To our ROCS families,
Thank you for choosing Raleigh Oak Charter School. We have had a great start to the year, and we are glad your student is a member of our community. Each day at ROCS, we focus on teaching our core values, the ROCS 8. These are: whole child education, respect for nature, playful learning, an interdisciplinary curriculum, intentional technology, arts integration, community, and diversity. We appreciate the trust you’ve placed in our staff to educate your child with a focus on these values.
We believe ROCS has incredible potential to reinvent what Public Waldorf has traditionally looked like. We are proud to be the first and only school to ever merge Public Waldorf with NC state standards. And we are proud that we are bringing this program to communities and students who have never been offered an arts-integrated, nature-centered, whole child curriculum. We are excited to watch our student body grow even more diverse over the years, and we truly cannot wait to show you the plans for our permanent location.
As a board, we believe we are well on our way to achieving the ROCS vision of nurturing confident, curious, and capable global citizens who are ready to change the world. That said, last Friday, we had to make some tough decisions to align the school with its original mission and vision. Although we cannot disclose personnel details, we wanted to let you know that Ms. Ross is no longer with the school.
We know this may be surprising, and we recognize that change is hard, but we feel confident this change will create a stronger ROCS, now and in the future. To that end, we are happy to announce that Dr. Eric Johnson will be stepping into the role as our new Executive Director. Dr. Johnson was a finalist for this position last winter. He has more than 20 years of experience as a school administrator, including many years leading both Durham and Wake County public schools. Most recently, he worked as the Elementary School Director at The Raleigh School. Outside of his professional experience, Dr. Johnson lives an arts-integrated, nature-centered life. He maintains an extensive garden, helps administer a 1600-member seed library, and even has experience raising chickens! He is also an incredibly thoughtful and humble person who will bring a calm confidence to our school. Expect to learn more about Dr. Johnson soon when he introduces himself to the ROCS community.
Please know that your students are in great hands, and we will continue to do what’s necessary to create a safe, enjoyable, inclusive, and stable school environment. Please send any questions directly to the full board at board@raleighoakcharter.org.
Thank you for being a part of this community,
The ROCS Board of Directors
