to do in order to get there?
• How committed are you to be an Oakley Student?
• Describe your relationship with your parents. If the relationship isn’t what you want, how would you change it at Oakley?

Like the applicant, parents are also interviewed on their resolve to participate in the Oakley experience and support the student through the process. These probing questions may elicit a number of emotions and responses. We are not looking for a "right or wrong" answer, but want to assess whether the child and, just as importantly, the parents are sufficiently prepared for the Oakley experience.

STUDENTS WHO WILL SUCCEED AT OAKLEY

The student who is best suited for the Oakley experience is a 9-12th grader or post graduate student who shows the following core characteristics:

• Willingness to Change -- The student no longer denies that there are some psycho-social issues which have caused him/her problems in the past and thus, has accepted the notion that involvement in a counseling process is important. Such a student is expressing that he/she wants to actively develop and solidify a healthy lifestyle by participating in individual, group and family counseling. An Oakley candidate is not one who is “all the way there” yet, but has demonstrated, prior to admission in word and deed, a willingness to “get there.”

• Contributor vs. Distractor -- The student must be willing to be a contributor to the mission and goals of the school. He/she can not be a distraction. On occasion, a student may have a "bad day," which is something the Oakley School is prepared to deal with. On the other hand, if a bad day is more of a lifestyle as opposed to an occasional slip-up or a temporary phase, the student is not appropriate for Oakley.

• Educational Curiosity -- The student must be in a position to take advantage of a college cluster educational curriculum that requires academic rigor and educational curiosity.

STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR OAKLEY

• Prior felony convictions
• Students who need to be escorted or are unwilling to enroll
• Thought disorders
• History of physical violence
• Anti-social traits
• More than 1-2 grade levels below their anticipated academic year and completion
• A sustained pattern (many years) of social and/or academic failure
• Conduct disorder diagnosis