Matt Burgy, Head of School

January 5, 2024

Dear Oakridge Family,

Happy New Year! I hope you all were able to enjoy a joyful Winter Break, and you come back to Oakridge ready for a wonderful second half of the year.

As we launch into the new year, I want to express my appreciation for your continued support. This first semester was a phenomenal experience, and I am looking forward to a busy second semester. A new year brings new goals, new resolutions, and new experiences for us all to entertain. Specifically, the month of January begins our month of Re-Enrollment events and activities. Be on the lookout for these important announcements in the coming weeks. 

Our mission states that we are to inspire students to seek their full potential in Academics, Arts, and Athletics, and as such we periodically conduct assessments and audits of those programs to ensure we are actualizing our mission. Over the course of the past 8 weeks, we conducted an external assessment of our athletic program. This effort was led by Mr. Chad MacDonald, an Arlington native that also has an extensive background as an executive in Major League Baseball, having served in the front offices of the San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. His eye for detail and ability to produce results based on gathering and analyzing data was crucial in attaining a well-thought out assessment that gave us information on how we can best move our athletic program forward. Some of his major accomplishments include the drafting of Max Fried, Max Scherzer, Brandon Nimmo, and many more MLB stars. His in-depth assessment viewed our facilities, our programs, our coaching staff, our policies and practices . Mr. MacDonald spoke with over 100 of our constituents; parents, students, coaches, alumni, and other administrators in gathering both qualitative and quantitative data to produce an assessment that spoke to our needs of the present as well as the future. The result of this assessment was that it is evident that investing into our athletic program in the near and long term is essential to fulfilling our mission. In the coming months, you will see some significant changes to that programming.

During our time of the assessment, it became clear that Mr. MacDonald was a great fit for our organization. I am excited to announce that he will be joining our staff full-time as our Head of Major Gifts and Athletic Advancement! Chad’s goal will be to continue to evaluate our athletic program, as well as aid in the development of our entire athletic program. Please help me in welcoming Chad MacDonald to the Oakridge Family!

Warmly,

Matt Burgy
Head of School