Walking, Walking, Walking at Oak Hill

Oak Hill Elementary is truly a family — a family made up of more than 1,000 students. Soaring to Excellence is their motto, and Oak Hill is the only school with two separate campuses. Terry Whistler leads this TEA-Recognized school. Ms. Whistler, by the way, is down to her last days as an AISD educator. She'll be retiring at the end of the school year.

She was still going strong for us today, though, and led us on quite a hike. At Oak Hill you always have to be wearing your walking shoes because it's on 16 acres! The main building houses 1st through 5th grades, then at the end of the block, there is the Annex building with the little ones in PPCD, PreK, and kindergarten classes. The Annex was supposed to be a temporary building, but 26 years later it is still there. ("Temporary" lasts a pretty long time in AISD. We seriously need to address facilities in a comprehensive way.) Oak Hill is very crowded with about 1,000 students. They will finally get some relief next year when some students move to Patton Elementary, and some to the new Baldwin Elementary School opening in August.

We think we beat the oldest portable in Austin found yesterday at Williams. Oak Hill has one built in 1958! It was used for storage but, due to overcrowding, it is now first grade classrooms.

At the Annex we meet Alexandra Tarpley, the Teacher of Promise.  She is a bilingual kindergarten teacher who loves working with children.  She was so excited about teaching this year that she plans to go back for her Masters degree in Bilingual Education at Concordia University. 

I was happy to join the principal on the floor with the group on the carpet as Ms. Tarpley taught a lesson on fractions. (I raised my hand to be called on so I could practice my Spanish in math, but the kids beat me to the answers.) Ramona was happy to see the integration of literature in this math lesson. Though Principal Whistler confirmed that the school has multiple sets of material in both English and Spanish, in this case she was reading a English book that she herself had translated into Spanish. Oak Hill is a campus with 45% ELL and 45% Economically Disadvantaged, but no Title I funds for extra materials.

The Oak Hill Annex is like paradise for pre-schoolers! It holds PPCD, Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Teachers work together to blend rigorous instruction with appropriate developmental practice. While at the Annex, we also visit Young at Heart, a reading program started by two retired Oak Hill kindergarten teachers. This is a program where every kinder child is read to individually by volunteers once a week. There are still many retired teachers that take part in this program. We also visited the new Teaching Gardens in the front of the school, which were just dedicated this past Friday.

The next stop is Paul Cumings' 4th grade classroom. He is Oak Hill's Teacher of the Year. Mr. Cumings wears many hats at the school.  He also is called "Mr. Coupon" on the campus because as a PBS school, staff gives Eagle Coupons to those children who are caught doing what they are supposed to do. He also announces the names of students selected as the Eagles of the Day, reads to students in the morning as they eat breakfast in the cafeteria, and makes the daily announcements for the whole school. He's surely "Mr. Everything" to this school community.

One of the hallmarks of a great campus is an involved group of parents. Oak Hill is fortunate to have a super great PTA. This past year, the PTA focused on reading and building community.  Parents read with students, paid for teachers staff development in reading, helped fund "Read Naturally," and purchased other reading materials. The community became closer with programs such as our many family fun nights which included a bike rodeo, movie night, and a story-telling evening.

Our trek around this beautiful campus on a hot afternoon was worth every minute. Oak Hill Elementary is truly a great school where there really is, "No Better Place to Learn." Thanks, Eagles, and have a wonderful retirement, Ms. Whistler. You're leaving behind a fantastic school!