Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

private school in

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for a m ...

, in Union County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, United States. It is

coeducation Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

al from

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

to grade 6 and all-girls for

seventh grade Seventh grade (or grade seven) is a year or level of education. The seventh grade is the eighth school year, the second or third year of middle school, and the first year of junior high school. Students are around 13-14 years old in this stage of ...

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

. The school operates under the supervision of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark The Archdiocese of Newark is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northeastern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jer ...

. The school has been accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atl ...

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1992.Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child

Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed May 27, 2022. The school is a member of the

New Jersey Association of Independent Schools The New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS) serves independent elementary and secondary schools throughout the state of New Jersey. The Association consists of 70 member schools with a total enrollment of approximately 26,000 students. ...

. As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 504 students and 72.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 7:1. The school's student body was 78.4% (395) White, 7.3% (37) Black, 7.1% (36) Hispanic, 3.8% (19) Asian and 3.4% (17) two or more races.School data for Oak Knoll School Of The Holy Child

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district financ ...

. Accessed March 10, 2022. Oak Knoll was founded in 1924 and is one of 10 schools in the Holy Child Network of Schools that provides independent Catholic education across the United States. The

Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Roman Catholic sisters founded in England in 1846 by Philadelphia-born Cornelia Connelly. History Born Cornelia Peacock in Philadelphia, she was raised a Presbyterian. In 183 ...

have also founded schools in England, Ireland, France, Nigeria, and Ghana. All Holy Child schools operate under the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, based in

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, up from 28,043 at the 2010 census, and accounting for over a third of Upper Darby's population. ...

. Oak Knoll shares the goals of the Schools of the Holy Child Jesus.

History

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child Alumnae

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child Grace Hall

Founded in 1924, Oak Knoll's roots go back to 1846, when Cornelia Connelly founded the Society of the Holy Child Jesus and opened her first school in England. The Provincial Council of the Society of the Holy Jesus responded to a need identified by the Bishop of Newark for a Catholic School for girls. In January 1924, the Society received permission from Rome to open a school in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city is located on a ridge in northern-central New Jersey, within the Raritan Valley and Rahway Valley regions in the New York metropolitan area. At the 2010 United State ...

. Several properties were considered, and the estate of William Zebdee Larned was acquired in May 1924. The site included the stone manor house, "Stoneover" (now known as "Grace Hall"), built in 1887. A stable, located where Connelly Hall now stands, provided gym and classroom space for the Junior School. Two houses on Prospect Street also contained classrooms and convent space. In 1954, Bonaventura Hall, named after benefactor Bonaventura (Kirby) Devine and her husband Christopher J. Devine a Wall Street banker, was constructed for the elementary grades, and in 1956, construction on the new Upper School, Connelly Hall, was completed. Renovation and growth characterized the 1990s, with the renovation of the Lower School Library in 1992, addition of the Tisdall Hall athletic complex and expansion of the Upper School Library in 1993, renovation of the Grace Hall Chapel in 1994, completion of the Campion Center for the Performing Arts in 1995, and modernization of the Aileen Maury Dining Hall in 1997. From modest beginnings, numbering just 17 students, Oak Knoll's current enrollment exceeds 500 students. In 2004, Oak Knoll completed construction of athletic fields, located away in Chatham Township.

Athletics

The Oak Knoll School RoyalsOak Knoll School

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports. State championsh ...

. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the

Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference The Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (UCIAC) is a New Jersey high school sports association operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The league consists of 26 public ...

, which was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

(NJSIAA). Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex County, Somerset County and Union County. With 396 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public A for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 381 to 1,454 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools). Oak Knoll School offers interscholastic sports for students in grades 5 through 12. For students in grades 9-12, Oak Knoll offers 15 varsity and seven junior varsity competitive programs including: cross country, field hockey, soccer, tennis, volleyball, basketball, indoor track, ice hockey, sailing, fencing, swimming, lacrosse, softball, spring track, and golf. For students in grades 7 and 8, Oak Knoll offers: soccer, field hockey, cross country, basketball, lacrosse and non-competitive tennis. For students in grades 5 and 6 Oak Knoll offers: boys soccer, girls field hockey, boys baseball, Intramural, coed basketball, and non-competitive girls lacrosse. OKS VERT

The school was the winner of the 2014-15 ShopRite Cup for Group B, finishing with 113 points, two points ahead of Villa Walsh Academy. The track team won the indoor track Group I state championship in 1982. The fencing team won the overall state team championship in 1984 and 2002. The fencing team won the 2002 state championship with 62 wins and 37 losses in the competition, ten wins ahead of Ramapo High School in second place and 17 wins ahead of

Millburn High School Millburn High School is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Millburn (including its Short Hills neighborhood), in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school ...

in third. The tennis team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 1987 (defeating Sacred Heart High School), 1988 (vs.

Moorestown Friends School Moorestown Friends School (also known as MFS) is a private, coeducational Quaker day school located in Moorestown, in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 652 student ...

