President’s Welcome

Welcome from Dr. Michael Groves

Tucked away in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern Virginia, Oak Hill Academy fits the mold of traditional, co-educational, college-prep boarding schools. A picturesque campus chocked full of a dedicated staff of professionals. Challenging academics fill the day, too-many-to-list extracurriculars in the evenings and on weekends. Our About Oak Hill section succinctly capture these nuts and bolts of our fully accredited independent school.

Yet, OHA is so much more. In fact, the Oak Hill Academy “distinctives”—those characteristics that describe our community and culture at its core—tell the tale of a school that belies any category or traditional label. There is no “OHA mold.”

Here, it becomes routine to observe a student from Africa, Asia, or Europe eating in the café with a student from North Carolina or Texas. At Oak Hill Academy we demonstrate daily how the world can live alongside and with one another in healthy community.

Here, it becomes normal to watch a student embrace a newfound appreciation for academic success. At Oak Hill Academy, students grow academically. We won’t turn a blind eye to students who need to be nudged; it’s not in our DNA to allow students to be disengaged.

Here, it is predictable that students develop an increased sense of responsibility. In those areas so crucial to adolescent growth, our students begin to take ownership of daily schedules, manage peer relationships, assume leadership roles, and wrestle with moral dilemmas. At Oak Hill Academy students prepare themselves for life in college.

Here, it’s perfectly natural for students to hold the newborn child of a teacher, to walk an administrator’s dog, to notice the absence and ask about the dorm parent who has been ill. The faculty and staff live on campus and we are intentional in developing healthy, supportive relationships with our students; every student is known and embraced. At Oak Hill Academy, students become part of the OHA Family.

I invite you to explore Oak Hill Academy. Here, in our community you will find opportunity to grow—and so much more.

Michael D. Groves, Ph.D.
President