by Patrick Yuran, Headmaster

In the late 1950′s, a Carrollton minister, The Reverend Mr. Richard Flinn, envisioned a school that would offer students a challenging curriculum while adhering to strong moral values in a family-style setting. In articulating his vision, The Reverend Mr. Flinn wrote, “Sound learning must be joined with high morality and spiritual commitment to produce an excellent person, the useful and responsible citizen, and a noble human being.” Joining forces with Roy Richards, Sr., and Lynn W. Holmes, two prominent businessmen who shared his vision, the Reverend Mr. Flinn took action to make his dream a reality. Thus, in 1962 the Children’s School was born in the basement of the Carrollton Presbyterian Church on Maple Street. Two years later, Oak Mountain Academy opened its doors with fifty students in kindergarten through eighth grades, attending classes in a renovated house and cottage. In 1968, the school had its first class of graduating seniors. In 1997, the school moved to the current location on Cross Plains Road.

Today, Oak Mountain Academy is a thriving independent, faith-based Academy with approximately 200 students from 50 feeder schools in 9 counties enrolling in Pre-K3 through 12th grades. The campus offers a beautiful, sprawling, 88-acres which offers a calm and serene atmosphere for learning. Oak Mountain Academy continues its vision to be an innovative school of academic excellence where students receive a personalized, faith-based, college-preparatory education on a vibrant campus that offers dynamic opportunities, empowering them to become leaders committed to living lives of service and integrity. After completing several surveys within our community over the past few years, we have identified the four main reasons Oak Mountain Academy is the right school choice for our current families.

Academic Excellence – In all standardized tests, Oak Mountain Academy students out-score national averages. Oak Mountain Academy’s 5-year average ERB score is 600 compared to the 5-year national average of 500. Oak Mountain Academy’s 5-year average ACT score is 25.5 compared to the 5-year national average of 20.9. Oak Mountain Academy’s 5-year average SAT score is 1808 compared to the 5-year national average of 1479. Over the past 5 years Oak Mountain Academy students have received over $10.5 million in scholarship offers. In addition to the outstanding students at the Academy, we also have an amazing faculty. Over 70% of the academic staff at Oak Mountain Academy have advanced degrees compared to the national average of 55%. The average years of experience for the academic staff at Oak Mountain Academy is 24 years compared to the national average of 14 years. Our teacher turnover at the Academy is less than 8% compared to the state average of 25% and the national average of 45%. Recent additions to our academic programming include an increased usage of instructional technology as part of our curriculum. These new technologies include video blogging, virtual reality tools, video editing, and computer coding. With a 100% graduation and college acceptance rate, an average class size of 12 students, 14 Advanced Placement course offerings, and 100% of the student body participating in those AP courses, Oak Mountain Academy continues to deliver on academic excellence!

Faith-Based Education – Many people ask me what is a faith-based school? So here goes… A faith-based school strongly believes that a true education is the ability to think, reason, and create from a moral perspective. Over 88% of Oak Mountain Academy families practice faith with a commitment in a specific belief system. The benefits of receiving a faith-based education includes encouraging a global worldview, being rooted in compassion and empathy, and historically having strong academic programs. In terms of encouraging a global worldview, a well-taught faith-based education will give students a broader, healthier perspective on life than their peers. This is part of the mission of a faith-based school, where all are welcome, because faith organizations seek to bring stability and compassion into an uncertain world. With regards to being rooted in compassion and empathy, there is no greater principle that a person can develop than compassion with an empathetic spirit. It will serve us all well in every single aspect of the human experience leading students to long-term relational and professional success. The evidence of historically strong academics is outlined in the previous paragraph. The correlation between a faith-based education and long-term academic success is strong. According to USA Today, studies have found that students attending faith-based schools have higher reading and math scores and higher graduation rates than students who attend other schools. According to The Council for American Private Education (CAPE), students attending faith-based schools have significant academic advantage over students attending other school options. Even though the Oak Mountain Academy families make a personal choice to follow various belief systems, all being grounded in one like-minded moral foundation is vital for the success of our students.

Dynamic Opportunities Oak Mountain Academy has over 42 co-curricular opportunities for students in the lower, middle, and upper divisions. The lower school opportunities include: TOT (Teams of Tomorrow), Lego Club Junior, Lego Club, First Lego League, Junior Master Gardeners, and K-Kids. The middle school opportunities include: Volleyball, Cross Country, Basketball, Swimming, Soccer, Tennis, Chess Club, STEAM Club, Newspaper Club, Lego League, Builder’s Club, National Junior Honor Society, Academic Team, Literary Competition, One Act Play and House Membership. The upper school opportunities include: Volleyball, Cross Country, Basketball, Swimming, Soccer, Golf, Track, Tennis, Key Club, Environmental Club, International Club, Young Republicans, Young Democrats, Literary Competition, One Act Play, Academic Team/Quiz Bowl, Model UN, & National Honor Society, Student Government Association, Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, and Junior Chamber of Commerce. The co-curricular options only scratch the surface of the many other dynamic opportunities afforded to our students through leadership of peers, learning executive function, and practicing soft skills.

Family Environment – The warm, welcoming, family environment is one of the hallmarks of the Oak Mountain Academy community. The small student to teacher ratio is one of the primary elements that allows for the development of our family-style culture. We rarely have physical or emotional altercations and the peer mentor/tutor program aids in the relationship building of our students between division-levels. In the rare occasion of conflicts within our student population, they are treated as learning opportunities and the parents are respected as our collaborative partners in education. In 2015, the National Center for Education Statistics report showed that private schools were more than twice as safe as public schools. Tied into this, is the general experience that teachers themselves have reported when teaching at a private institution. Physical and emotional safety of our students, faculty, and staff remains a priority and ever-changing conversation due to the world around us. However, we are proud and thankful to be able to provide a physically and emotionally safe, family environment for our school community.

Oak Mountain Academy provides a challenging college-preparatory education in a safe family environment. The school nurtures the ethical, spiritual, and physical development of students as they become confident leaders inspired to serve, this is our mission. The mission and tradition of excellence continues here “On the Mountain.”