The Unique Reasons to Choose Us

PRESCOTT, AZ
A small town haven indeed. Living in Prescott has many great benefits—fresh air, a small town feel, and a sense of real community. Prescott has consistently been ranked as one of the top ten emerging communities in the nation. It is bordered by 1.25 million acres of National Forest, is home to several large lakes, and abundant wildlife. Prescott feels safe and clean—for kids it is the best place to make friends and grow up with small town memories. Like riding your bike to the lake and catching a fish or two, or spending the day riding a horse, strolling downtown, or playing in a ball game at the field. Like most other small towns in the United States, Prescott has schools, colleges, parks, markets and shops, malls, many small boutique-like stores, and large discount stores as well. There are hospitals and clinics, halls, churches, and meeting places.

FESTIVALS
At Mountain Oak School, we embrace the changing rhythms of the calendar year through a variety of festivals and activities. We feel that participation by the children and parents in these festivals is meaningful and strengthens the community. We acknowledge the seasonal changes taking place in the natural world, and incorporate these changes into the class curriculum.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN
Mountain Oak School incorporates gardens into their curriculum. One path the general food movement has taken is through education and has been largely encouraged and supported by various schools in the city. Prescott College students carry out their passions of teaching by using a gardens as the classroom. There have been several independent studies, senior projects, and class projects based on gardens and growing food with the young children at Mountain Oak School. The benefits have been outstanding in that the children are presented with environmental education, a sense of place and a certain independence when they realize how food is grown and their power to grow it themselves and with their families.

Are you new to Mountain Oak School? Here are some helpful hints for getting started.

Mountain Oak School philosophy includes a commitment to understanding and nurturing each child’s unique inner development. We believe that significantly reducing or eliminating children’s media exposure will further enhance the ability to fully develop their potential. We ask that all parents regard this matter seriously and make every effort to consciously diminish their children’s use of television, videos/DVD’s, and video/computer games.

As teachers, we also ask your support in ensuring that children are well prepared to receive the full benefits of a Waldorf education. The individual home lives are as essential to the growth of the children as is the quality of education they receive at school. We do ask for your cooperation in the following areas:

Environmentally Conscious Living
The school strives to teach children to develop love and respect for the earth. Children come to learn that we are part of a much larger world community that needs to be kept in balance. Families can further this respect by living and modeling healthy, ecologically conscious lifestyles. Families are encouraged to recycle, teach conservation of resources, and strive for personal health and well being.

Rhythms
Rhythm is a fundamental principle of all life. We experience the rhythm of the year in the cycle of the seasons, the rhythm of the month in the cycle of the moon, and the rhythm of the day in the passage from darkness to light. Our bodies are also attuned to the rhythms of our breath and our heartbeat. Children flourish in environments that are not only loving but also orderly and predictable. With an external sense of order and routine, children feel comfortable living in the moment. Just knowing what is expected at different intervals in the day can help children to feel secure in the world. Young children are very sensitive to the inner and outer rhythm of life. Establishing a sense of continuity and order in their daily lives gives them a deep sense of security and well-being.

$170 Yearly Materials Fee
For all K-8th graders. Covers natural pigment paints and crayons, colored pencils, painting paper, main lesson books, modeling beeswax/clay and many other high quality materials used daily.

$60 Yearly Kinder Class Fee
For Kindergarten only. Covers the cost of daily healthy snacks, special baking and cooking used for bread, soup and other treats.

$60 Class Fees
For 1st – 8th graders. This fee covers the costs of many class activities including admission fees to performances at Yavapai College and the Prescott Fine Arts, seasonal art and food activities, field trips, extra art supplies, costume fabrics, gardening and curriculum equipment and classroom enhancement items. You may wish to pay some now and the remainder later or in payments through the year.

$65 Pentatonic Flute Purchase
For 1st – 3rd grades. This beautifully made pear wood flute is introduced in the 1st grade and used part-way through 3rd grade.