), 1989 (vs. Moorestown Friends) and 1999 (vs. St. John Vianney High School). The field hockey team won the North II Group I state sectional championship in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, won the North I Group I title in 2007, and won the Non-Public North title in 2013 and 2015-2019. The team won the Group I state championship in 2006 (defeating

Eustace Preparatory School Bishop Eustace Preparatory School is a Catholic high school in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. Founded in 1954 by the priests and brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (The Pallottines), the school operates under the auspices of ...

in the tournament final), 2007 (vs.

Holy Cross Preparatory Academy Holy Cross Preparatory Academy is a four-year Catholic high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Delran Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The school is the only Roman Catholic high school ...

), 2008 (vs.

Glassboro High School Glassboro High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Glassboro, in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of the Glassbor ...

), 2010 (vs. St. Joseph High School) and 2012 (vs. St. Joseph), won the Non-Public state title in 2013 (vs. St. Joseph), 2014 (vs. Bishop Eustace), 2015 (vs. Bishop Eustace), 2017 (vs. Bishop Eustace), 2018 (vs. Bishop Eustace) and 2019 (vs.

Camden Catholic High School Camden Catholic High School (CCHS) is a four-year comprehensive private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in Cherry Hill, Camden County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operate ...

). The program's 11 state titles are tied for fifth-most in the state. The team won the Tournament of Champions in 2010, 2017 and 2019 (vs. Eastern Regional High School in each of the three years). In 2007, the team won the North I, Group I state sectional championship with a 4–1 win over Pompton Lakes High School in the tournament final. The team moved on to win the Group I state championship with a 2–1 win over Shore Regional High School in the semis and a 4–0 win against Holy Cross High School in the finals. In a repeat of the previous year's final, the 2015 team beat Bishop Eustace by a score of 4-2 in the championship game to win the Non-Public state title. The team won the Union County Tournament for the ninth straight year in 2018 with a 7–1 win in the tournament final against

Kent Place School The Kent Place School is a girls independent college-preparatory day school (with a coeducational nursery and pre-kindergarten) serving students in preschool through twelfth grade in Summit, Union County, New Jersey, United States. Kent Place ...

. The school's field hockey team was the winner of the 2019 Tournament of Champions title, the third time in the school's history, with a 4–1 win against Eastern Regional High School in the tournament final. The lacrosse team has won the Group I state championship in 2010 (vs.

Glen Ridge High School Glen Ridge High School (GRHS) is a comprehensive six-year public middle school / high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades from Glen Ridge, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary scho ...

in the tournament final), 2013 (vs.

Mountain Lakes High School Mountain Lakes High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Mountain Lakes, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Mou ...

), 2015 (vs. Shore Regional High School), 2016 (vs. Shore Regional), 2017 (vs. Middle Township High School), 2018 (vs.

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus ...

) and 2019 (vs. Pingry); the seven state group titles are tied for the third most in the state. The team was the winner of the Tournament of Champions in 2015, defeating Summit High School in the final and in 2019 against

Moorestown High School Moorestown High School (MHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Moorestown in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the M ...

. The girls' lacrosse team won the 2005 North B state championship with an 8–4 win over Mountain Lakes High School. After falling behind by a score of 4-0 after five minutes of the tournament final, the 2013 girls lacrosse team went on to defeat Mountain Lakes High School by a score of 10–9 to win the Group I state championship. The soccer team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 2011 (defeating Mater Dei High School in the tournament final) and 2016 (as co-champion with

Red Bank Catholic High School Red Bank Catholic High School is a four-year private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in Red Bank in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, operating under the supervision ...

). The outdoor track and field team won the Non-Public B state championship in 2015. The girls' ice hockey team won the Union County Championship in 2020, the first year of the competition, with a 5–0 win against Summit High School.

Notable alumni

* Michelle Cesan (born 1991),

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player who competed for the

United States women's national field hockey team The United States women's national field hockey team, represents the United States in international field hockey. The team is currently coached by Anthony Farry. It made its first international appearance in 1920 when a touring team visited Engla ...

in the women's event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. *

Aileen Quinn Aileen Marie Quinn (born June 28, 1971) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her role as the title character in the 1982 film '' Annie''. Early life Quinn was born on June 28, 1971, and raised in Yardley, Pennsylvan ...

(born 1971), actress, singer and dancer best known for her role as Annie Bennett Warbucks in the 1982 film '' Annie''."Students Get Oak Knoll Honors"
''Bernardsville News'', April 25, 1985. Accessed January 26, 2022, via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. "Aileen Quinn of Far Hills has been named to the first honor roll at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit for having achieved not less than an 'A' in all subjects."

References

External links

School websiteOak Knoll School Of The Holy Child

{{Authority control 1924 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1924 Girls' schools in New Jersey Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools New Jersey Association of Independent Schools Private K-12 schools in New Jersey Private high schools in Union County, New Jersey Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark Catholic secondary schools in New Jersey Society of the Holy Child Jesus Summit, New Jersey