Oakwood offers 5- and 7-day boarding programs, as well as a day program for students living within sufficient proximity to make the daily trip to and from school.

Boarding life at Oakwood is a balance of work and play. Throughout the week, students are given routine and structure and are encouraged to assume an increasing level of independence, responsibility, and self-management. Oakwood Friends School offers two residential options for students in grades 9–12: Seven-day and five-day boarding programs. Our close knit community truly becomes a home away from home for our boarding students and their social, emotional, recreational and academic growth are equally prioritized in our residential life programing.

About half of the Oakwood students and most of the faculty members and their families reside on the campus, creating a vibrant, multi-age residential community that is joined each day by day-students from surrounding towns and counties. Being a boarding student at Oakwood is a multicultural experience that builds lifelong friendships between students from around the globe. Students gain multiple perspectives and invaluable experiences. Boarding students learn important lessons about being positive contributors to a diverse and dynamic population essential for college and fulfilling lives of conscience and consequence.

After the academic day has completed, Oakwood boarding and day students take part in athletics and extracurricular activities with their peers from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM every day. Dinner in the dining hall takes place from 5:30-6:15.

Weekday evenings consist of structured evening study (cell phone free) followed by student activities, sports in the gym, or leisurely down time. At lights out, Wi-Fi is turned off and students are expected to be settled in their rooms for the night. Every night, the fully-equipped kitchen and lounge areas are filled with students and dorm parents connecting, make delicious meals together, studying, playing ping pong, talking and sharing. 

The residential community is an integral facet of the overall Oakwood Friends community, an environment that fosters growth and development in a safe, nurturing and comfortable setting.  On weekends, the Residential Life office hosts a variety of student driven on and off-campus activities and trips for students. Some of these include:

• Cookouts and campfires

• Movie Nights

• Amusement Parks

• Trips to NYC

• Local festivals 

• Art exhibitions and theater performances

• Sporting events

• Shopping Trips

Day students form deep friendships with their boarding classmates. They participate fully in weekend activities, ofen opening their homes to their friends. With several local colleges, universities, cultural, and natural wonders close by, our boarding and day students connect weekly for adventures that open their minds, get them active, and prepare them for the academic week ahead!