Each week, Clover Park School District (CPSD) will highlight a school or profession in our district on our social media pages with a #SuperSchoolShoutout where we celebrate the students and staff that make our district beam with pride.
Earlier this month, we celebrated Oakbrook Elementary School!
Oakbrook is one of the smallest schools in CPSD, and, with such a small population, everyone knows everyone. This school is special in many ways, but the most unique quality of Oakbrook is it’s open-concept design. There are next to no walls inside the school and most classes are separated by bookshelves.
“The open concept really builds community,” said Principal Leila Davis. “We don’t have walls, so we have to be accountable to one another and look out for everyone no matter what class or grade the students are in or the teachers teach.”
This is Principal Davis’s second year as the principal of Oakbrook. She enjoyed becoming part of the school’s community last year and has taken this year as an opportunity to collaborate with her staff to incorporate new learning concepts that further engage students.
“I’m very excited about the different ways we’re engaging students this year,” Principal Davis said. “For example, we’ve incorporated new math concepts to encourage students to be able to talk about what they’re learning and better explain the strategies they use to solve problems.”
We continued our shoutout to Oakbrook with fine arts teacher Jennifer Trueit and fifth grader Lucas Kuper.
Trueit hit her 35-year mark as a CPSD employee in October! She has worked at many schools, but teaching at Oakbrook means a lot to her because she became an Eagle when she attended the school as a young girl.
Trueit initially studied music at Pacific Lutheran University but decided to become a teacher. Now, as the fine arts teacher, she brings her love for music to the classroom.
“The person who inspired me to study music was Ms. Hill, who taught at Oakbrook when I was a student,” Jennifer said. “She was fantastic, and I hope I can inspire my students in the same way.”
Trueit teaches kindergarten to fifth grade and cherishes the close relationships she builds with students and families along the way. “I love that this is a community school and am so proud to be a part of this team,” she said.
Lucas’s favorite thing about being a fifth grader is learning challenging concepts in his highly capable class. He has attended Oakbrook since second grade and can’t imagine school in a different environment.
“There aren’t any walls here, but I’m so used to it that I can’t picture going to school anywhere else,” Lucas said. “I like being at Oakbrook and knowing all the students and teachers.”
Each month, students who show the qualities of an Oakbrook Eagle win the Eagle Ambassador Award. Lucas was over the moon to win at the end of last year and at this year’s November awards assembly.
Lucas loves reading mysteries and sci-fi in his free time and studying English language arts in class. He jumped at the chance to work as a class “librarian” to organize books and color code them by genre. While he’s nervous about middle school, Lucas is excited to explore the library at Thomas next year and become a library teacher’s assistant.
Go Eagles!
