“It's a fun challenge and we're so grateful that all these students and their families chose us,” he said. “This was a choice. All their kids, except the new kindergarten students, were in a school somewhere else and they decided to pull their kids out and give us a chance. That says a lot about our families and the promise of what our school offers. So, I really appreciate them instilling their trust and faith in us and now we want to make sure that we are a positive, viable option for them moving forward.”
Fuga said a big part of the school’s early success and energy can be attributed to Deans Shayla Lowman and Clarencia Green. Lowman, the dean of lower elementary and Green, the dean of the upper elementary have a wealth of knowledge and experience to help Fuga guide North Oak into the future.
“This is only possible because of the strong leadership of our two deans and our entire staff. They have been the ones that implement all this important work daily. The energy in the building daily is very positive and supportive, and it's our responsibility as a leadership team to sustain that, build from it, and use it. Just to start the school year like that, with all that energy, is great. You can just feel it.”
The buildup to the school year began strong with four parent events, held to better inform parents about the main tenets of the school. Parents learned about the nine Moral Focus™ virtues that are taught throughout the year, the college-prep education, and the desire to help students build the knowledge, character, and skills they need to succeed.
“The interest shown by our community leading up to this, the attendance at events was really good. Then for our ribbon cutting, we had 100-plus families sign up and even more than that showed up. So, the energy around our school and the participation we’ve seen from families, it’s been excellent.”
Congratulations on a successful opening, North Oak!
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About North Oak Academy
North Oak Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Durham, North Carolina, serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 68,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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