Matt Burgy, Head of School

Dear Oakridge Family,

What a truly magical week we just shared! In this, my fifth Homecoming, I was completely in awe of the pageantry displayed throughout the week. The culmination of our parade, pep rally, and game on Friday night was simply spectacular. It takes many dedicated hands to make Homecoming a success, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the work that made it such a memorable celebration of our community and traditions.

The energy and pride we felt last week are exactly what we're channeling into the next chapter of Oakridge’s story. As I shared earlier this year, we adopted a renewed Mission Statement. While rewriting a statement might sound like a mundane task, it’s actually a significant strategic achievement. Our mission statement is the strategic anchor—it’s the North Star that ensures we remain relevant, aligned, and deeply motivated to serve our students in a rapidly changing world. It both honors our history and charts our future.

This mission-driven mindset came to life this past weekend. Our Board of Regents, Leadership Team, and Strategic Planning Task Force combined for an incredibly robust retreat to begin designing the framework for our next Strategic Plan.

If our mission is the destination, the Strategic Plan is the GPS. It’s the process that turns our biggest, most ambitious aspirations for Oakridge into an actionable, long-term roadmap. It’s not about wish-listing; it's about codifying our vision into specific, mission-aligned goals that are measurable and attainable. This process ensures every dollar we spend, every program we launch, and every policy we enact is deliberately designed to deliver our unique brand of The Oakridge Way. This is, hands down, the most important work our Board undertakes: setting the strategic vision that safeguards the future of this great school.

We have only just launched this year-long journey, and I want to emphasize: Your input is invaluable. We are currently processing the results from our community survey, and those insights will directly inform the foundational priorities of the plan.

Thank you for your partnership in both celebrating our past and shaping our future. Enjoy a well-deserved Fall Break!

Warmly,

Matt Burgy 
Head of School