$25 Yearly Flute Rental fee
For 1st – 6th grades- only if not purchased. Flutes are an important part of every day. Either flute may be rented yearly

$80 Diatonic Flute Purchase
For 3rd – 6th grade. This beautifully made maple wood C-flute is introduced sometime during the 3rd grade year and used through the 6th grade.

$20 Middle School Recorder/Percussion Rental Fee
For 6th, 7th and 8th grades- only. Students use soprano, alto and tenor recorders through the year as part of an ensemble. Students also participate in a trimester of percussion class using African drums.

School Fee Form is included in the Enrollment Packet below.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Our school offers a caring, personal atmosphere and an exciting educational program where academic and artistic abilities are fostered side by side. Attention is focused on all areas of a child's development – emotional, social, physical and academic.

Mountain Oak School is a public charter school inspired by Waldorf methods. It is tuition free and open to all age appropriate children. Enrollment forms are listed below to assist you in enrolling your child for the new school year.

If you have any questions or need assistance in completing your packet, please contact the Office Manager, Beni Garcia at (928) 541‐7700 or stop in the front office.

Thank you for your interest in Mountain Oak School and our outstanding educational program. We look forward to working with you and your child.

Sincerely,

Cindy Roe
Principal

You may download all the enrollment forms you need from the list below:

1. What is Waldorf?
Waldorf is an educational philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, educator, scientist and artist. The first Waldorf school opened in September, 1919 in Stuttgart, Germany. Steiner agreed to run the school based on a few conditions: it must be open to all children, male and female, and the teachers should play a major role in shaping the school.

Steiner designed the school's curriculum around children's natural course of development, incorporating their imaginations into their lessons and encouraging artistic mastery, as well as creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Currently, Waldorf is the fastest-growing independent educational movement in the private sector, with more than 800 Waldorf schools and 120,000 students in 45 countries. Approximately 125 Waldorf schools operate in North America, and a growing number of Waldorf-inspired public and charter schools are beginning to sprout up across the country.

2. What makes Waldorf unique from other schools?
Once you've stepped into a Waldorf-inspired classroom, and you have seen the children's artwork hanging up on the walls, the beautiful and elaborate illustrations in their main lesson books, once you've had a chance to listen to the children stamp their feet and clap their hands through the multiplication tables to a hundred and beyond, once you've seen your child run out of the classroom at the end of the day with a big, bright smile on his face, day after day after day, it's only really until then that you truly realize that Waldorf is indeed unique.

That's because Waldorf teaches the whole child. In addition to rigorous academics, Waldorf-inspired methods also address a child's emotional growth, helping her learn valuable interpersonal skills and self-disciplined behavior. While artistic expression plays a central role in each grade, students master a variety of different disciplines, including mathematics, natural sciences, composition, foreign languages and craft work. Often, Waldorf is described as an education that includes the "head, heart and hands," emphasizing growth mentally, emotionally and physically.

You may download supplies lists for you child from the list below:

The Mountain Oak Waldorf-inspired preschool is a place where a young child's whole being is nourished. Subtle colors, natural play materials, silk cloths, baskets of shells, chestnuts or driftwood, and soft cloth dolls become the toys for children to enter into imaginative play.

Play is the 'work' of the young child, the medium through which the child learns and lives joyfully. In addition to play, various age-appropriate activities are presented each day, such as seasonal crafts, baking bread, gardening, water color painting, cleaning with soapy sponges, and cooking. Children enjoy daily wholesome organic snacks together.

There is an emphasis on connecting to the natural world and the cycle of the seasons. The children spend time in all of Mother Earth's elements, catching Fall leaves, squishing in mud, jumping in puddles, playing in the sun. They have time to turn over rocks to look for bugs beneath, to watch squirrels burying peanuts, and birds building their nests.This encourages the child to become a future steward of the earth, while helping them to become physically capable by laying the solid foundation of a healthy body with which to learn.

