Oakley’s faculty and staff believe in the axiom: if you demand a lot, you will get a lot. In other words, we place high expectations on students, not allowing them to get by with mediocrity. These expectations and demands are backed up by a support structure that draws on staff members all dedicated to the treasure of our collective future -- our children.
By making over 40 academic subjects come alive, Oakley teachers are committed to giving students options, choices, and a forum to find their own passion. Oakley’s faculty members have an impressive résumé of professional and social experiences. Each holds a bachelors degree, and six members have advanced degrees. Through the influence of a diverse faculty, students discover the value of such time-tested ethics as self-reliance and honor, while being introduced to fresh ideas and techniques. Students develop habits of the heart and mind that create a natural high, a hunger for knowledge, and a desire to enrich the lives of others.
At Oakley School, you won't find teachers dryly lecturing in front of chalkboards. Here, teachers know learning is about hands-on analysis, open discussion, relating issues to life, and allowing students to form their own educated opinions about the world around them. In Oakley classes, students will be able to uncover ancient ruins; hunt down trilobites; work on cloning plants in the lab; examine human psychology; join in on Homer's Odyssey; crunch numbers and even hablar español.
At Oakley School, you won’t find therapists limiting their time with students to office time. Here, therapists are out in the classrooms, in the dorms, out on a ropes course experience, walking around the pond or a trip to the local hamburger joint for a chocolate milkshake. Our therapists travel all over the country to meet with parents in their homes and run workshops. They travel with school trips to Yellowstone and Southern Utah. They go beyond the call of duty to get to know our student and their families as “real people” and not “clients”.
At Oakley School, our house coaches and module instructors bring their individual passions to their jobs. They are master climbers, photographers, well known artists, and life long participants in what they love. Our staff is carefully selected for their professionalism, their skill in communication, and their ability to inspire change and growth in each other and our students.
At Oakley, our directors share a common vision of what the school can be. They bring with them years of experience in their fields and the integrity to continue to create new ways to reach their adolescent students, empower young adult skills, and develop life long relationships with each of our families.
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James Meyer Ask about James Meyer's job, and he'll tell you about being a dad to his three children. Ask him about his hobbies, and he'll tell you about his role as Head of School at Oakley. At both, he relishes the opportunity to challenge kids and help them challenge themselves. Oh, and he also might mention how he likes to ski, fly fish, mountain bike and eat. |
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Arch Egbert Arch Egbert likes the company he keeps. As a therapist at Oakley, he enjoys working with high school students. He also likes his colleagues - the professional team of therapists and teachers who contribute to the students' success. And he loves to spend time with the folks at home, family and friends with whom he enjoys music, biking, reading, backpacking, hiking and traveling. |
Rod Andrus If nature can be therapeutic, then Oakley therapist Rod Andrus is in the right place. As a therapist and counselor at Oakley, he loves his work with the students. He also likes to take advantage of the area's natural playground - snowboarding, fly fishing and enjoying other outdoor sports. |
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Kay Katchuk M.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science - To Kay Katchuk, teaching math is about more than asking the square root of 256, it's about connecting with the students. She loves to find new ways to help them grasp math, and a few new perspectives on life. And to Kay, time at home means playing and learning with her "smartest and most beautiful" students, her children. |
Chris Hawk Chris has been working with children, adolescents, and families for over 15 years. While at Oakley, he has been a therapist, trails director, substance abuse counselor, and teacher since the doors opened in 1998. He attended graduate school at the University of Denver, earning a Master‘s in Social Work, and his undergraduate work at the Connecticut College. When Chris is not at Oakley, he enjoys spending as much day/twilight as possible outdoors skiing, biking, golfing, and fishing. When the weather stinks books, movies, traveling and Detroit Red Wing hockey tend to be replacements. Friends and family that join in the above accelerate the energy level, humor, and positive tomfoolery. |
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Tad Brown Bachelor Of Science in English Literature - Growing up in Salt Lake city, Utah, Tad has an extensive knowledge of Utah‘s mountain and desert areas. He began skiing and fishing with his family at an early age and loves to pass his knowledge on to the students at the Oakley School and his own son. Tad‘s philosophy of life, both professionally and personally, is that education, leadership, diversity and honesty, coupled with honesty, integrity and love are the foundations of a healthy well balanced life. Tad has taught for the last nine years in Wilderness programs in the Utah deserts and at boarding schools in the mountain of Oregon. When not at the Oakley School, Tad can be found playing in the mountains, rivers, and deserts of Utah with his wife and son. |
