Matt Burgy, Head of School

Dear Oakridge Family,

Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Winter Break and have come back to school this week with a renewed sense of excitement. I spent a great deal of time with my grandson, Brooks. What they say is true: becoming a grandparent is the reward for the challenge of parenthood. Hold on, folks! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

If you have been reading my messages this year, you have seen me write about “mission” quite a bit. We renewed our mission statement as a part of the Strategic Planning process, and there are nuances to our renewed statement that are important for us to inculcate into our school culture. A mission is more than words; it is the North Star by which we make decisions, and it is a promise that we make as an institution to your children. Renewing that promise is a monumental task, and it takes a deep understanding of what the nuances I mentioned before mean to an organization. When some people read a word or statement, they infer its meaning. And, if you know me, I use the words “alignment” and “shared understanding” quite a bit. That alignment and shared understanding lead us to our desired outcomes, and a mission statement is a roadmap to that desired outcome- a seen, known, and cared for graduate who is purpose-driven and has a clear identity of who they are, and who they want to become. Today, I’m going to dig deep into a word that was added to our mission statement- character. I believe it is, perhaps, the most important word in our mission statement, because it is the soil in which excellence grows.

In many educational settings, character is treated as a "supplement"—perhaps a monthly topic in advisory or a colorful poster in a hallway. At Oakridge, we view it as the bedrock. We recognize that a student can be a brilliant mathematician or a gifted artist, but if they lack the internal compass to navigate a world of "shortcut-culture" and high-stakes pressure, their potential will always be on shaky ground.

As educators, we witness two distinct but equally vital types of character in our students:

• Performance Character: The grit, self-discipline, and work ethic that allows a student to persevere through a difficult project or study late into the night.
• Moral Character: The honesty, empathy, and courage required to stand up for a peer or act with kindness when no one is watching.

We do not choose between these; we demand both. We aren't just looking for students who "perform" well; we are looking for students who are well. We want the student who earns the "A," but does so with a sense of integrity that makes that achievement meaningful.

We often define character through the lens of integrity. I like to think of this in the engineering sense—the "structural integrity" of a bridge. It means the inside matches the outside. It means that the values a student expresses in the classroom are the same ones they carry onto the bus, the field, the stage and into their group chats.

Integrity is the ability to maintain one’s values even when the environment is no longer easy. By naming this as a core outcome, we are sending a clear message to our students: "Who you are is more important than what you can do."

Ultimately, character is what remains after the GPA is forgotten and the trophies are tucked away in boxes. It is the reputation and the heart your child will carry into the world long after they leave our halls.

For us as educators—and for you as parents—this means our most important lessons often happen outside what they learn in a classroom. They happen when we handle a mistake with grace, when we insist on honesty even when it is inconvenient, and when we model curiosity and a love of learning in our own lives.

Character is not a destination we reach at graduation; it is the way our students walk their unique journeys every single day. We are honored to walk this path alongside you and your children.

Warmly,

Matt Burgy
Head of School