Everything the child experiences comes with love and joy from the being of the teacher. Stories are told from memory, puppet plays performed, songs and verses sung and spoken. Circle time is a focused time where the children move, speak and sing verses and games which reflect the cycle of the seasons.

icon 2013-2014 Preschool Enrollment Packet

icon Immunization Exemption Form

icon 2012-2013 Preschool Contract

It’s official, a Charter School Bus will now be available to Mountain Oak Families! Seating is limited and families must reserve their seat for the year. In some cases the bus ride might be pretty long, please consider this when making your decision. There is no charge for this service but donations will be accepted to help offset the school’s cost.

The Route is as follows:

SITE/ AM STOP TIME
Ashfork High School 5:30 AM
Paulden gas station across from post office 6:00 AM
Safeway in Chino Valley 6:25 AM
Chino Valley High School 6:30 AM
Circle K by airport 6:42 AM
Bradshaw Mtn High School 6:54 AM
Bradshaw East School 7:00 AM
Yavapai Accommodation School 7:09 AM
Acorn Montessori School 7:20 AM
Prescott Valley Charter School 7:30 AM
Franklin Phonetic School 7:39 AM
AM/PM at Walker Road and Highway 69 7:45 AM
Northpoint Expeditionary Learning Academy 8:00 AM
Mountain Oak Charter School 8:06 AM
Willow Creek Charter School 8:10 AM

SITE/ PM STOP TIME
Prescott High School 4:15 PM
Willow Creek Charter School 4:20 PM
Mountain Oak School 4:25 PM
Northpoint (corner of Navajo and 1st) 4:30 PM
AM/PM (Walker road and 69) 4:45 PM
Franklin Phonetic 5:02 PM
Prescott Valley Charter School (9500 Lorna Ln) 5:12 PM
Acorn Montessori School (8556 E. Loos Rd) 5:25 PM
Yavapai Accommodation School 5:37 PM
Chino High School 5:55 PM
Prescott High School 6:35 PM
Late bus departs at 6:35 PM for Chino and Paulden

Call the school office ASAP with the follow information to reserve a spot:

Parent Name
Contact #
Student(s) Name(s) & Grade(s)
AM Pick-up Location
PM Pick-up Location
Day(s) Needed

Carpooling is still an option! If you are interested in this option call the school office and we’ll see if we can help.

Mountain Oak School is partnering with Yavapai College to provide a quality program for students needing care after school.

Click Here to Pay Afterschool Care Fees

The name of this program is Flights of Imagination: After School Program. Details:

Monday – Thursday, after school through 5:15pm
Program includes some study time and activities such as handwork, painting, sculpting, outdoor games and more.
Ms. Jennifer Shinohara, a friend of Mountain Oak who is very familiar with Waldorf Education is the teacher.
Yavapai College will provide transportation from Mountain Oak after school to Yavapai College, Bldg 4, Room 121.
$175 tuition for each 4 week session:
•    Sept. 12 to Oct. 6
•    Oct. 17 to Nov. 10
•    Nov. 14 to Dec. 13
Register no later than a week before each session to ensure a spot!
Registration and payments are made directly through Yavapai College online (www.yc.edu/commed click on ‘JUST FOR KIDS’), by phone 928-717-7755 or in person in bldg 31.
Ms. Jennifer will have an after school Homework Club at Mountain Oak School , Monday-Thursdays during the times that the Yavapai program is not running (i.e. August 23 –September 8th) for $5 per hour. Parents must enroll at least a week prior through the school office.

**KINDERGARTEN NOTE: Our KinderCare program is in the works. - Click Here to Pay Afterschool Care Fees

Call 541.7700 ASAP if you need childcare between noon-3 pm.

Mountain Oak School has several violins available for use by students in the 4th and 5th grades. If you wish to have one for your child’s use, please download the form below, fill out the application and return it to the school office as soon as possible. Scholarship violins are awarded on the first day of school, first-come first-served, and based on needs criteria (subject to availability). We will contact you no later than the 1st day of school so that you know if you have been awarded a violin.

icon DOWNLOAD VIOLIN SCHOLARSHIP NOW