Oak Hall School, Gainesville, FL.
By Amanda Malnik Even though Oak Hall Middle School teacher David Pickens has worked at Oak Hall for 31 years, his history with the Oak Hall community began in kindergarten. Pickens was born in Chicago, Ill., and moved to Gainesville, Fla. when he was a young child. Except for the two years of elementary school Pickens spent in Georgia while
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By Aiden Wacksman A little more than 30 years ago, math and English teacher Jim Margerum arrived at Oak Hall School, and has been here ever since. Margerum was raised in Miami, Fla., and attended Miami Carol City High School. In his high school years, he played wide receiver on the football team and was a member of the wrestling
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By Grace Bernstein For the past 50 years, the Oak Hall community has been fortunate in the acquisition of many passionate and influential teachers. Kindergarten teacher Judi Hubert’s devotion to the school and her students, has made Oak Hall shine brighter throughout her tenure. Although Oak Hall’s founding teachers have retired, a few faculty members have been teaching at Oak
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By Antony Stark John Perlette has been an avid part of the Oak Hall community for the past 19 years. At the start of this school year, he became the head of the Upper School. Prior to becoming division head, Perlette started his career at Oak Hall as a math teacher. He was a long-time coach for the Oak Hall
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By Josh Fernandes When a Middle or Upper School student registers for a class taught by Robert Ponzio, their educational experience goes beyond the basics of an art class. Growing up in Queens, NY, Ponzio first got interested and started practicing art when he was in the sixth grade. Since his family moved a lot, his outlet for coping with
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By Aiden Wacksman In 2017, Dr. James Hutchins joined the Oak Hall family as the sixth Head of School Oak Hall has seen in its 50 years. Born at the Fort McClellan Military Base in Anniston, Ala., Hutchins was raised by his mother in Rome, Ga. While his father was deployed to Vietnam, as he was a soldier in the Army,
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By Madison Gaston Libby Karow has been part of the Oak Hall School community for more than 20 years. Throughout her tenure, she has taught at all three divisions, with her most recent and current position being at the Upper School. She not only developed a stellar Spanish program at the Lower School but created a lasting partnership with a
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By Kate Krauser Oak Hall School has gone through many changes this school year, one of them being the hiring of the new varsity girls soccer coach. Charles Wharton, Upper School history teacher, had planned on volunteering with both the varsity boys and girls soccer teams this year. Instead, he stepped up and took the position of girls soccer coach.
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By Jasmine Chen Oak Hall’s Upper School welcomed another new face this year. Dr. Ugur Baslanti has joined the Upper School mathematics department and is teaching Algebra I, Geometry, and Geometry Honors. Having worked at public schools and charter schools, Baslanti finds teaching at Oak Hall quite different from his past experiences. “I like the school culture, students are respectful…administration
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By Mary Madelyn Broom Recently, Oak Hall welcomed Dr. Diana Murdock as the Director of the Middle School and Academic Dean of Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Born in Florida and raised in Georgia, Dr. Murdock followed in the footsteps of her mother and father, both of whom were educators for more than 30 years. “I always knew what my major in
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