Attending boarding school in the United States offers students a special opportunity to immerse themselves in their education and live a unique lifestyle that helps prepare them for success.
For many students, choosing Oak Hill Academy represents an opportunity to redefine themselves and develop new priorities in life. Changing to a boarding school education can offer a structure and routine that helps students build new habits to become more efficient and ambitious.
Oak Hill has an intentional daily routine. With a consistent and structured daily rhythm, life becomes simpler, priorities emerge, and new, positive habits are reinforced. Every day is productive and builds toward meaningful personal growth, helping our students develop confidence.
To highlight how this works, let’s explore what a typical weekday daily routine at our school includes!
Starting the Day as Part of a Community
As a college preparatory boarding school, Oak Hill encourages our students to find a morning routine that works for them as individuals within the dormitory life of a private school community. Dorm parents circle through to make sure nobody oversleeps, and roommates look out for each other—but waking up and getting ready for school is an individual responsibility.
Then, once students wake up and don their school uniform, it’s time for breakfast!
Our meals are served in the campus dining hall, and the breakfast window is 7:45-8:25 AM. Breakfast consists of both hot and cold options.
From there, our students are dismissed to homeroom in the chapel across the street. Breakfast is not mandatory, but it is a way to ensure that you’re not late to homeroom!
Homeroom is a meaningful way to start the day in the community. It’s also the first opportunity of the day to be on time.
At 8:30 sharp, the entire student body, faculty, and staff gather in the school chapel. We open the day with a short prayer, followed by a devotion from a teacher, school leader, campus minister, or even a student to start the day with a positive mindset. Then come administrative tasks like announcements and reminders. This is also an excellent opportunity for community recognition, such as updates on the equestrian team’s performance or cheerleading practice times.
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The School Day
At Oak Hill, consistency is a priority. To that end, we follow a traditional school schedule.
There are seven 50-minute periods in the day, with no block schedules or A/B days typical of some high schools. Instead, our students’ days are packed with four core courses and three electives.
Classes begin at 8:45 AM, and the school day concludes at 3:35 PM. There are two lunch periods—period 5 or 6, depending on the student’s schedule.
After School Hours
At 3:35 PM, our students have a variety of options.
As our teachers also live on campus, they don’t run to the parking lot after school. Instead, we’ve created an 8th period for daily teacher office hours. This allows our school students to seek extra help or homework remediation.
Our students also have their choice of over 25 high-level sports teams, an equestrian program, and other clubs, such as music, visual arts, and theater.
Our clubs frequently organize community service activities off-campus throughout the school year, such as volunteering at the local food bank.
There are also pockets of time for students to make decisions, such as going back to the dorm for some quiet time or spending time in the common areas for a more social experience with friends. Generations of Oak Hill students have memories of spending time in the Alumni Campus store (open from 3:30-5 PM) for a quick snack, grocery shopping for the dorm, shopping for gear in our bookstore, or relaxing by the fire in the winter. It’s our version of a Student Union you might find on a college campus.
Dinner and Evening Hours
As busy as students get after school, dinner is a time to reconnect as a community and enjoy a leisurely meal.
From 6:30-8:30 PM, students can attend clubs and sports practices or get out on campus to enjoy their free time. But for most of our students, the day begins to wind down in preparation for the evening quiet hours—a 2-hour block dedicated to homework and study.
While this typically occurs within the student’s dorm room, study groups are popular in the common areas, and peer and teacher tutoring also occurs during this time. During these hours, students discover and reinforce the most productive study routines.
End of Day and Lights Out
For underclassmen, the last part of quiet hours is spent showering, organizing rooms, and settling in for the night. They must be in their rooms and ready for lights out at 10:30. For seniors, lights out is at 11:30.
The predictable daily routine during the week helps teach students how to develop new, productive habits and stay organized. Discovering new interests and building time for themselves into the day is a big part of the experience.
At Oak Hill Academy, life becomes simpler. Students have the space to attend to priorities and participate in a tight-knit social community.