Oak Hall School

Oak Hall School
Location
Gainesville, Florida
,
Alachua County
,
Florida

29°38′19″N 82°25′47″W / 29.6387416°N 82.4297057°W / 29.6387416; -82.4297057
Information
School typeIndependent preparatory
MottoScholarship, leadership, service
Established1970
Head of School
Karin Montini
GradesPre-K through 12th
Enrollment~750
ColorsBurgundy   and Gold  
MascotEagles
RivalSt. Joseph Catholic School
Websitewww.oakhall.org

Oak Hall School is a private pre-K-through-12th grade school in Gainesville, Florida, founded in 1970.

History

In 1970, the year Gainesville finished desegregating its high schools, Oak Hall was "founded to avoid public-school integration," the Washington Post reported. Although technically a private school, the school was largely built with funds provided by industrial revenue bonds raised by Alachua County.

The school charged annual tuition—$1,100 ($6,800 today)—which journalist H. G. Davis Jr. implied was a signifier of segregation academies in a Pulitzer Prize-winning series of editorials. School officials maintained that admissions were open to all "without regard to race, creed or color", a policy that enabled the school to win IRS approval for its tax exemption by January 1971.

The school remained all-white until 1977, when it accepted its first Black students: a pair of female track athletes whose tuition was sponsored by Robert Cade.

Lower School
Cofrin Arts Center

Arts and extracurricular activities

Oak Hall has a Spanish program and placed first in Division 1A at the Florida State Spanish Conference in 2010. It also has a Latin program and was placed first in the Senior Division and first in the Junior Division at the 2010 FJCL State Forum held between April 14, 2010, and April 17, 2010. The Senior Division won again in 2012, 2014. 2015, and 2016.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ Beckmann, Chris; Boucias, Judy (1994). A History of Gainesville and its people. Gainesville, Fla.: Oak Hall School. OCLC 31069252.
  2. 1 2 ""Campbells Flourishing But Pressures Grow"". "Washington Post". February 23, 1977. Retrieved October 7, 2026.
  3. ↑ "RESOLUTION NO. 99-18" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  4. ↑ Davis Jr., Horance G. (August 3, 1970). "Do you, Governor Kirk?". The Gainesville Sun. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved September 19, 2023 – via pulitzer.org. – He might ask about the embryonic Oak Hall Preparatory School founded by Billy Brashear and Harry L. Walker, open to all "without regard to race, creed or color" – with $1,100 tuition, of course.
  5. ↑ “3 Florida Private Schools Get Tax Ruling.” The Stuart (Fla.) News, January 3, 1971.
  6. ↑ "2014 Forum Results". Florida Junior Classical League. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  7. ↑ "2015 Forum Results". Florida Junior Classical League. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  8. ↑ "2016 Forum Results". Florida Junior Classical League. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2016.
  9. ↑ Wells, Kevin (August 1, 2022). "Gainesville sprinter Tamari Davis sets world Under 20 record in 100m". www.wcjb.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 2, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Ellington's long road to Miami". Gainesville.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Class of 2000 Alumna Receives 2022 Johns Hopkins President's Frontier Award". Oak Hall School. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  12. ↑ https://www.si.com/college/florida/football/former-gators-hc-will-muschamp-finds-new-home-in-sec-01kcsvgkhz9r