Raleigh Oak Charter School

09/09/2026

🥚🪶🐓

There’s something special about having chickens as part of a school community. They create meaningful, hands-on learning opportunities that can reach far beyond the classroom.

Caring for chickens gives students the opportunity to practice responsibility, empathy, patience, and teamwork. Filling feeders, checking water, collecting eggs, cleaning their space, and simply noticing how the chickens are behaving teaches children that living things depend on us for consistent, thoughtful care.

Chickens also bring learning to life. Students can explore animal life cycles, biology, nutrition, habitats, ecosystems, sustainability, food systems, and agriculture through experiences they can actually see and participate in. Questions arise naturally: Why do chickens have different feathers? How does an egg form? What do chickens eat? How do they communicate? What makes them healthy and happy?

Spending time with animals can encourage children to slow down, observe, be gentle, and recognize the needs of another living creature. Students learn that animals have individual personalities and preferences and that earning an animal’s trust takes patience and respect.

Sometimes the best classrooms have feathers. ♥️

09/09/2026

🌿 Why play outside?

Outdoor play isn’t a break from learning, it IS learning.

When children climb, dig, balance, build, run, splash, and explore, they are developing their whole selves. Their bodies grow stronger and more coordinated. Their senses come alive. Their imaginations turn sticks into tools, fallen logs into ships, and patches of earth into entire worlds.

Outside, children encounter something else they deeply need real life at a human pace.

They feel the change of the seasons. They learn what mud feels like after rain and how the air changes before winter. They meet challenges, take appropriate risks, solve problems, negotiate with friends, and discover what their own bodies can do.

In Waldorf education, we protect time for outdoor play because childhood needs room; room to move, imagine, explore, and form a living relationship with the natural world.

🌱 The outdoors isn’t separate from the classroom. It is one of our greatest teachers.

09/04/2026

We're Growing! 🌹

We are thrilled to announce that we opened additional classes, which means a few seats are now available!

Come experience an education rooted in creativity, curiosity, connection, and a love of learning.

Have questions? We’d love to hear from you!
📧 [email protected]

Enroll Today! https://app.lotterease.com/cgi-bin/sl_V2_1.pl?session_id=&user_id=&account_id=1253&nav=Parents_Registration

08/26/2026

🌳🍄‍🟫🌻

We are so grateful for the many people who pour their time, talents, resources, and care into making Raleigh Oak such a special place for our community.

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing Naturalist Teachers, Ms. Gillespie and Ms. Campagna, our local community partners, volunteers, and Raleigh Oak families for all the love and care you give to our programming, gardens, and school grounds.

Special Shout Outs!
🌱 Wake County Waste for donating a compost bin to our school and helping us continue to grow our sustainability efforts.

🌱 Volunteers from the Master Gardener program for generously sharing their expertise, time, and plants with our school community.

🌱 Ms. Campagna for donating buckets of rich compost that will help nourish our future herb garden! As well as her every day love and care for all beings and things growing at Raleigh Oak!

🌱 Ms. Gillespie for her ongoing advocacy, thoughtful organization, and dedication to creating meaningful, hands-on nature experiences for our students.

There are so many ways to enrich our school community. Whether you share your time, a skill, a plant, a bucket of compost, or simply lend a helping hand, every contribution supports our community!

Please keep an eye on our school newsletters for opportunities to get involved. Together, we’re creating beautiful spaces and meaningful experiences for our students! 🌻🍄‍🟫🌳

08/23/2026

BOARD MEETING NOTICE: The ROCS Board of Directors will meet on Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 at 6:00 PM Eastern Time for the regularly scheduled monthly board meeting.

Members of the public are welcome to join for the duration of the open session and participate in the public comment portion of the meeting.

Agenda: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kH9xo7Dqdjk_jSsZyRI3eBcfyHFWqbfeHU35UjgQd3E/

To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/hmj-deew-vyn
Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 262-546-6338 and enter this PIN: 774 068 102 #

08/22/2026

☀️🐓♥️

Please join us in thanking the wonderful Summer Chicken Crew: Laura Engelhart, Clarivel Flores, Bethany Kicker, Victoria Casper, Jon & Annie Leerberg-Thomas, Melissa Tuttle, and Olivia White, along with their kids and family members who pitched in to help.

We are so grateful for all the time, care, and attention you have given to our feathered friends.

We love our Raleigh Oak Community! ☀️🐓♥️

08/13/2026

08/06/2026

🎨 Last night, we welcomed joining families for a special evening at the school! Together, families experienced the beauty of watercolor painting through the Waldorf approach while enjoying an evening of creativity, connection, and community.

Parent and family nights are an important part of Waldorf education because they bring us together beyond the classroom. These gatherings help families experience the curriculum firsthand while building meaningful relationships with one another. They remind us that we are more than just a school, we are a community, growing and learning together.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. We look forward to many more evenings of connection throughout the year! ♥️

08/03/2026

BOARD MEETING NOTICE: The ROCS Board of Directors is noticing a special session on Monday August 3rd, at 7PM and will immediately enter closed session (not open to the public) to discuss matters related to personnel and compensation.

ROCS Board Meeting Special Session
Monday, August 3 · 7:00 – 8:00pm
Time zone: America/New_York
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/xgs-zfxh-kqh
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 470-729-1533‬ PIN: ‪121 615 626‬ #