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GREAT OAK VISION STATEMENT
Within a dynamic, relevant and nurturing educational climate, The Great Oak community encourages all students to climb the "branches of excellence" to realize their potential.
S.P.I.R.I.T. Branches of Excellence
SCHOLARSHIP
Students realize academic, vocational and personal growth is the goal of education through the use of a rigorous, relevant curriculum that provides high standards and expectations.
PASSION
Students are active participants in their own education and show intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for learning through a commitment to improving themselves, their school, their community and their world.
INTEGRITY
Students respect themselves, others and the environment through academic honesty, forthrightness and service to their community.
REFLECTION
Students think introspectively about the way learning occurs and understand that the risk of failure leads to an opportunity for continued intellectual growth.
INVOLVEMENT
Students engage in a myriad of activities to develop and utilize their own unique abilities and talents in order to improve their school, their community, and their world.
TEAMWORK
Students work collaboratively with other students, staff, and community members in an effective, constructive and compassionate manner.
HISTORY
Great Oak High School, opened in 2004, lies at the base of Wolf Valley and is surrounded by foothills and suburban homes. Located in Riverside County in the Temecula Valley Unified School District, the consistent, rapid growth of the area demanded the third comprehensive high school in the district. Great Oak offers many programs to assist these students as well as a career-technology program designed to prepare students for direct entry to the workplace. The staff is comprised of a group of highly qualified, idealistic educators who are taking advantage of the opportunity to try some new methods of assessment and instruction.
Philosophically GOHS is built upon a set of "Core Beliefs" known as the Branches of Excellence, also referred to as the SPIRIT of Great Oak. Scholarship, Passion, Integrity, Reflection, Involvement and Teamwork comprise these core values which are the basis for our school vision.
GOHS staff and administration believe that students connected to their school are more successful. Our goal is to involve all of our students in a significant capacity through activities, athletics, clubs or the performing arts. We offer widely diverse and inclusive clubs for every student and staff to participate in throughout the school year. Our students participate in over 140 clubs annually. The Red Wave attends and supports school performances and competition on campus and the Wolfpack Student Body serves as a model for student leadership. SPIRIT serves as the foundation of our co-curricular and academic programs.
The physical plant of GOHS is designed to provide a variety of opportunities for our students. GOHS houses 128 classrooms for instruction. Each classroom contains a teacher computer work station and a SMART board for classroom presentation. Many classrooms and work spaces are specialized to meet the requirements of the curriculum. GOHS houses 4 science labs; a library; a foods and nutrition kitchen; ROTC with office, classroom, and wardrobe rooms; 2 art rooms and an art lab space; TV Video production studio; Engineering classroom and work lab, 2 computer science labs, a gymnasium (includes dance room, yoga room, wrestling room, and 2 weight rooms); and the performing arts complex (includes band room, choir room and drama black box). The campus also includes athletic fields for baseball, softball, soccer, outdoor basketball and volleyball courts, sand volleyball courts and a stadium with a synthetic turf for football/soccer/lacrosse/field hockey and rubberized track. A new swim and aquatics center was completed in 2017. Athletic fields and spaces are at a premium as programs and participation grow and we often partner with the city of Temecula to access the Birdsall Sportspark complex across the street from the school to facilitate the needs of a large athletic department.
The most significant cornerstone of GOHS is the staff. A highly qualified, enthusiastic, and energetic staff is the true leader of the PACK. They have worked collaboratively to unpack and identify "power standards" as the district has rolled out the Common Core and the Next Generation Science Standards. Benchmark assessments have been developed to provide data that informs teachers of strengths or gaps in instruction. A number of departments have critically looked at grading and homework practices and have led the charge for a standards-based grading system that focuses on academic performance rather than effort and citizenship. Intervention practice works to close the achievement gap with a particular focus on math as well as to support any student at risk across the campus in all curricular areas. In 2016, the Great Oak staff worked diligently to align academic and behavior support with the implementation of a Saturday Academy program. At risk students particpate in a 4 hour model that provides academic, social-emotional, and study skill support allowing GOHS to recover ADA for students who are truant or at risk of failing. Site and community staff participate in the Saturday Academy program which covers a variety of topics and mental health strategies designed to provide meaningful intervention and second instruction. The deep roots of our instructional success derive from the staff commitment to collaborate through Monday morning strand and department time and the annual participation in strand release days. The Great Oak staff has repeatedly been recognized for their participation in a PLC structure that is data driven, focused on formative and summative assessment progress, and celebratory of the best practices happening on our campus and throughout the county.
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GOHS Feeder Schools
Elementary: Helen Hunt Jackson Elementary School, Pauba Valley Elementary School, Red Hawk Elementary School, Temecula Luiseno Elementary School, Tony Tobin Elementary School
Middle Schools: Earl Stanley Gardner Middle School, Vail Ranch Middle School