IJGA Newsletter: The Oaks MAY 2020 NEWSLETTER | Page 5

and built a gated community. We erected a
secure front entrance; we can keep people
from coming in and students from going out.
Then we built our own private golf course,
with driving ranges, putting greens and
practice bunkers. We have kept adults from
coming to play on the golf course. We control
it. We also control over 75% of the votes in
the community. We allow our other residents
to play golf for free, previously they were
able to eat in our catering hall for free. They
recognize that they have a beautiful campus
because of the students, so we have a very
harmonious environment. And that has been
very important.
Another factor is our Educator Residential
Instructors. Five in our team of eight
instructors have teaching backgrounds.
And in this time, when you have to do
online studies, which for many students is
challenging, having residential instructors
who have teaching experience, understand
how to review assignments, understand how
to review grades, understand how to tutor
and support and inspire students in their
online studies is essential. I do not think we
could have easily gone through the past
10 weeks of online learning without those
Educator RIs.
Our student leadership program is another
factor in our success... we call them captains.
Typically, 11th and 12th graders, they are role
models in the community, and they are also
a positive influence within the house. They
serve as student representatives at council,
we meet once a week to discuss things.
They help us to improve the environment,
perhaps modifying some of the rules. And
they provide valuable feedback. I talked
earlier about the changes we had to go
through merging two academies and those
captains have been essential leaders in that
integration, avoiding the cliques, remaining
positive and shaping the student culture.
Many of the steps we took the past seven
or eight years have paid big dividends:
buying the campus, building the golf
course and facilities, creating harmony in
the development, our Educator Residential
Instructors, and the student leadership body.
So I think we set ourselves up well, we have
proven that we can get though difficult
situations, and we feel very confident that we
can manage very well with whatever we’re
faced with in the next 6, 12, or 18 months.
View the video for the entire interview
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